About

Making a public right easier to use

The treasures are already yours to see. We just made them findable.

Britain's conditionally exempt heritage — 558 pre-eminent artworks, collections, houses and landscapes — comes with a public right of access written into tax law. The trouble has always been finding any of it.

The official record lives on an unindexed government database that you can only browse one region at a time, with no search, no map, and no photographs. It is technically public and practically invisible. Parliament, campaigners and journalists have all raised versions of the same concern: if access is the public return for tax relief, the public needs a practical way to find out what access exists.

This site is an independent attempt to fix that. We take the public data, structure it, and present it the way a modern visitor expects: full-text search, filters, a map built from the register's own grid references, photographs of the houses and representative images of the artists, the binding access undertakings for each item, and a pre-drafted request email so you can arrange a visit in a moment.

Why transparency matters

This is not only our complaint about old web design. The public record around the scheme has repeatedly pointed to weak publicity, hard-to-use records and questions about how access is checked. These sources are scheme-wide context, not allegations about any individual owner.

Financial TimesDatabase problemsReported serious errors and unverifiable contacts in the object register. Open Spaces SocietyHeritage plans disclosureCovered the tribunal order for redacted heritage management plans to be disclosed. Public Accounts CommitteeLow visits and compliance gapsQuestioned publicity, visitor numbers and monitoring of public value. Heritage Open AccessAccess recordOur neutral index of press, official sources and reviewed visitor reports.

How we handle the data

  • Source. Every entry is drawn from the official HMRC register and links back to its official record. The data is reused under the Open Government Licence.
  • Photographs. Images of named houses come from Wikimedia Commons. For artworks, we show a representative work by the named artist — clearly labelled as such, never passed off as the exempt object itself.
  • Honesty about access. The register is updated irregularly and owners' arrangements change. We always tell you to confirm dates and charges with the contact before travelling.
  • Access record. Reader visit reports are treated as leads for review, not accusations. We publish neutral notes only when they are factual, evidenced and useful to future visitors.
  • Privacy. Contact details appear in the official register precisely so the public can arrange access; we reproduce only what is already published for that purpose. Owners or agents who want an entry annotated or removed can tell us.

Who is behind it

The project is supported by Irving Scott, the London household-staffing agency for private homes, estates and family offices. Their sponsorship keeps this public-interest site free to use; editorially, Heritage Open Access remains independent.

Spotted an error, or know a collection that deserves a feature? Get in touch.