Homes or heritage - that’s the dilemma facing city

Councillors in Bath have warned that Unesco World Heritage Site status has caused a “unique” problem when it comes to addressing the city’s housing crisis.

- John Wimperis

Cllr Matt McCabe

World-famous for its Roman Baths and Georgian architecture, the entire City of Bath has been designated a World Heritage Site by Unesco twice over.

But Bath is still a living, working city, home to more than 94,000 people and the workplace of many more who cannot afford to live in the expensive city.

Now, as Bath and North East Somerset Council works on a plan for how the area should meet its housing needs over next 18 years, councillors have warned the city’s World Heritage Site status limits how many new houses can be built.

The Unesco listing does not just cover Bath's iconic sites like the Royal Crescent and Pulteney Bridge, but key aspects about the character of the city as a whole - and the status can be withdrawn if the character is damaged.

Liverpool's historic docklands were stripped of World Heritage Site status in 2021 after Unesco said the redevelopment of the area had caused an “irreversible loss” to their historic value. Bath has been keen to avoid a similar humiliation.

Concerns about the impact on the World Heritage Site status are raised about almost every major building project in the city, such as the recently approved plans for Bath Rugby’s new stadium on the Recreation Ground.

The status limits the height of residential buildings built within the city, but there are increasingly few sites left to develop in Bath.

Work is already under way on building homes at the Western Riverside and Bath Press, the city’s largest brownfield area, and the remaining space is also competing with the need for office and industrial space.

Bath’s housing challenge mainly comes from the fact that one aspect covered by its Unesco listing is its setting in a “hollow in the hills.”

From Solsbury Hill to Bathwick Hill, the small city is surrounded on almost all sides by green slopes protected from development by the city’s World Heritage Site status.