What is a licence to alter and when do you need one?

A licence to alter is your freeholder's written consent to make changes to a leasehold property. Whether you need one, and whether the freeholder can refuse, depends on which of three kinds of covenant your lease contains. Where the lease says you may not alter without consent, section 19(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 implies that consent must not be unreasonably withheld. Where the lease bans alterations outright, it does not.

There is also a distinction on cost that almost nobody publishes, and it can be the difference between a controlled administration charge and an uncapped premium.

Three kinds of covenant, and only one gives you real protection

Open your lease and find the alterations clause. It will be one of three types.

Absolute. The lease prohibits alterations, full stop, with no mechanism for consent. Section 19(2) has nothing to operate on here, because there is no consent requirement for it to qualify. The Leasehold Advisory Service puts the consequence plainly: if your lease bans alterations, the landlord does not have to consider your request and does not have to respond. Your route is a variation of the lease, negotiated or through a tribunal, not a consent application.

Qualified. The lease says you may not alter without the landlord's consent. This is where section 19(2) bites, and it converts the clause into something much better for you.

Fully qualified. The lease already says consent must not be unreasonably withheld. You are in the same position section 19(2) would put you in anyway.

Most long residential leases of London flats are qualified or fully qualified. Absolute covenants exist and are a genuinely different situation.

What section 19(2) actually does

The statute is worth reading rather than paraphrasing. Section 19(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 applies to leases containing a covenant against making improvements without a licence or consent, and deems that covenant to be subject to a proviso that such licence or consent is not to be unreasonably withheld, notwithstanding any express provision to the contrary.

Three things follow.

It applies to leases made before as well as after the Act, so the age of your lease does not matter.

It cannot be contracted out of. A lease that says consent may be withheld at the landlord's absolute discretion does not override it, provided the covenant is qualified rather than absolute.

The word is improvements, not alterations. That is broader than it sounds, because improvement is judged from the leaseholder's point of view, but it is the statutory language and it matters in a dispute.

Section 19(2) does not apply to everything. It is excluded for agricultural holdings and farm business tenancies, and for mining leases. It is excluded for assured tenancies by section 15(2) of the Housing Act 1988, superseded for secure tenancies by section 97 of the Housing Act 1985, and disapplied to Welsh occupation contracts. A long residential lease of a flat in London sits squarely inside it.

What the freeholder can charge, and the line that matters

Here is the part worth understanding before you apply, because it decides whether the cost is controllable.

Administration charges are controlled. Schedule 11 to the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 states that a variable administration charge is payable only to the extent that the amount of the charge is reasonable, and provides an application route to the First-tier Tribunal, Property Chamber in England. The Leasehold Advisory Service confirms that consent fees count as an administration charge, that they must be reasonable, and that any demand must include a summary of your rights.

Section 19(2) itself allows the landlord to require a reasonable sum for damage or diminution in value, and for legal or other expenses properly incurred. That covers their solicitor and their surveyor. It does not cover profit.

A premium is a different thing and it is not controlled the same way. The Leasehold Advisory Service states that it is against the law to be charged a premium for non-structural alterations. But where the work affects the freeholder's retained property, for example a balcony, a dormer or the loft space, there is no legal limit on the amount the landlord can charge, and you cannot challenge the amount at a tribunal.

So the practical question is not just "will they consent", it is "does this work touch anything the freeholder retains". A kitchen refit inside your demise and a dormer into a roof void the freeholder owns are in completely different commercial positions, even though both need a licence.

The process, and how long it takes

There is no statutory timetable, which is the honest and slightly unsatisfying answer.

In outline: you submit a formal application with drawings, a specification and usually a structural engineer's report where the work is structural. The freeholder instructs their surveyor and solicitor to review it. Conditions are negotiated. A licence is drawn up, and you and the freeholder sign it, sometimes with your mortgage lender as a party.

The licence itself typically imposes conditions: reinstatement obligations at the end of the term, working hours, insurance requirements, indemnities, and sometimes a requirement that the work is supervised or signed off.

What to do about the timing: start it early, in parallel with planning and building control rather than after them, because it is the consent nobody schedules and the one that can sit unanswered.

What it is not

Three separate things get conflated, and they are all different consents with different processes.

Planning permission is your relationship with the local authority about how the building looks and is used. Flats have no permitted development rights at all, so more work needs an application than a house owner would expect. Our guide to what permitted development rights cover sets out where those rights apply.

Building regulations are national technical standards, applied by building control, and entirely unaffected by your lease.

The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 governs your relationship with the adjoining owner, and it applies to flats: section 20 defines a party structure to include a floor separating parts of buildings. Satisfying your freeholder says nothing about satisfying your neighbour, and vice versa. Our guide to the Party Wall Act covers the notice periods.

You can hold a valid licence to alter and still be in breach of the Party Wall Act, and you can have a party wall award and still be in breach of your lease.

What happens if you skip it

Altering without consent where the lease requires it is a breach of covenant. The consequences arrive on two timescales.

In the short term, the freeholder can seek an injunction to stop the work, and in serious cases forfeiture of the lease is the ultimate remedy, though the procedural protections around forfeiture are substantial.

In the long term, and far more commonly, it surfaces at sale. A buyer's solicitor asks for the licence, there isn't one, and the transaction stalls while retrospective consent is negotiated from a freeholder who now has all the leverage. Retrospective consent is often obtainable and rarely cheap.

How Beams helps

Freeholder consent is the consent most often left until last on a flat, and it is the one with no statutory clock, which is a bad combination.

So on a leasehold project we establish which covenant your lease contains before the design is fixed, start the licence application alongside planning rather than after it, and identify early whether the work touches anything the freeholder retains, because that changes the commercial position entirely.

That is part of how Beams structures a project: one agreed price, payments released against milestones, and 12 months on the workmanship.

Common questions

Do I always need a licence to alter?
Only where your lease requires consent for the work you are doing. Read the alterations clause first, because internal non-structural work is outside many leases' consent requirements.

Can my freeholder just say no?
It depends on the covenant. If it is qualified or fully qualified, section 19(2) means consent must not be unreasonably withheld for improvements. If it is absolute, they can decline to engage at all, and your route is a variation of the lease.

What can they charge me?
Their properly incurred legal and surveying expenses, plus a reasonable sum for damage or diminution in value. Administration charges must be reasonable and can be challenged at the First-tier Tribunal. A premium for work affecting the freeholder's retained property is a different matter and is not capped.

How long does it take?
There is no statutory timetable, which is precisely why it should be started early and run alongside your other consents rather than after them.

Is a licence to alter the same as planning permission?
No. They are unrelated consents from different parties, and neither substitutes for the other. Building regulations and the Party Wall Act are further separate again.

Where this information comes from

Consent not to be unreasonably withheld for improvements, applying to leases made before and after the Act, notwithstanding any express provision to the contrary, and the landlord's right to require a reasonable sum for damage or diminution and legal or other expenses properly incurred: Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, section 19(2)

Exclusions from section 19: Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, section 19(4); Housing Act 1988, section 15(2); Housing Act 1985, section 97

Administration charges payable only to the extent reasonable, and the tribunal application route: Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, Schedule 11, paragraphs 2 and 5

Absolute covenants, consent fees as administration charges, and the position on premiums for non-structural alterations and for work affecting the freeholder's retained property: Leasehold Advisory Service guidance on alterations and home improvements

Party structures including floors between flats: Party Wall etc. Act 1996, section 20

Permitted development rights not applying to flats: Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1

Leasehold law is fact-specific and your lease decides most of it. This page describes the position in England and is a starting point for a conversation with a solicitor rather than advice on your own lease.