Building work done without the freeholders permission. How can I legalise it cheaply?

YongP

A little while ago I rearranged the walls within my flat to make use of some dead space in the eves of my house in order to add another bedroom. The work was conducted in accordance with building regs by professionals. Since this rejig I have since discovered that:
A) I needed the leaseholder’s permission to move the walls about
The dead space although not owned by any other flats in my block actually lies outside of the boundary of my property. (I am very new to leaseholds so please forgive my naivety!)

I would like to get my property re-valued ready for re-mortgaging (my aim here is to increase the flat value and potentially take out some cash) so I think I need to legalise the new form of the property. I understand that I could approach the freeholder to request permission for the works however I am concerned that:
A) They may refuse permission
They may understand the value it is adding to the flat and hold me to ransom.

They way I see it I have two options
A) Take the risk and request permission – my question here would be – are they likely to want to inspect the property and changes?
Purchase the whole freehold, modify the terms then resell the freehold. Obviously this will not be simple and will involve solicitor costs etc. but it will also allow me to make some external modifications as well. If I was to follow option B would the freeholder inspect each property before the sale (and thus notice my modifications)?

Does any one have an approximate idea how much the freeholder would expect for the freehold of a block of 10 flats paying ground rent of approx £200 a year (is £30-35,000 at all realistic)?

I realise I have vastly simplified a very complex issue here but thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

BitterAndTwisted

They could refuse permission, and they very likely will if they discover that you've grabbed a bit of the building which you don't own. Then they could insist that you put it all back to how it once was.

PasturesNew

Well, you won't be able to sell it like that .... except to a cash buyer at half price. So you'd better really ask for permission ...... with Plan B as backup. The cost of the permission for the extra bit you've grabbed (if given) will probably be proportionate to the increased value you've attained.

You should watch more Homes under the Hammer ... they're always mentioning little gems like needing the leaseholder's permission to make any changes to flats.

Richard_Webster

If you do nothing it will probably show up when you try to sell and then the buyer's solicitor will want it all put right and the freeholder will charge what he thinks he can get away with.

No reason why freeholder should sell freehold of block to you and if he was minded to he has to offer it to all the other flats owners 50+ % of whom can then require him to sell it them.

How long is your lease? Have you Googled the name of your freeholder to see if it a "famous" one?

partialycloudy

We requested permission to move some walls in our flat. All we had to do was send a drawing of before and after of what would be done and they sent a letter agreeing that it could be done...no charge or fees needed to be paid.

paulfoel

You admit yourself you dont know much about leaseholds etc so why didnt you take the time and effort to find this out BEFORE you had the work done?

Not being funny but you've taken something that isnt yours and I reckon its going to be costly to sort out the mess you've got yourself into.