Leasehold and Removing Internal Wall

[LeaseQA]

My house is leasehold (877 years remaining). I bought it 20+ years ago.

I am charged around £2 per year sporadically. Property management company changes every few years so they rarely contact me to request payment.

We are now in a position to remove an internal wall in the kitchen and change the windows. We don't think it is a load-bearing wall but will find out when we appoint a builder, and take necessary steps.

I am the last house on the block to do this. The other houses are under same leasehold but they said they have never sought permission.

Do I need to request permission from the PMC?

If I do alert them is there a chance they may charge me ridiculous cost for paperwork?

When I moved in years ago, it was only highlighted then during the sale that the internal wall between lounge/diner had been removed many years before by previous owners. The PMC at the time of me moving in didn't seem bothered and just said they were not aware of the change of configuration from 2 rooms to 1. They would add it to their file.

That was a bit long!! Any advice would be welcome.

Permission must be sought from the freeholder for changes in layout. Failing to secure permission means you will be in breach of your lease which almost certainly will require permission to be sought. The ramifications are for damages to be sought from you by the freeholder and for the property to revert to the original layout and forfeiture of the lease although this is unlikely.

Thanks Jonb6 for your advice.

I assume I would never be responsible for putting back the original lounge/diner wall as this was done years before I moved in. I think I still have the property details stating one through lounge.

Would they expect to see some sort of plans/drawings for my application to remove the kitchen wall?

Are you certain the property is leasehold or is it subject to a Rentcharge or Chief Rent? The length of the lease and small annual charge are why I ask?

I assume I would never be responsible for putting back the original lounge/diner wall as this was done years before I moved in.

I have a leasehold property albeit with long-dead absent freeholders from the 1800s! My house has had some structural changes over the past 20-30 years. I still had to get indemnity insurance in case of a claim from the freeholder (which the sellers paid for). Even if you didn’t do the work you could be put in a position where you could be challenged as liable, that was my understanding from my conveyancers at the time anyway.

Hi wowfudge yes it's leasehold. I understand the land was owned by the Earl of Derby. My title deeds have some very old paperwork. The lease was purchased in 1898. It's an old terraced house. All the houses on this block are leasehold.

Hi Fenella yes this is something I brought up with the Management Company at the time of purchase. They didn't seem too concerned about the lounge wall being knocked through by previous owner.
It was more of a 'tut tut they should have told us but we'll update our records'.

Because of the age of the property and the peppercorn rent it seems like the houses on this street are leasehold in name only. Nobody seems to be interested. I had to ring around and track the latest Company so I could pay my £2. They were quite surprised I had contacted them.

Also, we will never be selling. Our house will be left for family.

If need be I have no objections in throwing a wall back up and making lounge/diner back into 2 rooms. It's something I've often considered on cold nights!

Normally the freeholders would expect a report from a structural engineer before consenting to structural changes. You could just ask them, by far the simplest way. If consent is given be sure to retain it in writing in case of future issues. As it's a house not an apartment it's possibly going to be less of an issue because structural alterations of a house are less likely to interfere with the integrity of a building compared with that containing apartments.

Hi Jonb6 I'll drop them an email today. It's worth getting everything agreed, thanks for your help.