small roof from one side of the flat - do i need planning permission?

ejmi

hi! I've recently moved to a leasehold ground floor flat with garden. there is 6 flats per block. we're not paying maintanance charge until sth is broken and needs repair. I found out gutter is leaking which caused water dropping on my patio (2 part already damaged) and water is splashing on walls which caused mold growing. As repair will be significant cost probably it will take ages to collect money so I was thinking to put small roof (8m wide but just 30-40cm out from the wall - more like small canopy but just made of plastic roof elements) of course it will not be higher than my flat. in lease I didn't find anything about it so probably general rules apply. I cannot find any general rules for sth like this. obviously I will ask managing company if it's ok to do but need some help of finding some general rules also just to avoid any issue when I will make it and then find out that I needed permission or so.
maybe someone did sth similar?

G_M

Almost certainly it is the freeholder/management company's responsibility/duty to repair the structure/external walls/roof.

That means you cannot. If you were to do any damage you would be liable.

Of course, you could just quietly fix it and hope no one notices and you don't do any damage but I'm not recommending this,

And frankly your intended fix sems mad! A leaking gutter requires a repair to the gutter! This is pretty easy/cheap unless you need scaffolding. Is that the issue here?

Your plan of a 'canopy' will cause damage either

* in fixing it to the wall and/or
* the dripping water will splash against the wall, causing penetrating damp (to the flat above yours and/or your flat) and you will be liable as you caused this damage.

ejmi

managing company is responsible for repair but will not do anything until all neighbours will not collect money. it will need scaffolding that's why it will be significant cost.
i wasn't planning to repair it by myself but stop causing my flat being damaged (water splashing my walls and damaging patio). hope it's clear now. it was thinking about sth like canopy (just to show you the idea) but actually it would be small roof with 45 degrees to the wall just to avoid splashing upstairs neighbour walls.

G_M

I'd ba wary about attaching it to the wall. If it's free-standing I don't see a problem.

But start the process for the gutters too.A formal letter to the MC requesting repair. If they do nothing, refer to http://www.lease-advice.org/ for how to enforce.

Not sure why you mention Planning Permission in the thread title. This is not a planning issue.

Cakeguts

ejmi wrote: »

managing company is responsible for repair but will not do anything until all neighbours will not collect money. it will need scaffolding that's why it will be significant cost.
i wasn't planning to repair it by myself but stop causing my flat being damaged (water splashing my walls and damaging patio). hope it's clear now. it was thinking about sth like canopy (just to show you the idea) but actually it would be small roof with 45 degrees to the wall just to avoid splashing upstairs neighbour walls.

No you can't attach anything to the wall because it doesn't belong to you. The only person who can do this is the freeholder as it is their wall.

ejmi

thank you for all replies.
to sum it up:
I cannot attached anything to the outside wall as it belong to freeholder (I cannot even do it with their consent?)
I need to request repair of gutter asap which I was planning to do anyway (is there any time to do so require by law so I will know when should I go to get advice to lease advice? any specific letter with pictures or just request for repairing?)
in the meantime I cannot do nothing to prevent more damage?

Cakeguts

ejmi wrote: »

thank you for all replies.
to sum it up:
I cannot attached anything to the outside wall as it belong to freeholder (I cannot even do it with their consent?)
I need to request repair of gutter asap which I was planning to do anyway (is there any time to do so require by law so I will know when should I go to get advice to lease advice? any specific letter with pictures or just request for repairing?)
in the meantime I cannot do nothing to prevent more damage?

If you have the consent of the freeholder in writing you can attach something to their wall but you can't just go ahead and do it because it isn't your wall. You need to request the repair of the gutter.

ejmi

my plan is to request gutter repair from my managing company. as I'm aware it can take some time asked them also for consent of doing this small roof. I would send them a formal letter with pictures and draft how I'm planning to do so.

do you think it will be ok or do I need anything else? neighbour consent? concil consent etc?