Upcoming Events :
Housing Seminar: Partnerships with the Public Sector – Avoiding the pitfalls
Thu 31 May 2012
Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London, SE1 9BB
Property owners refused permission to alter home
Wed 01 Feb 2012
A couple who had their plans to alter a property blocked have lost their appeal against the original ruling.
The Lands Tribunal had decided Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust was within its rights to stop Mr and Mrs Zenios making changes it deemed were not in keeping with the area.
This is because preserving the character of the area is a key objective of the group, while restrictions that ensure it must approve any alterations to a property's appearance were already in place.
Mr and Mrs Zenios took their case to the Court of Appeal, but it upheld the Lands Tribunal's original ruling.
Mark Vinall, a partner at Winckworth Sherwood Solicitors specialising in enfranchisement and leasehold property matters, commented: "This case demonstrates that for property owners seeking to undertake alterations, planning permission is not their only headache.
"They must also check whether they need consent from a third party such as the beneficiary of restrictive covenants affecting their legal title or pursuant to an Estate Management Scheme.
"Where such consent is required the property owner cannot assume that this consent will be forthcoming automatically where they manage to obtain planning permission as they are separate regimes. Flat owners will often additionally require their landlord's consent."
