Making alterations or improvements to your property

Under the terms of your lease, you must tell us before making alterations or improvements to your property. As the landlord, we must protect the structure of the building and the safety of other residents. 

If you carry out work before getting permission, you may have to return the property to the layout in your lease plan. 

This is a summary of the permission you need for each type of work.

Improvement work, no change to internal layout

• Neighbourhood Housing Team consent
• Building Control and in some cases planning permission  

Alterations or additions to the internal layout

• Neighbourhood Housing Team consent
• Deed of variation including a licence for alterations
• Building Control and in some cases planning permission and a party wall award

Structural alterations or buy additional land

• Neighbourhood Housing Team consent
• Deed of variation including a licence for alterations 
• Building Control 
• Planning permission
• In some cases a party wall award

If you are making improvements or alterations that do not change the internal layout of your flat, you will need written consent from us. 
Examples of this type of work are:

• replacing a bathroom or kitchen
• electrical work
• plumbing
• replacing flooring 
• replacing doors and windows

Request permission

Email [email protected] to make your request for written consent. You will need to provide the following information: 

• Drawings or plans
• Any building control or planning decision, if relevant  

What happens next

We will check your plans against the lease plan for your property. If unauthorised changes have been made you will be responsible for getting retrospective consent.  

Written consent from the Neighbourhood Housing Team can take up to 12 weeks. We then need to send out your consent letter which can take longer. We know that you are probably keen to start your work, please bear with us.

Written consent is sent with terms and conditions which include making sure that:

• the contractor has the right level of Public Liability Insurance
• a suitable asbestos survey has been completed before the work starts 
• electrical work is carried out by a person or persons registered and accredited with one of the industry competency bodies such as NICEIC , ECA or NAPIT 
• all statutory consents and approvals such as building control and planning are gained before works are carried out
• a start date and completion date for the works are provided to Landlord Services
• permitted hours for noisy building works are understood and followed

The Health and Safety Executive has information about Public Liability Insurance, asbestos and health and safety obligations.

Fees

There is no cost for getting written consent.
 

Types of work likely to be denied

Under the permitted clause of your lease, you must keep your property as a self-contained residential flat. This means that the following requests are likely to be denied:

• Dividing a single flat into separate units
• Combining two flats into one larger unit
• Any scheme which alters the room stacking arrangement of the building causing a potential noise nuisance

The following developments are also likely to be denied:

• Developments which include basement excavations
• Loft conversions where the loft contains working Council services such as water tanks or pipework
• Developments on communal estate land
• Developments on communal shared gardens

We strongly advise leaseholders not to pay for architectural plans and professional fees if it is likely that the development could be denied.

If you are making a permitted change

If your alterations will change the internal layout of your flat as shown on your lease plan, then you need a licence for alterations. We will also send your request to the Neighbourhood Housing Team who will review it and provide written consent. This covers any non-layout changes such as electrics, plumbing or flooring. 

The licence for alteration is a legal document that changes your lease and lease plan. You cannot start work until the licence is issued. Examples of this type of work are:

• Adding or removing an internal wall
• Creating an internal doorway

The licence is issued with terms and conditions in addition to the ones relating to written consent including obtaining a licence from our Asset and Valuation Team if the proposal involves the putting up scaffolding or hoarding on Council land.  

Make a full plans application

You must make a Full Plans application for this type of work. You can do this before we issue a licence, but you may want to wait until we have confirmed that we will issue a licence.

If you are making a retrospective licence application, your Building Control and planning approval must be in place before we issue a licence.  

Request permission

Email [email protected] to request written consent and a deed of variation including a licence for alterations. You will need to provide the following information: 

• Drawings or plans
• Any building control or planning decision

Fees

Our fees to produce a licence for alterations are:

• Administration including lease plan amendment: £417
• Our legal fee: variable
• Building Control fees  

What happens next

If your alteration plans are agreed, then you will be sent:

• written consent
• a licence for alterations

This can take several months.

Structural alterations

We will consider applications for works that alter the structure of the building such as: 

• rear and side extensions on garden land already owned by you 
• changing a window into a door 

In these cases, you will need:

• Written consent for the layout changes 
• A deed of variation to your lease including a licence for alterations
• Statutory consents such as Building Control and Planning Permission

The deed of variation is drawn up by our solicitor. You will be 100% responsible for the future maintenance costs of your alterations.  

