Historic England has issued a new Research Report (Series 19\/2026) on the \u2018Effect of the Historic Built Environment on Local Economic Growth in England An Instrumental Variable Approach\u2019 by Rami Zalfou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Historic England writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This study investigates the effect of the historic built environment on local economic growth in England. The analysis adopts an instrumental variable (IV) strategy that exploits plausibly exogenous variation in the historical cost and feasibility of constructing durable buildings. Specifically, it instruments historic building density using local availability of different building stone types, measured through bedrock geology data from the British Geological Survey, alongside ONS data on Gross Value Added at the level of the Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA), and Historic England data on the spatial distribution of listed buildings. The causal effect of historic building density on local economic growth is estimated using two-stage least squares, controlling for baseline economic conditions and a rich set of geographic covariates. The results indicate that historic building density has a positive and statistically significant effect on local economic outcomes. Sectoral GVA evidence using Local Authority District (LAD) data suggests that the effects are concentrated in tourism-related activity and property-related sectors, with evidence of local economic specialisation and sectoral reallocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This research is part of a wider programme of work called Culture and Heritage Capital (CHC), which DCMS is leading in partnership with its arm\u2019s length bodies (Arts Council England, the British Film Institute, Historic England, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund) and the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council. For more information, see the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Culture and Heritage Capital Portal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n