Improvements and Alterations 

Where you are not the freeholder of your home, you will have a lease. Under the terms of your lease, you must get our permission before making any alterations to your property. You may also need other permissions, such as planning permission or building regulations permission from the local authority.

As the freeholder, we can decide under the terms of the lease whether to grant permission.
An application for permission must be made in writing. You should enclose copies of any plans, drawings or diagrams that help explain what you want to do. Your lease will generally require you to pay us a fee to reflect the time we spend and any fees we incur in dealing with your application.  We have responsibility to safeguard the appearance of the area in the interests of other residents and to make sure the structure of the building remains sound.

We will not refuse you permission to carry out alterations without good reason. If we grant
permission, you should then contact your local authority to find out if you need other
permissions. In this way, if we refuse permission under the terms of the lease, you will not have incurred any of the costs involved in seeking planning or building regulations consent.
Please note for certain works you may also need consent from the original builder where this is not us. You should take independent advice about the consents and permissions needed.  Unfortunately we cannot advise you, although we may be able to assist.

Following alterations, we may need to increase your buildings insurance to reflect the increase in the value of your home. This could be necessary should you for example, install a new kitchen and would expect a ‘like for like’ replacement following a fire. Please contact your Homeownership Officer if you are in any doubt about the need to bring this to our attention.

Please note that improvements may make your home easier to sell, but do bear in mind that the cost of improvements is not always reflected by a similar increase in property value. If you are a shared owner, when you come to move, you can still only sell your home based on your current percentage share and current market value.