Worried that I didn't receive consent from landlord for renovations...

[hyperbole001]

I’m concerned that I didn’t receive the required landlord consent to carry out the renovations that I did on my flat and that this will now cause me ramifications when I eventually come to sell.

I live in a leasehold block of flats (13 flats in total) and have a share of the freehold. I enquired with the estate agent before making an offer to see if I could renovate as the flat had only ever had tenants in, and was in a sorry state (kitchen was rotting and the bathroom was covered in mould) – my offer also reflected this. The estate agents said it wouldn’t be an issue and they were aware that another flat owner had recently renovated their bathroom.

After completing, I enquired again as I was keen to get renovations underway and completed before I moved in. The estate agent put me in the touch with the managing agent of the building who works on behalf of the landlord/residents, and is essentially our main contact for when anything goes wrong.

I specifically asked if I could replace both the bathroom and the kitchen but also whether I was allowed to remove a boiler that had been placed on an external wall and reposition this elsewhere (my builder requested I check as some flats insist that boilers are placed on an external wall). The response I got from the managing agent was the following:

“Boiler should be able to be moved without permission as well as changing the bathroom and kitchen as it is not going to be effecting the exterior of the block”

Does this constitute consent from landlord? The managing agent is the go-between – we don’t have any contact with the landlord.

In my naïve FTB state, I should have studied the lease, which I now have and which stipulates that permission needs to be sort before any renovations take place, particularly if there are structural changes. Now I didn’t knock though any walls etc, but we did replumb the kitchen, add extra sockets, reposition a radiator, and reposition the boiler as mentioned above. Does this constitute a ‘structural change’?

The lease also states that lessees should ‘redecorate’ the flat every 5 years to ensure it is kept in a good state – when I purchased the flat it was clear that it hadn’t been redecorated in its 12yr history.

I’m basically wondering if I have any legs by showing them the email I have from the managing agent, should I come to sell in a few years, and be asked about whether I sought consent?

Can anyone help?

No advice but wtf? I never knew this was a thing outside of renting, surely the benefit of owning a property is being able to renovate and decorate however you like (aside from listed buildings etc.)

Why have you got a landlord if you own the property? Doesn't make sense.

Structural changes are things like walls.

I don't understand this either. Surely it's your home that you own so you can refurb it how you like. I can understand there may be limitation to any external work to keep the integrity of the block, but not internal work

@heartcake

Why have you got a landlord if you own the property? Doesn't make sense.

Because it's a leasehold property. There will be a freeholder (rather than a landlord I guess)

If you have a share of the freehold then isn’t the landlord a company owned by you and your fellow flat owners?

@ASimpleLobsterHat

If you have a share of the freehold then isn’t the landlord a company owned by you and your fellow flat owners?

I was just coming to say this - you are one of your landlords. Who else has a share of the freehold?

What does the lease actually say? Is there a definition of landlord consent or landlord permission?

Leaseholder here. Check your lease. It may be fine but in our case we had a similar clause (re upkeep) and we still required consent for a new boiler, windows and even moving the sink. The previous owners installed an extractor fan without permission and were required to pay £1000 in retrospective consent and £1000 on indemnity insurance. Good luck and hopefully you will have got away with it.

Nothing you have described is a structural change, dont worry.

@firefly if they paid that they were ripped off - indemnity is about £120-250 and if they applied for consent they couldn't buy an indemnity.
Be that as it may, you have got consent so just keep that email or letter.

@changingforthetimes agree, it was a lot of money! I think it was the fact that it was retrospective consent, so although it was given it was dependent on the indemnity given as it wasn't obtained at the time - agreed though they could (and should have shopped around). It made us very (probably overly) cautious going forward. The clause in our lease doesn't look too onerous at first sight - it's consent for alterations such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, which they will happily give you provided you pay up. It's very frustrating when technically you own a property but you have these concerns about making alterations to your own home.

@ASimpleLobsterHat

If you have a share of the freehold then isn’t the landlord a company owned by you and your fellow flat owners?

This

This will be fine. You have an email and you haven't done anything major like remove a wall or affect any other flats. You wouldn't normally need permission to just replace kitchens/bathrooms and seems they weren't worried about the boiler.

It’s fine, OP!

1. Share of freehold means you are 1/13 of the landlord! There is no ‘landlord’ to run things by - you and the other 12 flats are ‘the landlord’ and in order to manage that responsibility you’ve all appointed a managing agent. They’ve advised you in writing so it’s fine.
2. Kitchens, bathrooms and boilers, sockets & decoration aren’t structural. If you’d knocked a wall down it would be structural. And even then indemnity certificates can be bought (we had this issue in a share of freehold flat when we bought).

Don’t stress!

Noone really gives a toss about these. Unless you have affected the structural integrity, allow things to fall into disrepair or build something that will impact the other leaseholders.

