Making a change to our leasehold property

Doglovertwo2

We bought our property a couple of years ago (75 persent shared ownership) There is a mixture of bungalows and flats on our over 55’s estate. Several properties have added French Doors. We live in a ground floor flat (there are four flats in total on our block, not communal). As the other ground floor flat has French doors I requested permission to install some too. This was declined. I argued that at least 8 other properties had installed doors. After many emails permission was still not forthcoming. Apparently they gave permission to some and have ‘tolerated’ the others.
I have to admit through anger and frustration in 2023 we installed the doors anyway.
We have now been threatened with court action for breaking the terms of our lease and must reinstall the window.
All we wanted was what was we deemed as fair treatment for everyone. Also as there was only one exit and access we now feel safer knowing that there is now a second point of exit and access.
Any help/suggestions regarding this would be much appreciated.

user1977

What exactly does your lease say about such alterations?

Olinda99

If your lease says that you will need permission then you will need permission the risk is by going ahead anyway you will forfeit the lease

so I would be careful what you do going forward and understand the consequences of what you do.

If the freeholder requires you to put it back.to as it was then you might have to do just that.

https://www.lease-advice.org/faq/what-happens-if-i-breach-the-terms-of-my-lease/

eddddy

I suspect the big problem here is that you own a flat, which generally means you don't 'own' the external wall.

The external wall is probably owned by the Freeholder (the Housing Association) - so you've cut a hole in a wall that doesn't belong to you.

So even if your lease allows you to make alterations to your flat (which you own), it's unlikely to allow you to alter a wall which doesn't belong to you.


(If some of the people who've installed french doors own houses, not flats, they typically 'own' the external walls. So their situation is very different to yours.)


Unless you can persuade the Housing Association to change their minds and give consent (as a gesture of goodwill), it's hard to see how you can avoid reinstating the wall and window.

Doglovertwo2

Thank you for your reply. Its not a housing association, and everyone on the estate has bought 75 percent of the leasehold on their properties.

eddddy

Doglovertwo2 said:

Thank you for your reply. Its not a housing association, and everyone on the estate has bought 75 percent of the leasehold on their properties.

I'm not sure if you're commenting on my use of the word 'own' (because you only own 75%)  - as in "your flat (which you own)"

Just to clarify, I used 'own' as a shorthand for 'demised to you under your lease'.

So you can read my comments as...

"the external wall is not demised to you under your lease"

"your flat (which is demised to you under your lease)"

"you've cut a hole in a wall that isn't demised to you under your lease"

"If some of the people who've installed french doors own houses, not flats, then typically the external walls are demised to them under their lease."

NameUnavailable

Your only option is to ask for retrospective permission and offer to pay any required fees (and possibly offer a structural survey on the works to reassure the freeholders that the work has been carried out properly).

What is different about your flat windows? I wonder if there's a reason why others were allowed but not yours?

Ultimately if they say no you will have to pay for the work to be 'undone' and put back as before.