Why Living In Listed Buildings Is No Bar To Shutters

There are many great attractions to Brighton and Hove, not least its many fine buildings. Its Regency-style architecture is dominant and the majority of these are residential buildings, with the best examples including the Brunswick and Kemp Town developments.

Of course, these are a long way from representing all the homes in the city; lots of people live in red brick semis or terraces, for instance. But the fact remains that many people dwell in these elegant buildings amid tall windows and white stucco plaster.

Not surprisingly, a large proportion of these buildings are listed. Indeed, it is no surprise that the Regency Ward is well ahead of the rest for listings, with 354, while Queens Park (which includes Kemp Town) is second with 238.

A key question that may be asked by anyone moving into one of these buildings, or wanting to change the décor, is whether they can fit window shutters. After all, listing does place restrictions on how much one can change the appearance of a building.

The answer, we can happily say, is yes. That’s good news for us because if it wasn’t the case, being based in Brighton we would have to turn a lot of disappointed people away. But it’s also great news for you if you have a fine Regency window (or live in a listed building that isn’t built in that style) and want to fit shutters.

Quite simply, being in a listed building is no impediment to having shutters at all. As West Country Shutters put it: “Installing shutters has no greater implication than hanging a picture on a wall or putting up a curtain pole”.

They make this point having had a lot of queries from folk living in listed buildings in their target area, which includes the cities of Bath and Bristol, which are both full of historic listed buildings.

So, for anyone listed building, whether a Regency building here in Brighton or a Georgian mansion over in Bath, fear not; there is no restriction whatsoever on having shutters in the windows.