As a property owner, there will be times when you want to carry out alterations to your property.
You may be free to do more minor works as you see fit. However, for more major alterations, you will likely need to seek permission from various sources.
We look below at who might need to give you permission, and what could happen if you carry out property alterations without consent.
What are unauthorised alterations?
Unauthorised alterations in a leasehold property are changes made to the property without the landlord’s or freeholder’s required consent, as may be required by the lease. These can include structural alterations, removing internal walls, replacing windows, or even altering flooring.
Most leases contain clauses that outline the requirement of written permission before any such modifications can be made.
Making alterations without consent can lead to legal consequences, such as being required to reverse the changes, fines, or even forfeiture of the lease.
It is important for leaseholders to review their lease and seek approval before proceeding with any alterations to avoid breaching the lease terms.
What sort of permission or consent might I need?
You are likely to need planning permission for most major alterations and for some changes of use. Planning permission is granted by your local planning authority. You will require it for works such as substantial extensions, building new structures, and where you are looking at changing the use of a property.
You may also require building regulations approval in addition to planning permission. This can apply to a wider range of works, including loft alterations, new windows and doors, and other such developments. Building regulations consent is granted by your local authority’s building control department.
If you own a leasehold property, such as a flat or a shop, your lease is likely to include a provision that prevents you from carrying out alterations without your landlord’s consent. This is because any alterations you make to your property are likely to affect the landlord’s interest and the rest of the freehold. It is in the landlord’s interest to ensure that the structure is sound, that any works comply with any relevant legislation, and that the building is properly insured.
Whether or not you will require your landlord’s consent will depend on the terms of your lease and the nature of the works being proposed. The terms can include anything from internal works, such as fitting a new kitchen, to extensions or alterations to the exterior of the property. Ordinarily, the lease will stipulate that the landlord is not to unreasonably withhold consent.
Property alterations without planning permission
If you fail to obtain planning permission to alter a property, or do not comply with the conditions in the permission, you are likely to have committed a ‘planning breach’.
If you have failed to make a planning application, the local authority may potentially allow you to make a retrospective application in order to regularise the position.
However, if your planning application had failed and you continued with the work, or if you failed to comply with the conditions in the permission, the local authority could issue an enforcement notice.
This will require you to put the property back as it was, or to carry out works to ensure the property complies with the planning permission terms. Failure to comply is an offence, and you could face a steep fine.
Property alterations without building regulations approval
The local authority building control department has a number of options for failures to seek building regulations approval. These include:
- Serving an enforcement notice. As with planning permission, this will require the property owner to remove or alter work that does not comply with building regulations.
- Applying for an injunction. Injunctions can be used with or instead of an enforcement notice, but are not common.
- Prosecution in the magistrates’ court. Prosecutions are usually only used for deliberate contraventions of building regulations. The property owner can be held liable for an unlimited fine.
- Not providing a completion certificate confirming compliance with building regulations. This is likely to impact any future sale of the property.
Property alterations without the consent of your landlord
As a leasehold owner, if your lease requires you to obtain consent before making alterations to a leasehold property, and you either do not seek consent or carry out alterations even though the landlord has refused consent, you will be in breach of your lease.
1. Injunction
The landlord could apply to the court for an order that you stop carrying out the works and reinstate the property. This may be accompanied by a claim for damages.
2. Forfeiture
Most leases include a forfeiture clause, whereby the landlord can terminate your lease if you are in breach. This is an extreme remedy, but certainly not out of your landlord’s reach, particularly if the building alterations are substantial.
3. Bargaining power
In some cases, a landlord might try to use your breach of lease as a bargaining tool. For example, consider that you own a top floor flat and the landlord owns the attic. You unlawfully (i.e. without consent) extend into the attic.
Your landlord may be considering enforcement action, but an alternative may be for him to sell the attic space to you. The landlord will be in a strong position: buy the attic space for his specified price, or face one of the above enforcement actions.
Is my landlord unreasonably withholding consent?
Where the landlord’s consent is required to do something, they should give this permission, except where they have a legally valid reason to refuse.
The landlord should give this consent within a reasonable amount of time. By unreasonably withholding consent, the landlord would likely be in breach of covenant under the lease.
Whether a landlord is being unreasonable will depend on the facts of the case and will be assessed on an individual basis by the court.
Examples of a landlord unreasonably withholding consent could include:
- A blanket refusal without a valid reason.
- Not responding within a reasonable time frame, such as a few weeks.
- Agreeing to the alterations, but with unreasonable conditions, such as paying a premium.
- Refusal based on personal preference and not on objective legal grounds.
If you are concerned that your landlord may have unreasonably refused consent, you may have a claim against them in contract and/or tort.
This could be for a declaration that consent has been unreasonably withheld, an injunction requiring consent to be given, or a claim for damages.
Contact our property disputes solicitors
If you are concerned that you have carried out property alterations without consent, or would like to discuss a potential breach of lease or planning permission, our property disputes team can assist you. Call us today on 0800 988 7756.
