If you are thinking of making home improvements to your property, the issue of planning permission may weigh heavily on your mind. But did you know that, in many cases, you won’t need to obtain planning consent? Under ‘permitted development rights’, homeowners are able to make certain alterations without the need to apply for planning permission. This may include loft extensions, garage conversions and home extensions.

At Able Surveyors, our team of experienced Chartered Surveyors provides a wide range of surveying services and property-related services to help our clients get the most from their property asset. Let’s take a deep dive into the subject of Permitted Development and find out what it’s all about, and how the provisions can make your life easier when it comes to upgrading your property.

What is Permitted Development?

According to the government website, “permitted development rights are a national grant of planning permission which allow certain building works and changes of use to be carried out without having to make a planning application”. For homeowners wanting to improve their dwelling, this can be of major benefit to anyone wanting to add value to their property or maximise the potential of a new property investment.

Permitted development rights apply to the building as it was built or, for older properties, as it stood on 1^st July 1948. There is a limit to the number of alterations that can be made to a building under permitted development. If you purchase a property that has already been altered including any additions made by previous owners since 1948, it is possible that some or all of the property’s permitted development allocation may have already been used up.

Permitted development is regulated through local planning authorities, in the same way as planning consent. Before you start your build, you need to ensure that your plans are compliant and obtain written confirmation from your local planning officer that the proposed works are indeed classed as permitted development. Visit the Planning Portal to review the rules and ask your local planning authority for guidance, if you’re not sure.

What are you allowed to do under Permitted Development?

Permitted development rights for households fall into different categories, depending on the proposed improvements for internal or external works. Each category stipulates criteria that must be fulfilled for permitted development rights to apply, otherwise planning consent must be obtained. Here’s a list of home improvements that generally fall under permitted development rights:

• Erection of front porch
• Garage conversion
• Side extension
• Rear building extension
• Loft conversion
• Installation of rooflights and dormer windows
• Internal alterations to the building
• External solar roof panel installation
• Erection of antennae and satellite dishes

What are you NOT allowed to do under Permitted Development?

If your building plans involve a new-build house or the formation of new dwellings by subdividing an existing property, permitted development rights are unlikely to apply. The list below includes other types of work that also fall outside the scope of permitted development:

• Building a front extension
• Verandas and balconies
• Raised platforms
• Extensions that are larger than half of the original land around the original house
• Extensions that are in excess of 4 metres high or larger than half the width of the original house

It is important to note that permitted development rights do not apply to leasehold properties, including flats and maisonettes, nor to listed buildings.

Can Permitted Development rights be withdrawn?

It would be unwise to assume that permitted development rights will always apply, since it is possible for permitted development rights to be restricted or withdrawn. As already mentioned above, leasehold properties do not have any permitted development rights. Check the lease to see what alterations are permitted and obtain the landlord’s written consent for any alterations you wish to make. For structural alterations to a flat or maisonette, you will also need to obtain planning consent.

If your house already is already affected by planning restrictions, for example if it is located in a Conservation Area, an AONB, National Park or World Heritage Site, there may be an Article 4 Direction in place to remove or restrict your permitted development rights. In this case, priority is given to the preservation of the specific character of the local area. The same applies if the property in question is a listed building, requiring Listed Building Consent or improvements or alterations to any of the ‘listed’ architectural features.

What to do next?

If you wish to carry out home improvements or structural alterations to your property, your first port of call should be the Planning Portal and your local planning authority. Here you will find useful guidance and obtain written confirmation that your building project falls under permitted development. If the proposed works fall outside the scope for permitted development for whatever reason, planning consent will have to be sought.

Improving your property to make it more comfortable to live in while adding value is high on the agenda for many homebuyers and owners. For professional advice and guidance regarding your permitted development rights and any planning issues you could be facing, contact Able Surveyors for an initial consultation.

If you are in the process of buying your next home, you know how long and arduous the journey can be. Once your offer price has been accepted and solicitors have been instructed, there’s still plenty that can go wrong before contracts are exchanged – and that includes gazumping.

Research carried out by finance provider MFS in 2020 showed that 31% of UK homebuyers (47% in London) over the last 10 years had experienced gazumping and lost out on a home purchase as a result, and the trend is set to continue as the market grows.

Let’s take a closer look at the dreaded practice and how you can protect yourself.

What is gazumping?

Gazumping happens when another buyer makes a higher offer for the property on which you have agreed the purchase. If the seller accepts the higher offer, you lose the property and any money already spent on it, which could include legal, surveyor and mortgage fees.

Reasons for gazumping can vary. Perhaps the seller has realised they can get a better sale price elsewhere, or you are taking too long to commission a home survey thus denting your credibility as a buyer, or perhaps your solicitor is slow to communicate and the seller has found a buyer who can move more quickly.

