Listed Buildings
Listed Building Consent
Conservation Areas
Conservation Area Character Appraisals
World Heritage Site
Is My Building Listed or in a Conservation Area?
Conservation Area Maps
Energy Efficiency and Historic Buildings
Leith Conservation Area Management Plan (PDF, 149kb)
Edinburgh is special. The City has a unique appeal and a distinctive character which owes a great deal to its visual features, its architectural heritage and the unique form of its historic environment.
Historic buildings and conservation areas are a vital part of this character. The quality, interest and number of these in Edinburgh reflects its long history.
Listed Buildings are protected buildings, defined as Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, and are divided into 3 categories, A, B and C.
Listed buildings can be as large as the Forth Rail Bridge or as small as the statue to Greyfriars Bobby.
How many Listed Buildings are in Edinburgh?
There are 4,500 listed buildings in the City of Edinburgh. Many are tenement blocks or terraces with many individual houses. If you add them up there are approximately 22,000 separately owned properties which are Listed, the largest number in any area of Britain.
If you are proposing to demolish, alter or extend your listed building, you may need listed building consent in addition to other consents. BE SURE. It is always best to write to us before proceeding with any work on a listed building.
You can find out more about Listed Buildings on Historic Scotland's website.
Conservation Areas are Areas of Special Architectural or Historic Interest .
There are 39 conservation areas in Edinburgh; including the medieval Old Town, the Georgian New Town, Victorian suburbs and former villages.
The Council has a duty to protect and enhance these areas and additional rules exist to govern building and restoration work. BE SURE. It is always best to write to us before proceeding with any work in a conservation area.
What is the purpose of a Conservation Area title?
The primary aim of the Council's conservation policies is to preserve the historic buildings and special character of the city and to ensure that changes, whether large or small, complement and add to its character. A further objective is to promote new architecture of the highest quality.
Conservation Area Character Appraisals define the key elements, essential features and special qualities of architectural and historic interest for each of the areas. The appraisals also reinforce the Council’s policy objectives of promoting, protecting and enhancing the environment.
Find out more about Character Appraisals
The historic centre of Edinburgh, including the medieval Old Town and the Georgian New Town, was inscribed on the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO’s) List of World Heritage Sites in December, 1995. This represents international recognition that the Site is of outstanding universal value, and ranks Edinburgh in the same world status as the Taj Mahal and the pyramids of Egypt. UNESCO’s operational guidelines for the identification of World Heritage Sites recommends that historic urban centres should only be included on the World Heritage List if they are of exceptional interest. The inscription of central Edinburgh as a World Heritage Site is, therefore, an outstanding accolade.
The concept of World Heritage Sites is based on UNESCO’s 1972 Convention for the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The Convention noted that the cultural and natural heritage were increasingly threatened by traditional causes of decay, and by changing economic and social conditions. It established the World Heritage Committee which was charged with compiling a World Heritage List of properties and sites which were considered to be of outstanding universal value. The List was intended to “ensure as far as possible, the identification, protection, conservation and presentation of the World’s irreplaceable heritage”.
The formal UNESCO brief description of the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site is as follows:
“Edinburgh, capital of Scotland since the 15th century, presents the dual face of an old city dominated by a medieval fortress and a new neo-classical city whose development from the 18th century onwards exerted a far-reaching influence on European urban planning. The harmonious juxtaposition of these two highly contrasting historic areas , each containing many buildings of great significance, is what gives the city its unique character”
What does it mean to Edinburgh?
World Heritage Status marks our need to protect and conserve Edinburgh.
The City of Edinburgh Council's Planning Committee regards World Heritage Site status as a material consideration when assessing applications for planning permission and listed building consent.
In response to Edinburgh achieving World Heritage Site status, the Edinburgh New Town Conservation Committee and the Old Town Renewal Trust were merged to form the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust (now known as Edinburgh World Heritage - EWH).
EWH and their partners have produced a Management Plan for the world heritage site. This sets out the basis by which the Site’s Outstanding Universal Values are safeguarded.
Find out more from the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust website.
View Historic Scotland’s website.
INSPIRED BY WORLD HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
If you have any questions about listed buildings or conservation areas, please contact the Planning Help Desk on 0131 529 3596, or write to CEC City Development Office, Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh EH8 8BG. Alternatively you can email the Planning Help Desk.
You can find out if your building is a listed building or in a conservation area by following these instructions:
Click here to access the Planning & Building Control Portal home page.
Click View Planning Applications Online.
Click on Property Search (left of page).
Property Search Page – Select the Street Group then enter the Street Name and click Search.
Matching Properties Page – Search for required address and click on View Details of required property.
Selected Property – Click on Constraints (towards top of page).
You can view Conservation Areas by clicking on the PDF links below. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free from Adobe.
Balerno (pdf,450kb)
Barnton (pdf,313kb)
Blacket (pdf,491kb)
Colinton (pdf,793kb)
Coltbridge and Wester Coates (pdf,919kb)
Corstorphine (pdf,520kb)
Craiglockhart Hills (pdf,651kb)
Craigmillar Park (pdf,803kb)
Cramond (pdf,533kb)
Currie (pdf,458kb)
Dalmeny (pdf,414kb)
Dean (pdf,829kb)
Duddingston (pdf,593kb)
Gilmerton (pdf,580kb)
Grange (pdf,613kb)
Hermiston (pdf,379kb)
Inverleith (pdf,553kb)
Juniper Green (pdf,534kb)
Kirkliston (pdf,453kb)
Leith (pdf,421kb)
Marchmont (pdf,603kb)
Merchiston (pdf,581kb)
Morningside (pdf,666kb)
Morton Main (pdf,335kb)
New Town (pdf,653kb)
Newhaven (pdf,484kb)
Old Town (pdf,581kb)
Portobello (pdf,336kb)
Queensferry (pdf,477kb)
Ratho (pdf,422kb)
Shandon (pdf,428kb)
South Side (pdf,548kb)
Swanston (pdf,264kb)
Thistle Foundation Village (pdf,513kb)
Trinity (pdf,400kb)
Victoria Park (pdf,422kb)
Waverley Park (pdf,524kb)
West End (pdf,503kb)
West Murrayfield (pdf,772kb)
World Heritage Site (pdf,652kb)
Address: Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh, EH8 8BG
Listed Building Consent