Stately homes can be an asset (5)
I believe the answer is:
seats
'stately homes' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'can be an asset' is the wordplay.
'can be' is an anagram indicator.
'asset' is an anagram of 'SEATS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for seats that I've seen before include "Chairs, stools" , "Parliamentary constituencies" .)