Is gazumping legal?

While gazumping may well be considered sharp practice, it is indeed perfectly legal. When your offer is accepted, the property is ‘sold subject to contract’ (SSTC). The property transaction does not become legally binding until contracts have been exchanged. As a buyer, you are vulnerable to gazumping at any time before that date.

Since exchanging contracts comes fairly late in the home buying process, and only takes place after the mortgage has been agreed, survey findings have been digested and local searches have been carried out, gazumping can be both hugely frustrating as well as financially painful.

How can you guard against gazumping?

Estate agents have a legal duty to pass on any offer they receive, so the first and most important thing you must do is to get the property taken off the market. Make it a condition of your offer that all marketing and advertising of the property ceases with immediate effect. If no-one else views the property, chances of a higher offer being made and you being gazumped are greatly reduced.

Once an offer has been accepted, it is assumed that both parties want to get on with the conveyancing process as soon as is reasonably possible. As a buyer, it is therefore in your best interest to be prepared and ready to proceed. This means having a mortgage in principle in place, a solicitor on stand-by ready to start the conveyancing, and all the necessary documents at your fingertips to avoid any unnecessary delays that could have the potential to derail the sale.

Appointing a surveyor and arranging for an inspection visit is usually the next step in the process. As RICS accredited Chartered Surveyors offering the full range of RICS endorsed home surveys, Able Surveyors are ideally placed to help you get the insights you need so you can make an informed purchase decision. Our surveyors are knowledgeable and highly experienced in property markets in London and Essex. Contact us here to arrange for a free no-obligation quote. London homebuyers can obtain an instant online quote here.

Keep the momentum going and do whatever you can to move the process towards exchange of contracts swiftly. You want to get contracts exchanged as soon as possible to have the legal certainty that your purchase is going ahead. Make sure that you are in regular contact with your mortgage provider and your conveyancing solicitor so that requests for information can be responded to quickly. Also, keep the estate agent in the loop; it’s in their interest to keep up the pressure on the seller.

It’s also worth building up a rapport with the seller. While the formal sale will be in the hands of the solicitors, and the estate agent serves as a go-between, there’s no harm in having a direct line of communication to the seller. That way, you can keep them informed of where you are in the conveyancing process and show that you are actively moving things along. If you get on well and they can see that you are a serious buyer who genuinely loves their home, they will feel more inclined to honour the deal in hand.

Finally, did you know that you can get home buyer protection insurance to protect yourself against a house sale falling through? While there may be nothing much you can do about a seller changing his mind or accepting another offer, at least you can mitigate the financial loss by claiming back some of your conveyancing fees, survey fees or any other expenses incurred on an abortive sale.

At Able Surveyors, we have over 25 years’ experience in helping home buyers in London, Essex and the Home Counties get the most out of their property purchase, and we would be delighted to do the same for you. For further information please get in touch.

If you are the owner of a leasehold property and the number of years remaining on the lease is approaching 90 years, you may want to think about a lease extension. Under the provisions of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (the Act), residential leaseholders have a statutory right to extend their lease. However, the process is often long-winded and potentially expensive, so it should come as no surprise that many leaseholders are eager to explore alternative routes.

At Able Surveyors, we have over 25 years’ experience in all aspects of building surveying and associated property services. Our team offers valuable professional advice including lease extension surveys and valuations and can help you increase the value of your leasehold asset. As trusted building surveyors in London and Essex, please feel free to discuss your property with us.

What are the differences between a formal and informal lease extension?

Briefly, a formal lease extension follows the statutory process set out under the Act. This must be initiated by the leaseholder serving a Section 42 Notice on the freeholder, and putting in an offer to extend the lease by 90 years with no future ground rent. The offer will be based on a professional leasehold valuation carried out by a surveyor, while negotiations will involve lawyers for both parties. After much to-ing and fro-ing, an agreement is eventually reached on the premium to be paid. Visit our recent blog for more information about statutory lease extensions.

The advantages for leaseholders taking the statutory route include:

• You will receive a guaranteed lease extension of 90 years which will be added to the number of years currently remaining.
• The term remaining on the lease is ‘frozen’ once formal proceedings have started, so there is no danger of the premium increasing as the term decreases.
• Once you lease is extended, your future ground rent obligations will be reduced to zero.
• The premium payable for your lease extension is usually better value for money than can be achieved by informal agreement with the landlord.

