Can a freeholder prevent you from extending property?

If you purchase a leasehold flat, can the freeholder prevent you from extending the property for no legitimate reason?

If the leaseholder objected could it go to arbitration and are such problems common with leasehold properties?

I ask because when it comes to planning permission, even the council help you with alternatives if they foresee any problems, but I'm just worried that if you buy a flat and want to extend it in the future, you can be flatly denied this by the freeholder for no legitimate reason.

You could buy the freehold reversion and not have to worry about it?

If there are covenants inthe lease, think I am right insaying even if you buy the lease (it can be expensive) the covenants still stand

Ok, but if the lease states no building without the freeholder's permission, then when the time comes, the freeholder flatly refuses, it could be a waste of time purchasing the flat in the first place, especially if it's a flat with potential.

Not if you become the freeholder yourself.

You should read the lease carefully as it may well contain clauses relating to what you can and can't do with the land. For example, there may be a clause that indicates that the garden can only be used as such and buildings are not permitted. The council may give you planning permission but that has nothing to do with the freehold and they can certainly stop you from building an extension or take you to court if you proceed. You have to remember that extending a flat could have significant impact on occupants of the other flats. Extensions on flats often require the use of someone else's walls/boundaries so irrespective of the lease you would probably not be able to extend.

The short answer is 'yes, they can'.

When I sold my last house, it was only at the 11th hour that my solicitor informed me that the freeholder had demanded proof that the previous resident - and I'd owned the house for 22 years - had sought and obtained their permission to erect a two-storey extension at the rear of the property.

My solicitor failed to find any evidence : from memory, they only keep documents for 12 or 16 years, so the end result was that I had to pay a further £350-ish for 'retrospective' permission for a construction that had been built long before I'd moved in!

My sale would've fallen though had this permission not been given, so I had no option but to cough up, for a faxed one-page letter comprising of four lines of text.

I queried why the equivalent document hadn't been requested when I'd first bought the property, and was told by my solicitor that it was increasingly common.

A nice little earner on top of the annual charge levied on the house owner.

The short answer is 'yes, they can'.

When I sold my last house, it was only at the 11th hour that my solicitor informed me that the freeholder had demanded proof that the previous resident - and I'd owned the house for 22 years - had sought and obtained their permission to erect a two-storey extension at the rear of the property.

My solicitor failed to find any evidence : from memory, they only keep documents for 12 or 16 years, so the end result was that I had to pay a further £350-ish for 'retrospective' permission for a construction that had been built long before I'd moved in!

My sale would've fallen though had this permission not been given, so I had no option but to cough up, for a faxed one-page letter comprising of four lines of text.

I queried why the equivalent document hadn't been requested when I'd first bought the property, and was told by my solicitor that it was increasingly common.

A nice little earner on top of the annual charge levied on the house owner.

Ah, so unlike planning permission from the council, if after a period of time it is discovered that permission for that extension was never given by the Freeholder, the FH has the right to have it demolished. Whereas with the planning dept, if you don't obtain permission and a certain period of time elapses before the council discover it, you can get away with it.

You could buy the freehold reversion and not have to worry about it?

Not if it's a flat.

---------- Post added 14-01-2016 at 22:40 ----------

If you purchase a leasehold flat, can the freeholder prevent you from extending the property[1] for no legitimate reason?

 

If the leaseholder [2] objected could it go to arbitration and are such problems common with leasehold properties [3]?

 

I ask because when it comes to planning permission, even the council help you with alternatives if they foresee any problems, but I'm just worried that if you buy a flat and want to extend it in the future, you can be flatly denied this by the freeholder for no legitimate reason.

[1] This depends on whether the extension is into what your lease includes or beyond it.

[2] No- surely you're the leaseholder; you hold the lease, you see.

[3] Yes, they are.

---------- Post added 14-01-2016 at 22:41 ----------

The short answer is 'yes, they can'.

When I sold my last house, it was only at the 11th hour that my solicitor informed me that the freeholder had demanded proof that the previous resident - and I'd owned the house for 22 years - had sought and obtained their permission to erect a two-storey extension at the rear of the property.

My solicitor failed to find any evidence : from memory, they only keep documents for 12 or 16 years, so the end result was that I had to pay a further £350-ish for 'retrospective' permission for a construction that had been built long before I'd moved in!

My sale would've fallen though had this permission not been given, so I had no option but to cough up, for a faxed one-page letter comprising of four lines of text.

I queried why the equivalent document hadn't been requested when I'd first bought the property, and was told by my solicitor that it was increasingly common.

A nice little earner on top of the annual charge levied on the house owner.

It may be unnecessary if you can obtain indemnity insurance.

I am in a similar situation but with a detached house rather than a flat.

What could happen if I extend without the freeholders permission?

Would they be able to take me court and possibly have the extension demolished? If so, is that likely? Or as i suspect would this just be a possible issue if and when i sell the property? At which point i would have to pay for approval from the freeholder?

I have discussed with neighbours who have also extended and either a) didnt ask the freeholder or b) asked the freeholder via the property management company and were told to go ahead. When i asked i was passed on to a property consultancy assigned by the freeholder who requested an initial £1500 admin fee plus £120 per hour legal fees plus the costs of an independant building surveyor to assess the construction at regular intervals during the construction. All of which seems excessive to me.

I cant decide whether to just gamble!

If you purchase a leasehold flat, can the freeholder prevent you from extending the property for no legitimate reason?

 

If the leaseholder objected could it go to arbitration and are such problems common with leasehold properties?

 

I ask because when it comes to planning permission, even the council help you with alternatives if they foresee any problems, but I'm just worried that if you buy a flat and want to extend it in the future, you can be flatly denied this by the freeholder for no legitimate reason.

What land are you going to build the extension on?? Communal grounds?

What land are you going to build the extension on?? Communal grounds?

No. I want to extend the kitchen into the garden.