Seems like you have a third party which manages the freehold even though you have a share, common with more than a few flats so things may be more official and they can be dicks sometimes but if anything everyone will be pleased you've upgraded things.

@ASimpleLobsterHat

If you have a share of the freehold then isn’t the landlord a company owned by you and your fellow flat owners?

Yes, all 13 of us have a share of the freehold. But the lease specifically refers to a 'landlord' hence my confusion...

The lease also specifies that we need to seek permission before getting a pet from the landlord. When I contacted the managing agent to seek permission, she said permission could be sought via the directors (of which technically I am soon to be one). Of the 13 flats, there are 3 directors. They (directors) have asked if I'd like to be one so that there are 4 in total.

@NoSquirrels

It’s fine, OP!

1. Share of freehold means you are 1/13 of the landlord! There is no ‘landlord’ to run things by - you and the other 12 flats are ‘the landlord’ and in order to manage that responsibility you’ve all appointed a managing agent. They’ve advised you in writing so it’s fine.
2. Kitchens, bathrooms and boilers, sockets & decoration aren’t structural. If you’d knocked a wall down it would be structural. And even then indemnity certificates can be bought (we had this issue in a share of freehold flat when we bought).

Don’t stress!

This is reassuring, thank you!

@ASimpleLobsterHat

What does the lease actually say? Is there a definition of landlord consent or landlord permission?

I've just re-checked the lease and it states:

not to make alterations without written approval of the landlord and then only in accordance with plans and specifications approved in writing by landlord (such approval not to be unreasonably withheld in the case of non-structural alterations and in the case of substitute kitchen and bathroom fittings by new fittings of equal quality to the fittings which they replace

So if I'm understanding this correct, permission is sought via the 'directors' of the management firm, of which I am one?

And sorry if I'm being thick here, but does replumbing the kitchen which resulted in the sink, dishwasher and washing machine being repositioned, constitute a structural change?

I also erected a false wall (made of plasterboard) to install a pocket door - is this a structural change?

On the basis of that wording then you should have got consent, but what you have done is non-structural so the landlord cannot unreasonably withhold the consent. Given the May the landlord is you and the other flat owners then I can’t imagine they would have a problem with granting a retrospective consent. The lease doesn’t specify it has to be by deed, only writing, so it would be fairly simple to sort I would have thought.

All of this should have been explained by your solicitor so you understood freehold and how the management company works. It should have directors appointed from amongst the freeholders. Our estate has 5 directors out of 13 owners. The directors in our case must approve planning proposals before they go forward to the council. I think you need to find out who the directors are and if the Man Co has an agent or secretary with whom you can correspond. Again, you should have been given the details.

So it sounds like in your block of 13, there are 3 directors, who jointly make the decisions as ‘the landlord’. You’ll be a director soon too. Meaning you can ‘approve’ things like new kitchens etc.

Leasehold flats are usually full of old clauses etc. ‘Share of freehold’ usually commands a premium over a regular ‘leasehold’ flat precisely because the residents can make the rules, set charges for communal sinking funds, and so on, getting the best value for money.

You just need to do some reading about share of freehold flats so you have a basic understanding before you go to a directors meeting. But in the instances you’ve quoted, and in a pretty small block of flats, I really wouldn’t get concerned over any of this. Become a director and you can basically rubber stamp whatever you’ve already done.

Do read up, though. It’s a bit worrying you’ve bought without your solicitor explaining how leasehold/share of freehold works.

Thank you @PresentingPercy and @NoSquirrels - super, super helpful. And in fairness, I'm clearly just a little bit dense. Because I know who the directors are, and who the appointed manager of the management company is. I attended the last AGM too. I guess I was just ignorant to what owning a share of the freehold actually means, and the terminology in the lease complete threw me into a panic.

I'm reassured by the responses in this thread that I haven't don't anything drastically wrong, and hopefully shouldn't have too many issues when I come to sell in a few years time.

I echo PP, you haven't made any structural changes so having clear permission isn't needed. Permission cannot he unreasonably withheld anyway, and you were advised in writing that your changes shouldn't need permission.

In the future, make sure you ask your conveyancing solicitor all/any questions you have about a property before you buy it and not the EA, they can tell you whatever you want to hear and have no legal responsibility.

My Gran was a director of her flats. She explained it to me as a system to make sure residents didn't annoy each other with 25 barking dogs, structural work that would impact on other flats, or a resident redecorating the stairwell in lime green.

The residents all paid an annual fee, managed by gran as the company secretary (so she submitted accounts to companies house every year) which was used for redecoration and maintenance of communal areas inside or outside and insurance related to those areas.

However you could be wise to get a solicitor or conveyancing agent to explain the specifics of your leasehold to you, so you are reassured/aware.