double glazing fitted without freeholders consent

phatbear

i currently own a leasehold flat and when i moved in, due to road noise and drafts, i had new glazing fitted to my bay windows and a new double glazed back door as the old would one open if you looked at it to hard.

anyway i am now in the process of selling my flat to buy a house and filling out the "leasehold information form" i noticed there is a question about alterations to the property including double glazing etc and if permission was sought for the installation.

Being new to all this i never even considered that i would need permission to change the windows etc.

so if i state on the form that i have had them installed and i did not seek permission can this cause problems with the sale, or can the freeholder retrospectively ask for them to be removed or ask for a payment for authorisation.

im a tad lost with all this

ethank

The freeholder can ask for them to be changed or ask for a payment for authorisation. Do you have a freeholder and are you paying service charge or ground rent to them? I had an absent landlord so it did not matter, and the indemnity policy I was given by the seller meant that I could update my windows without consent.

You may find that your freeholder has to give consent to the sale as well, and that the buyer's solicitor will want contact with the freeholder as part of the enquiries process.

Marktheshark

Of course you need permission, you own a lease, a contract that lets you live in someone else's property.
Thats what a lease is, the building belongs to the freeholder.

phatbear

ethank wrote: »

Do you have a freeholder and are you paying service charge or ground rent to them? I had an absent landlord so it did not matter, and the indemnity policy I was given by the seller meant that I could update my windows without consent.

i pay my service charge and ground rent to a management company.

looking at the lease the only thing i can see that i fall foul of is:

"not to make any structural alterations or structural additions to the demised premises nor to erect any new buildings thereon or remove any of the landlords fixtures with out the consent in writing of the landlord"

the lease was issued in 1981 for 999 years and the windows that were present when i moved in certainly weren't 32 years old.

so is it the "landlords fixtures" that will cause an issue.

Lord_Baltimore

You should have asked for permission; however, as the double-glazing is a desirable improvement it may be possible to get retrospective approval. I think you need to 'own up'; most landlords will graciously accept an improvement of this nature to their property I would think.

phatbear

i know its no defence, well not in law anyway, but this was my 1st ever property purchase following on from a messy break up and it never even crossed my mind that such things would need permission, heck its only just come to light as i am filling out the sellers pack for my solicitor.

Shahni

In your position I would wait and see what the buyers and their solicitors say. Don't lie on the property information forms but also don't take any action. The buyer's solicitors may insist on you approaching the landlord for retrospective permission, but they might be satisfied with an indemnity policy (and you won't be able to get one if you've already approached the landlord). If their conveyancer is not very attentive they might ask for nothing at all, and (provided you've been honest about the lack of consent) that would not be your problem.

Lord_Baltimore

phatbear wrote: »

i know its no defence, well not in law anyway, but this was my 1st ever property purchase following on from a messy break up and it never even crossed my mind that such things would need permission, heck its only just come to light as i am filling out the sellers pack for my solicitor.

Fair enough and apologies if I sounded a little accusatory. A lesson learned eh? We're all still learning I can assure you!

phatbear

Shahni wrote: »

In your position I would wait and see what the buyers and their solicitors say. Don't lie on the property information forms but also don't take any action.

sounds like a plan as im not really into lying about such things as i think it would probably come back and bite me on the behind

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

Fair enough and apologies if I sounded a little accusatory. A lesson learned eh? We're all still learning I can assure you!

no apologies required i didn't take any offence.

not only was that my 1st purchase, at a time of increased stress, but this is now my 1st sale and you're right it is a learning experience

Hoploz

An option would be to leave the question blank and see if it's picked up ... Then you've not technically lied, have you?! My seller left loads blank (and we knew he had lied on other parts) but we got everything we needed sorted without going back to them for too many bits and pieces. They were divorcing so it was a bit messy too!

I was going to add that on here a short time ago I read someone who was in the same position as you who posted that they had asked for retrospective permission fro the LL and he was asking for thousands for the permission. I don't know what happened in the end. Sounds ridiculous, I hope it was a one off, but thought I would mention in case you could get away without rocking any boats!

phatbear

Hoploz wrote: »

I was going to add that on here a short time ago I read someone who was in the same position as you who posted that they had asked for retrospective permission fro the LL and he was asking for thousands for the permission

i had googled about this situation and came a across a few instances where the freeholder wanted thousand for retrospective permission, i suppose they had that person, as they would have me, over a barrel so can ask for as much as they pretty much want.

i like your thinking but im pretty sure my solicitor would pick on the lack of cross in the box i think im gonna go down the honesty route, as previously suggested, and hope either their solicitor/surveyor overlooks it or I can get a indemnity policy to cover this.

feel like a proper eejit and would hate for this to slow my sale process down as the buyer is a buy to letter and i reckon they would pass it over if there were any issues