Making use of loft in leasehold flat

magic_crayon

I bought a leasehold flat around 5 years ago and have been considering making use of it's loft space. There are obviously no flats above me and the only access hatch to the loft is from my flat.

I contacted the freeholder to enquire about using the loft space and my request was immediately rejected with no reason other than that the loft belongs to them and that I should not attempt to gain access to it. I understand that technically it is theirs but as they have no means of accessing it without going through my flat, it is space that is being wasted that I could make very good use of.

My plan was to seal the insulation and board the entire floor so that I could initially use it for storage then in the longer term potentially place a small desk and table up there that I could use for work/study. I have no desire to attempt a full loft conversion!!

What I really want to know is whether the freeholder is likely to ever need access to my loft and for what reasons they might? Also, if they did, does anyone know where I'd stand legally if they found that I had been using the space?

I don't normally venture in to this section of the forum so I apologise if I have posted this in the wrong area!

Thanks

forgotmyname

Have you looked up there?

My FIL's place has boiler vent ducting and waterpipes in the loft space so access could be needed at any time.

Mr_Ted

:eek: NO means NO :eek:

You will be putting yourself in a very dodgy position if you ignore the property owners instruction

McKneff

You've been expressly told NOT to use it.

2 months notice to quit might be the result.....

mart.vader

McKneff wrote: »

You've been expressly told NOT to use it.

2 months notice to quit might be the result.....

No Way. The OP bought the flat. The Freeholder, not the property owner, has refused. The OP can't be given notice to quit. No Judge would order eviction for such a minor breach of the lease. A Judge might, however, order the loft to be returned to it's former condition, immediately.

OP needs to have a thorough read of his lease. If it is anything like mine was, it will say (in legalese ) that he owns and has responsibility for condition of the joists and probably the roof structure, but, if it's like mine, it won't say anything at all about the space above them.

If the lease is silent on the use of the loft, AFAIK, the OP can use it, There is most likely a clause in the lease prohibiting permanent alterations to the flat without FH written approval.

If the OP goes ahead and uses the loft space, in breach of a clause of the lease, and simply does not tell the FH, if the FH finds out, say, during an inspection, the FH only has the option of seeking enforcement of the lease at Court.

During the twenty years that my flat was under lease, the FH never once came round to inspect, and if he had, he wouldn't have bothered to look in the loft, (in any case, I wouldn't have lent him my ladder !)

If the OP goes into the loft, I should warn him, It aint arf hot, up there !

magic_crayon

Thanks for the replies! I have taken a brief peep through the hatch previously and just noticed that it is big and dark. I will need to take a proper look with a decent torch. There probably is piping running through it, that is a good point and could be a problem. I agree that I should verify what's written on the lease too. It seems obvious but I didn't even think to refer to that, having been refused by email. I will dig it out and see what it says. Hopefully that will help to clarify for me (fingers tightly crossed it is not mentioned).

Indeed if was to break the terms and they were to find out, IF the worst case was that I would have to undo my work I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world but I will consider that carefully before deciding what, if anything I decide to do up there!

zzzLazyDaisy

If it is a modern flat, the leases usually say something like you own the everything inside including the inside skin of the walls and ceiling. Anything outside this (which would include the loft, and the outside of your wall where it adjoins a communal hallway, for example, belongs to the freeholder.

When I had a modern top floor flat like that, both mine and all the other top floor flats had been boarded out for storage. It was obviously against the lease, but like your flat, the only access was through each particular flat. In my flat there were no pipes, so that wasn't an issue.*

You should be careful about putting a desk up there though, because ceiling joists are only 4", and not meant to take weight. Your desk, plus you walking around up there, could bring the whole lot down into your own flat, and then you'd have real problems!

*Note - I am not suggesting that you breach your lease, just saying what had happened in those flats

macman

Aside from the obvious leasehold and possibly planning issues, you can't use it as anything other than storage space (i.e. not as additional living space) without it passing Building Control, which it won't do without adequate stair access (not a loft ladder), ventilation and windows. Furthermore the ceiling joists won't take the load, so you would need to insert steels to support a new floor on-and the roof height may be inadequate. You would need the freeholder's permission for any such structural work-which of course they will rightly refuse.
Using it for work/study is a full loft conversion, you can't get round the regs by doing it by stealth in stages.
You don't exclusively own the loft or the roof, so forget it.

smashingyour...

macman wrote: »

Aside from the obvious leasehold and possibly planning issues, you can't use it as anything other than storage space (i.e. not as additional living space) without it passing Building Control, which it won't so without adequate stair access (not a loft ladder), ventilation and windows. Furthermore the ceiling joists won't take the load, so you would need to insert steels to support a new floor on-and the roof height may be inadequate. You would need the freeholder's permission for any such structural work-which of course they will rightly refuse.
Using it for work/study is a full loft conversion, you can't get round the regs by doing it by stealth in stages.
You don't [STRIKE]exclusively[/STRIKE] own the loft or the roof, so forget it.

You used one word too many.

cattie

If you want to have use of the loft then you need to approach the freeholder about selling it. That empty loft above you would add thousands to a flat if it were able to be converted, so obviously no savvy freeholder is going to give it away for nothing.

As others have said & your freeholder has pointed out, you don't own the loft or the roof, so you are not free to have the use of it.

The problem is, now you have alerted freeholder to the fact that you want use of the loft, there is really nothing stopping him or her taking action to ensure you haven't gone against their instructions & are making use of the loft space.

[Deleted User]

OP, reading the previous posts the consensus of opinion seems to be that the answer is an anagram of the word 'ON' I'm afraid ...