Licence to Alter: What Leaseholders Can (and Can't) Change in Their Flat

It's one of the most common sources of confusion in leasehold property: you've bought your flat, you're paying the mortgage, so surely you can do what you like inside it? In reality, "it's my flat" and "I can change whatever I want" are two very different things. Most alterations to a leasehold flat need the freeholder's formal written permission first - a document called a Licence to Alter.

This guide explains what a Licence to Alter is, why your lease controls what you can do, which jobs need consent and which don't, how the process works, what it costs, and the real risks of skipping it. If you'd rather get a quick personalised read first, try our free "Can I do this?" alterations checker.

What is a Licence to Alter?

A Licence to Alter (sometimes called a Licence for Alterations, or just an LTA) is a legal document in which your freeholder - or the management company that controls the building - gives you permission to carry out specific works to your flat. It records exactly what you're allowed to do, sets any conditions, and protects both sides if something goes wrong later.

The reason you need one comes down to a simple fact about leasehold ownership: you don't own the building. You own a long lease - the right to occupy your flat for a fixed number of years - while the freeholder owns the structure, the land, and usually the external walls, roof and common parts. Your lease is a contract that sets out what you can and can't do, and almost every lease includes covenants(binding promises) restricting alterations.

Absolute vs qualified covenants

The wording of your lease matters enormously. Alteration covenants generally fall into two types:

• Qualified covenant - "the leaseholder shall not make alterations without the landlord's consent". This is the most common form. You can apply, and the freeholder decides.
• Absolute covenant - "the leaseholder shall not make alterations". On its face this bans the work outright. The freeholder can still agree to vary it, but they're not obliged to even consider a request, and can refuse for any reason or none.

There's an important protection buried in older legislation. Under Section 19(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, where a lease has a qualified covenant against making improvements, consent cannot be unreasonably withheld. So if your proposed work is an improvement (which courts interpret broadly, from the leaseholder's point of view), the freeholder can't simply say no on a whim - though they can attach reasonable conditions and recover their costs.

What usually needs a Licence to Alter

Every lease is different, so this is a guide rather than a rule, but the following works almost always require consent:

• Structural changes - removing or moving an internal wall, knocking two rooms together, or anything affecting load-bearing elements.
• Moving "wet" rooms - relocating a bathroom or kitchen, which changes the plumbing and drainage. Many leases specifically prohibit putting a bathroom or kitchen above a neighbour's living space.
• Changes to windows and external doors - these are often part of the structure that belongs to the freeholder, not your demise, even though they're "your" windows.
• Hard flooring - replacing carpet with wood, laminate or tiles. A great many leases either ban this above ground-floor flats or require consent plus acoustic underlay, because noise transfer between flats is such a common dispute.
• Anything fixed to the outside of the building - air conditioning units, satellite dishes, heat pumps, or an EV charge point, because the external walls and common parts aren't yours to drill into.
• Altering anything in the common parts - hallways, the roof void, gardens or parking areas you don't have exclusive rights to.

What usually doesn't

Routine work inside your own demise that changes nothing structural is generally fine without a licence:

• Redecorating - painting, wallpapering, re-carpeting.
• Replacing a kitchen or bathroom like-for-like, in the same position.
• Fitting new internal (non-structural) fixtures, shelving or wardrobes.

Even here, watch for two traps. First, a minority of leases require consent for any alteration, however minor - read yours before assuming. Second, "like-for-like" stops being like-for-like the moment you move plumbing or run new electrical circuits, which can pull the job into building regulations and, sometimes, the consent requirement too.

A Licence to Alter is not the only permission you need

This is the part people most often get wrong. The freeholder's consent is a private contractual matter between you and your landlord. It sits alongside - and is completely separate from - the public permissions that may also apply:

• Planning permission from your local authority. Crucially, flats have almost no permitted development rights, so external changes to a flat usually need a full planning application even where the same work on a house wouldn't.
• Building Regulations approval for structural work, new drainage, electrics, glazing or fire safety - a different process from planning, signed off by building control.
• A Party Wall Act notice to neighbours if the work affects a shared wall or floor. In a flat, the floors and ceilings you share with the flats above and below are "party structures".
• Listed building consent if the building is listed, needed for almost any change to its character, inside or out.

Getting a Licence to Alter does not mean you have planning permission, and vice versa. You may need all of them. Our alterations checker walks through which apply to a specific job.

How the process works

A typical Licence to Alter application runs roughly like this:

1. Check your lease. Find the alterations covenant and see whether it's absolute or qualified, and whether your specific work is caught.
2. Prepare your plans. The freeholder will want drawings, a specification, and details of your contractor. Structural work needs a structural engineer's calculations.
3. Submit a formal request to the freeholder or managing agent, with the documents and any required planning or building regulations approvals.
4. The freeholder reviews it, usually instructing their own surveyor and solicitor. They can impose reasonable conditions - acoustic underlay, restored sound insulation, indemnity for any damage, making good the common parts.
5. The licence is drawn up and signed by both parties (a deed). Only then should work start.

What it costs and how long it takes

You normally pay the freeholder's reasonable professional fees as well as your own - their surveyor's inspection and their solicitor's drafting. For a straightforward flat alteration that often lands somewhere around £500 to £2,000 in landlord's costs, more for larger or structural schemes. The freeholder can charge a fair administration or "consent" fee, but not an arbitrary or punitive one.

Timescales vary widely. A simple consent might take a few weeks; a structural scheme with surveys and negotiation can take a few months. Build this lead time into your project - starting work "while the paperwork catches up" is exactly how people get into trouble.

What happens if you skip it

Doing work that needs consent without getting it is a breach of your lease. The consequences are real:

• The freeholder can require you to reinstate the property to its original condition at your expense.
• They can demand a retrospective Licence to Alter, often at a higher cost than if you'd asked first.
• In serious cases, a persistent breach can be grounds for the freeholder to seek forfeiture of the lease.
• It usually surfaces when you sell. The buyer's solicitor will ask for evidence of consent for any visible alterations, and a missing licence can delay the sale, force you to buy an indemnity policy, or knock the price down.

If you've inherited a flat with unconsented alterations, or did work yourself years ago, it's usually far better to regularise it - through a retrospective licence or an indemnity policy - before you come to sell, not in the middle of a transaction.

What about freehold houses?

If you own a freehold house, there's no landlord and no Licence to Alter. You still need planning permission and building regulations approval where they apply, and you should check your title for any restrictive covenants or an estate management scheme that limits what you can build - but the leaseholder consent layer simply doesn't exist. This is the single biggest practical difference between owning a flat and owning a house.

A quick checklist before you start

• Read your lease's alterations covenant - is it absolute or qualified?
• Decide whether your work is structural, external, or moves plumbing - if so, assume consent is needed.
• Apply formally, with drawings and any planning or building control approvals.
• Budget for the freeholder's reasonable fees and the time it takes.
• Get the signed licence in hand before the first day of works.
• Keep every document - you'll want it when you sell.

References and further reading

• Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, Section 19 - the rule that consent to improvements can't be unreasonably withheld.
• LEASE - Alterations guidance - free, impartial advice from the Leasehold Advisory Service.
• Party Wall etc. Act 1996 - gov.uk guidance - when you must notify neighbours about shared walls and floors.
• Planning Portal - planning permission and building regulations for England and Wales.

The bottom line: in a leasehold flat, "can I do this?" is rarely a simple yes or no. It's a stack of permissions - your lease, your freeholder, the planners, building control and your neighbours - and the smart move is to work out which apply before you pick up a hammer. Start with our alterations checker, then read your lease and get advice on anything structural or external.