Informal lease extensions don’t need to follow the same process. A leaseholder will normally approach the landlord in writing with a request for a lease extension on terms to be agreed. These terms can differ widely: the number of years added to the lease will typically be less than the statutory 90 years, and ground rent clauses will remain or may even increase. The advantages of choosing an informal route include:

• To qualify for a statutory lease extension, you must have owned the property for at least 2 years. No such eligibility criteria apply for informal lease extensions.
• The cost of serving a Section 42 Notice is around £220, which constitutes a small cost saving if you conclude an informal agreement instead.
• There is tremendous scope for flexibility in negotiations. If, for instance, the premium is unaffordable, a lower additional term and keeping the ground rent in place could be a palatable alternative solution.

Are there any disadvantages of extending your lease informally?

The main issue with an informal lease extension is that these private agreements, though perfectly valid in law, are not bound by the provisions of the 1993 Act, meaning that all of the terms of the new lease may be open for renegotiation.

This creates a situation that could be exploited by unscrupulous freeholders, particularly if the leaseholder has insufficient access to professional advice. It is sadly not uncommon for landlords to take advantage of the power imbalance, with many lease extensions negotiated on the basis of a shorter extension and with some ground rent retained.

When approaching a freeholder on an informal basis, you should expect a request for payment to cover the landlord’s administrative and valuation costs. It is also likely that the freeholder’s offered premium will be significantly inflated, compared to the amount calculated as part of the statutory process. This can leave the leaseholder with little option but to accept the landlord’s onerous terms, or break off negotiations and commence the formal route from scratch.

Which is the best route to take?

While both lease extension routes have their pros and cons, the advice on which is more suitable really depends on your individual situation. If you have owned the property for two or more years, it makes sense to commence matters through the formal route, with the benefit of the full protection offered through statutory process.

We strongly recommend that you always instruct a professional surveyor to carry out a lease extension valuation and serve the Notice on your behalf. Even if you start going down the formal route, there is nothing to stop you from reaching an informal agreement at any stage of the process – effectively giving you the best of both worlds.

If, however, you have not owned the property for the required two years, and the remaining lease term is less than 82 years, it may make more sense to approach the freeholder informally to negotiate a quick deal.

Contact Able Surveyors – London and Essex

For any questions regarding lease extensions in London, or to discuss your particular property needs in Battersea, Bromley, Brentwood and beyond, please feel free to contact the Able Surveyors team.

Do you own a leasehold property, typically a flat or maisonette? The number of years left to run on the lease are a key component of the property’s market value, and there may come a time when a lease extension would make sense. So, what can you do?

Many leaseholders are unaware that they have a legal right to extend the lease on their property. Should you decide to approach the freeholder or the management agent direct with a request for a lease extension, chances are that they may offer you a restored 99-year term and revised ground rent clauses in return for a non-negotiable premium to be paid. But don’t be in a hurry to accept their terms because you may be able to do better.

If you have owned the property for more than two years and meet certain other eligibility criteria, you have the right to a statutory lease extension under the terms of the 1993 Leasehold Reform Housing & Urban Development Act. What does it all mean? Let’s take a look at some of the key questions you should be asking.

1. Why would you want to extend the lease term?

By default, leasehold property is a depreciating asset. As the lease runs down, the value of the property decreases, while the cost of any lease extension increases. Ultimately, when the lease term expires, property ownership reverts back to the freeholder, though this rarely happens in practice.

An unexpired term of 80 years or less is considered by many to be unacceptable, since it makes the property hard to mortgage, remortgage or sell on. Mortgage companies have specific lending criteria and many simply refuse to provide the funds for a property of less than 70 years or so to run (exact figures vary between lenders).

2. What does a statutory lease extension achieve?

A statutory lease extension provides a 90-year extension on top of the existing unexpired lease term. Say your lease has 74 years remaining, a statutory lease extension will give you a new term of 164 years. In addition, ground rent will be reduced to zero for the duration of the lease, while the premium payable to the freeholder is determined by Schedule 13 of the Act.

Finally, if you extend your lease before the unexpired term has reached 80 years, no marriage value (50% of the difference in value before and after the lease extension) is payable as part of the premium, thus further reducing the amount due to the freeholder.

3. Are you eligible for a statutory lease extension?

In order to qualify for a statutory lease extension, you must have owned the property for at least 2 years, while the lease term must have been more than 21 years when it was originally granted. How many years are left to run on the lease is not relevant. The legislation only applies to residential property, not a business or commercial lease. Importantly, the property will not qualify for a statutory lease extension if the landlord is a charitable housing trust and your flat is provided as part of the charity’s work.

If you are in the process of buying a short-lease property, there is a way to get around the 2-year ownership clause. Assuming the seller has owned the property for more than 2 years, he can initiate the statutory process and assign the benefit to you as part of the contract of sale.