Read our guide to licence for alteration.

Buying additional land or space

If the proposed work extends beyond your existing property, you will need to buy the additional space or land in addition to the deed of variation and licence for alterations. This is relevant to the following types of alterations:

• A loft conversion
• Creating a roof terrace
• Building an extension or conservatory on garden land not included in your lease

The area or land will be sold to you and a supplemental lease will be drawn up to cover the additional land or space that you are buying. 

Request permission

Email [email protected] to request written consent and a deed of variation including a licence for alterations. You will need to provide the following information: 

• Drawings or plans
• Any building control or planning decision

Fees

Our fees for structural alterations are:

Licence for Alterations: structural alterations

• Camden’s administration: £672
• Legal fee: variable

Licence for Alterations: structural alterations and purchasing additional land

• Valuation fee: £500
• Camden’s administration: £778 
• Legal fee: variable

Find out more about Building Control fees.

What happens next 

If a sale of land is required, the process can be quite complex. This is a summary of the process:

1. You must email leaseholder services with your request to make structural changes including the request to buy additional space or land. 
2. Leaseholder services refer your application to the Neighbourhood Housing Team for consideration
3. Neighbourhood Housing Team seeks technical input, consults with residents and decides if your application can progress to the next stage. 
4. Neighbourhood Housing Team writes to you with a decision. If agreed, Leaseholder Services request a valuation fee of £500 
5. Leaseholder Services instruct an external valuer to value the land being sold 
6. Leaseholder Services send you the valuation 
7. If the agreed valuation is over £30,000, then Leaseholder Services need further approval from the Executive Director for Supporting  Communities 
8. Leaseholder Services request administration fees  and Building Control and planning permission consents if they have not been provided
9. Leaseholder Services arrange for new lease plans to be drafted and agreed with you
10. Leaseholder Services instruct Camden’s external solicitors to draft a deed of variation which includes the licence for alterations and supplemental lease of land (if required). 
11. Camden's external solicitors send the draft documents to your solicitor for agreement. 
12. Camden’s external solicitors issue landlord consent documents. It is only at this stage that you have landlord’s consent to begin works 

Unfortunately, we cannot provide a timescale for getting landlord’s consent. It can vary significantly depending on the specific detail of the original request. 

Burning wood or coal at home emits dangerous pollution known as fine particulate matter. Find out more about air pollution from wood-burning stoves. 

Any ‘new use’ application, where the flue is not currently in use or if the chimney breast needs enlarging, is likely to be refused. This includes:

• Inserting a cooker
• Fitting a wood-burning stove

Any applications, where there is a flue already in use and the chimney breast is of adequate size, will be considered against the following criteria:

• Impact on neighbours
• Impact on maintenance
• Impact on future planned works
• Health and safety
• Legislation

We welcome applications for renewable or low-carbon energy technologies.

Examples of such technologies, include, but are not limited to:

• Air source heat pumps
• Ground source heat pumps
• Solar thermal panels
• Solar photovoltaic cells

Anyone planning to install renewable or low carbon energy technologies in their leasehold property needs to obtain the permission of the Council as Freeholder.

Any application requiring access to any 'common'  area not forming part of the applicant’s own flat or house under their lease (e.g. the roof) will generally be refused. This is because we need to consider the building as a whole and the health and safety interests of other residents.

Applications for areas within the applicant’s own flat or house or garden will be considered against the following criteria:

• Impacts on neighbours
• Impacts on maintenance
• Impact on future planned works
• Health and safety
• Legislative requirements

If you are thinking about making an application for permission, you should consider the following:

• Some technologies can, at present, be expensive to run if the property is not insulated appropriately (regular window or wall insulation may be effective)
• Some installations can require changes to internal plumbing which can also be costly
• Leaseholders generally will not be allowed to disconnect from the Council’s Communal Heating systems. We are evaluating how our heating networks can be decarbonised over time.

Find out how Camden is working towards a low-carbon future.

A retrofit programme for Council housing is being developed and this will look at the installation of insulation, solar photovoltaic panels, heating and glazing. To find out more, contact Sim Dhinsa (Energy Performance Manager) [email protected]