Freeholder permissions policy

Policy statement

It is the policy of Leeds City Council to grant permission to freeholders to make alterations to the property, unless there is a good reason not to. It is necessary to consider the impact the alteration or improvement could have in terms of potential costs to the council. 

The council will consider the longer-term impact and costs or savings to the council in taking the decision.

The council may consider granting retrospective permission for alterations in line with the policy. If permission is not granted, the council will take enforcement action as set out in the Enforcement Procedure.

The council may undertake works to remedy any issues and this can be chargeable to the freeholder.

Tenants who purchase from the council under ‘right to buy’ (Freeholders) have an enduring obligation to ask for and obtain consent for any alterations or improvements they wish to undertake.

The right to buy standard transfer covenants on the sale to freeholders oblige them and their successors in title to obtain appropriate consents/approvals from the Council in its capacity of Housing Estate Managers/former landlord, as well as any permissions and approvals that may be required through Planning/Building Regulations and Highways etc. as may be applicable.

For freeholders the covenants state:

(v) Not to make any alterations or additions to the exterior of the said dwelling house nor alter the structure thereof nor construct or place any garage car port shed greenhouse or other building whether moveable or immovable or any wall fence or other erection whatsoever on the Property except with the consent in writing of the Transferor such consent not to be unreasonably withheld.

Party Wall Act 1996 - This requires an agreement to be drawn up between the 2 affected parties if the work involves any of the following:

  • build on or at the boundary of 2 properties
  • work on an existing party wall or party structure
  • dig below and near to the foundation level of their property

Examples of this type of work include:

  • building a new wall
  • cutting into a party wall
  • making a party wall taller, shorter or deeper
  • removing chimneys from a party wall
  • knocking down and rebuilding a party wall

In our case the agreement would be between the freeholder and Housing Leeds if we are the landlord of the neighbouring tenant or land.

More information can be found about this at GOV.UK.

Freeholder responsibilities

Freeholders are required to seek permission to make alterations by submitting a permission request form (Appendix 1) along with any plans or drawings of the proposed work.

Please note that where the request is made by a Freeholder they should be advised they will be charged an admin fee for us to process and respond to the request. This will also cover the cost if a technical officer is required to visit.

Requests that could be refused or need further inspection

If the proposed work could impact one of our assets – for example interferes or makes changes to a shared boundary or requires substantial work on our asset such as digging the garden for pipes, then this could be grounds for refusal.

An inspection would be required in these cases. This visit could be completed by a housing officer to check the location and discuss with the freeholder. If the inspection is of a more technical nature, then a technical officer would be required to complete this. 

Advice and assistance can be provided by the land enquiries team at LEDA.and.Land.Enquir@leeds.gov.uk and the Right To Buy team at house.sales@leeds.gov.uk.

Freeholders should be able to provide their own boundary maps given to them at the point of sale. You should always request this to aid the decision-making process. LCC will not pay for or find deed maps on behalf of the freeholder.

If the proposed work affects our asset during the works but would not cause long term detriment or cost to LCC once the work has been completed, this would be acceptable and can be approved. 

In some cases, we may require a party wall agreement to be signed with the freeholder and ourselves which is a legally binding agreement stating what work will be carried out on or around the boundary. This should be drafted and provided by the freeholder for the housing manager to agree and sign.

Any request from tenants who live in a PFI/refurbished property must also be considered by the PFI contract team. Please email full details as follows: 

This policy does not apply to leaseholders or tenants.

For tenant enquiries please refer to the permission for tenant improvements policy.

See also the Right To Buy (RTB) policy

Review

This policy and procedure will be reviewed May 2028.