4. How do you start the statutory lease extension process?

To get the ball rolling, a lease extension valuation must be carried out on the property in order to determine how much to offer the freeholder, and to give you an idea of the financial liability involved. Once this has been done, your solicitor will serve a formal S42 Notice on the freeholder to initiate the process.

The freeholder than has 2 months in which to serve a Counter Notice, which will typically request a higher premium payment. Thereafter follows a 6-month negotiation period to reach agreement, though either part can refer the matter to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) after 2 months. In our experience, the vast majority of cases are settled without the need for a formal hearing. It should be noted that you will be responsible for the freeholder’s valuation fee and legal fees as well as your own.

5. How can Able Surveyors help?

As experienced lease extension surveyors in London and the Home Counties, Able Surveyors can help you navigate this complex procedure, ensuring that fair freeholder compensation is negotiated. We specialise in carrying out the requisite lease extension premium valuations, entering into negotiations with the freeholder on your behalf and, where necessary, preparing for and representing your interests at Tribunal.

If you have any questions about extending the lease on your property, need advice on buying a freehold property or would like expert assistance with any surveying matter, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Are you looking to by a flat, either for your own use as a home or as a buy-to-let investment? Flats including apartments and maisonettes are generally sold on a leasehold basis, and the length of the remaining lease has a big impact on the property value. The price of a short lease property, therefore, may be appealing. However, before you go ahead with the purchase of a short lease flat, it is highly recommended that you do your homework to fully understand the legal and financial implications you are taking on.

What constitutes a short lease?

Residential leasehold properties usually have an initial lease term of 99 years or more. 125 years and even 999 years are also quite common. Properties with less than 70-80 years left to run are generally regarded as having a short lease. Of course, this doesn’t prevent these types of flats from being sold. In fact, properties with leases of as little as 5 years or less remaining still happily change hands.

That being said, the point is that leasehold property is, by definition, a depreciating asset. This means that ownership of the property will revert to the freeholder once the lease term has expired, unless the lease is extended in time.

How to extend a short lease

The good news is that leasehold owners have a statutory right to extend the lease of their property under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. “A lease extension under the 1993 Act gives the leaseholder the right to an additional 90 years on top of their remaining term at a peppercorn ground rent,” explains one expert in the field.

To qualify for a statutory lease extension, the original lease term must have been at least 21 years, and the leaseholder must have owned the property for at least 2 years. Of course, this is of little use to a prospective buyer, but all is not lost. If the seller fulfils the eligibility criteria, you can request that they initiate a statutory lease extension as a condition of purchase. This benefit can then be assigned to you on completion of the sale.

Outside of the statutory framework, there is nothing to stop the leaseholder from approaching the freeholder with an informal request for a lease extension. In this scenario, there’s no need to wait 2 years and any private agreement reached between leaseholder and freeholder will be perfectly valid in law, albeit without the statutory protection.

Should you let the lease run down?

A lease extension is not always the right course of action; there are certain circumstances where it might make sense to let the lease run down. Short lease flats may be an attractive option for retirees and homebuyers who have no-one to leave their estate too after death, meaning they don’t need to worry about protecting the value of their property asset.

Short lease properties can also make very attractive buy-to-let investments. The profit made from renting out the flat for the remainder of the lease term can amount to a multiple of the initial purchase price. Once the lease is up, the property reverts back to the freeholder.

That said, short lease flats are often in a poor state of repair and may require extensive (and expensive!) refurbishments before they become a viable rental property, while service charges and ground rent may be considerable. Make sure you know exactly what you are buying.

Can you get a mortgage for a short lease flat?

Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to obtain a mortgage for a flat with a short lease. Lenders typically refer to the years remaining on the lease as the ‘minimum expired lease term’ and the shortest term acceptable will vary between mortgage companies. The majority of lenders consider a short lease to be one that has fewer than 75-85 years remaining. “You may be able to find a provider willing to lend on a 65-year lease, but this is very rare,” advises one mortgage comparison website.

Speak to an experienced mortgage broker to investigate all possibilities including specialist lenders and shorter mortgage terms, and be prepared to pay much higher mortgage interest rates to cover the lender’s additional risk.

What are your options?

Given the difficulties of securing a mortgage, short lease flats tend to be sold at auction rather than through the traditional estate agent route. Auction buys can be financially attractive and if you are able to pay cash for the flat, it could make the property a good investment.

However, don’t forget to factor in the cost of having to extend the lease yourself, which can be substantial. The shorter the remaining term, the higher the cost of a lease extension. If you include lawyers’ and surveyors’ fees, the cost can run into £10,000s for a property with 60-70 years left, rising steeply for shorter leases. Here’s a handy calculator to help you do the initial sums.

Your best option would be to ask the seller to initiate statutory lease extension proceedings before the completion of sale, and come to an agreement regarding cost sharing.