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Please help! Alterations to shared ownership property

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Hi all,

I am really panicking!

I am in a shared ownership property. I own 60%. The house was a mess when I bought it and so over the last few years I've done a lot of home improvements.

My main issue is this:

I had a tiny not fit for purpose kitchen and a small dining room that was a total mess.  I got the wall removed and a new, bigger kitchen installed. The wall was not load bearing and apparently the rest of the houses on the street don't have it either.

However, I am planning on buying out the 40% shared ownership and had another look through the contract in preparation. 

I saw a line I had previously missed that states not to make any alterations of a non structural nature to the interior of the premises without consent of the landlord. (Such consent not to be reasonably withheld).

I accept that this is totally my fault and I missed that line when I first looked at the contract.

My question is...how screwed am I!? What will happen when they come to survey the property (valuation required before I buy them out).

Should I talk to them about this before the survey!?

I am spiralling a little so any advice would be much appreciated!

Comments

  • It sounds as though the house will be worth more with your improvements than prior = 40% will be higher.  If you have a record of the sales info when you bought it and show it to an estate agent who you ask to value the house now, you can prove this if you need to.  I would then go ahead with the valuation and wait for the 40% holder to raise a concern.  Hope this is helpful.
  • Mark_d
    Mark_d Posts: 2,401 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    With any leasehold property this is a standard condition of the lease.  The right thing to so would be to seek retrospective permission for the alterations you've made.  If you don't get the reqiured approvals then it will impact your ability to sell the property in the future.
  • eddddy
    eddddy Posts: 17,961 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    CASPIE said:

    (Such consent not to be reasonably withheld)
    I guess that's a typo, and you mean 'Such consent not to be unreasonably withheld).

    Which of the following is your concern (or is it both)?...
    • You will get into trouble for making alterations without consent
    • The surveyor will over value your property, because they'll value it including all the improvements you've made

    Taking a step back, an independent surveyor will probably come and value the property. Normally, you would tell them what improvements you've made, and show the consents. Then they'd exclude the improvements from their valuation...

    But...

    CASPIE said:

    I had a tiny not fit for purpose kitchen and a small dining room that was a total mess.  

    if you're saying that the previous owners let the property fall into disrepair, and you spent money putting it back into good condition - that's not improvements, that's just property maintenance. The surveyor won't make an allowance for that.

    CASPIE said:

    I got the wall removed and a new, bigger kitchen installed.

    Do you think that's increased the value of the property?

    If so, you could consider getting retrospective consent from the housing association, before getting the surveyor in. Then show the surveyor the consent, and they might reduce their valuation - which would reduce the cost of staircasing.


  • Mark_d said:
    With any leasehold property this is a standard condition of the lease.  The right thing to so would be to seek retrospective permission for the alterations you've made.  If you don't get the reqiured approvals then it will impact your ability to sell the property in the future.
    If he buys the freehold though then it will have no impact on future sales because the lease is null and void?
  • eddddy said:
    CASPIE said:

    (Such consent not to be reasonably withheld)
    I guess that's a typo, and you mean 'Such consent not to be unreasonably withheld).

    Which of the following is your concern (or is it both)?...
    • You will get into trouble for making alterations without consent
    • The surveyor will over value your property, because they'll value it including all the improvements you've made

    Taking a step back, an independent surveyor will probably come and value the property. Normally, you would tell them what improvements you've made, and show the consents. Then they'd exclude the improvements from their valuation...

    But...

    CASPIE said:

    I had a tiny not fit for purpose kitchen and a small dining room that was a total mess.  

    if you're saying that the previous owners let the property fall into disrepair, and you spent money putting it back into good condition - that's not improvements, that's just property maintenance. The surveyor won't make an allowance for that.

    CASPIE said:

    I got the wall removed and a new, bigger kitchen installed.

    Do you think that's increased the value of the property?

    If so, you could consider getting retrospective consent from the housing association, before getting the surveyor in. Then show the surveyor the consent, and they might reduce their valuation - which would reduce the cost of staircasing.


    Hi thanks for your reply. I guess my main concern is getting into trouble for making the alterations without permission.

    I think I have added significant value to the house overall with the improvements I've made so expect that the 40% I owe will be more than what they initially paid in anyway. 




  • Mark_d said:
    With any leasehold property this is a standard condition of the lease.  The right thing to so would be to seek retrospective permission for the alterations you've made.  If you don't get the reqiured approvals then it will impact your ability to sell the property in the future.
    I'm not too concerned about the impact on selling the property as I am planning on buying out the coownership in the next few months.

    I'm worried that if I asked for retrospective permission, what happens if they say no?
  • It sounds as though the house will be worth more with your improvements than prior = 40% will be higher.  If you have a record of the sales info when you bought it and show it to an estate agent who you ask to value the house now, you can prove this if you need to.  I would then go ahead with the valuation and wait for the 40% holder to raise a concern.  Hope this is helpful.
    Thanks for your reply. Yeah I'm thinking if the valuation is higher than what I bought it for (which it should be), the housing association won't care as they'll be making more?
  • housebuyer143
    housebuyer143 Posts: 4,254 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 4 September 2024 at 7:27AM
    I personally wouldn't mention it and maybe they don't even come around. Chances are they send a surveyor who doesn't even give it a second thought that you knocked through without permission (because he won't know anything about it), probably takes no photos and just gives them a valuation.
    If they find it, then play dumb and honestly because you are literally applying to buy the rest of the shares I doubt they will do much.
  • eddddy
    eddddy Posts: 17,961 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper

    Assuming your lease says that alterations are allowed with the freeholder's/landlord's consent - realistically, the only 'reasonable' grounds for refusing consent are if the alterations are detrimental to the freeholder or to other leaseholders.


    So that would include things like: reducing the structural stability of the building; increasing the risk of fire spreading; etc

    So, for example, they can't refuse consent because they don't like the idea of you removing a wall (or if they tried to refuse consent, you'd probably win a claim for 'unreasonable refusal to grant consent').


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