Extension / changing layout on a ground floor maisonette

[Needmorespacenow]

I live in a ground floor maisonette. The layout is what you would expect with the kitchen and bathroom at end of the flat with the living room at the front of the house. It's not ideal for daily living with small DC though the rooms and dimensions are generous and we love the location. I'm thinking about moving which would be a pain and expensive but also think I could possibly change the layout and perhaps extend to make a large kitchen diner and living space.

The property has a 999 lease and freeholder is very distant (peppercorn ground rent and no service charges). I don't think it would be an issue with them.

Anyone have any experience of extending or changing the layout in a ground floor flat?

Come on, OP. Floorplan required!

Do you have a garden to extend into? I think it will depend on what your lease says. I owned a flat which the lease dictated what colour windows I could have and we were meant to get permission to change from single to double glazed. And it wasn’t listed or in a conservation area.

I’d look carefully at costs of doing the work and cost of moving quite carefully. Even with a 999 year lease, I’d still rather have a freehold. Especially if there are flats above or to the side of you that you could be partly responsible for.

Move

In our area the leases seem to allow loft extensions, but they don't allow extensions because the layouts typically have shared access/ground adjacent to the walls of the house, with separate gardens set slightly back from the walls. So there is no chance of getting permission to build across those strips. But if that is not something in your lease you could be ok