Shared ownership alternations permission

[Justinkase]

Has anyone been granted permission to divide a bedroom in a shared ownership property?

There are currently 2 windows in the bedroom we would like to divide so would only need to add a ceiling light fitting, radiator, dividing wall and door and move a light switch and plug socket.

Obviously I will ask permission from the housing association but was wondering if anyone had been granted this before and if the process was easy?

The current bedroom is a large double and would make it 2 reasonable sized singles.

It will depend on your landlord but all the housing associations I’ve worked for have allowed alterations providing they didn’t impact on the structural integrity of the property, its value, or the landlord’s obligations. This is a typical policy, for reference: www.chsgroup.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Shared-Owners-Application-for-Alterations-Policy-final.pdf

A stud wall would generally be fine (unless it created two impractically small rooms), but they will require you to submit plans and drawings, have a structural survey done, ensure anything like electrical work is certificated, and in some cases use a contractor from their own approved list.

Whether it’s “easy” depends on how efficient your landlord is and whether they have a dedicated officer dealing with this sort of thing. I’ll be honest - I’ve worked for some HAs where such a request would do the rounds of the Property Services team’s desks for months before somebody actioned it.