Compliance with lease requirements,
building regulations, planning regulations etc
Before starting any works to their flats, leaseholders
need to ensure that their proposed works will fully comply with:
• 1. Lease requirements to obtain Landlord's
prior written consent for alterations to flats, including alterations
to walls, floors, windows, external vents, any works involving communal
utility pipes or communal cables or work involving communal areas
or other parts of the Landlord’s demised area.
Landlord consent is dealt with by the Managing
Agents, therefore leaseholders whose works require Landlord consent
should contact Cooke & Arkwright to obtain written consent before
starting the works.
All external alterations to flats require
Landlord consent, and many internal alterations also require Landlord
consent.
When applying for Landlord consent for alterations, leaseholders should provide full details of their proposed works, including diagrams if necessary.
Depending on the nature of the proposed alterations, leaseholders should normally allow between two weeks and four weeks for their consent application to be dealt with, starting from the date on which they have provided Cooke & Arkwright with full details of their proposed works, including diagrams if necessary.
Applications for consent for structural alterations may take more than four weeks to deal with.
- 2. Building regulations - please visit www.competentperson.co.uk for information relating to your obligations relating to electrical works at your flat
- 3. Planning regulations - please be aware that
Castle Court is in a conservation area and leaseholders should
check with Cardiff Council whether planning permission is required
for any externtal alterations - vents, windows etc before they
commit themselves to any alterations. Cardiff Council adopted
a planning policy some years ago not to consent to installation
of UPVC windows along or facing the front elevation of Westgate
Street.
- 4. Health & Safety regulations
- 5. Any other legal requirements
If leaseholders undertake alterations to their flats
without complying with lease obligations to obtain Landlord consent,
they should be aware that unsuitable alterations will not be granted
Landlord consent. Leaseholders will then be liable not only for
reinstatement costs but also the Landlord's reasonable cost of any
necessary enforcement action to progress reinstatement.
Leaseholders should be aware when instructing contractors
or attempting DIY that individual leaseholders are liable not only
for reinstatement costs or repair costs but are also liable for
Landlord's legal costs and surveying costs and any other costs if
the Landlord has to take action against a leaseholder or their contractor
for causing damage or disruption to other parts of the building,
communal distribution pipes etc. Damage and disruption are not only
relevant to unauthorised or unsuitable alterations but may occur
if unsuitable working methods are used for approved works.
Individual leaseholders are fully liable for Landlord
costs if vibrations etc from the leaseholder's contractor's works
or the leaseholder's DIY efforts cause damage and disruption outside
the leaseholder's individual demised area, irrespective of whether
the works require prior consent or have been granted consent.
Leaseholders should not assume that if their proposed
alteration looks the same as something outside another flat this
will justify their own application for Landlord consent or any necessary
consent from Building Control or the Local Planning Authority. Building
regulations, planning restrictions and other factors change over
time.
There are vents for individual boilers that were installed &/or consented to prior to Castle Court Freehold Limited acquiring the freehold in 2004, that would not have been consented to 2004 onwards.
There are specific restrictions on where boiler flues &/or vents can be sited, e.g. these must go through existing openings for previous flues / vents or through windows, not through original brickwork, - leaseholders need to contact
Cooke & Arkwright to obtain written consent for their work before purchasing their new boiler or arranging work involving installing
a new boiler flue / vent or repositioning a boiler flue / vent.
It is the leaseholder's responsibility to ensure full
compliance with the requirements of Building regulations,
Planning regulations and Health & Safety regulations applicable
to boiler installations, boiler flues, boiler vents etc in addition to Castle Court Freehold Limited consent conditions - prior to purchasing a new boiler or designing the flat around the assumption that they can have consent for their chosen location for boiler, boiler vent etc.
Leaseholders should not assume that their choice of
boiler will fit in their chosen location - if the proposed flue
/ vent location is not acceptable to Castle Court Freehold Limited, then Landlord
consent cannot be granted and leaseholders may need to replan their
flat layout at an early stage.
It would be a bit late to discover that there is a
problem when kitchen cupboards etc have already been fitted and
the plumber/engineer is on site ready to instal the new boiler into
the leaseholder's preferred location.
Castle Court Freehold Limited does not consent to external vents for tumble dryers as these would not be necessary alterations; there are plenty of tumble dryers available that are fitted with water boxes rather than requiring external ventilation. Therefore leaseholders choosing to install tumble dryers in their flats should choose a model that will not require external ventilation.
Insurance and Health & Safety
Irrespective of whether consent is needed for alterations,
leaseholders or their contractors need adequate public liability
insurance and detailed Health & Safety procedures / risk assessments
/ method statements etc before a leaseholder or a contractor working
for the leaseholder enters the
Landord's demise to access any balconies, windows or any other external
part of a flat – for maintenance, refurbishment, window cleaning
or any other purpose.
If the leaseholder and their contractor are not adequately
insured, it will be the leaseholder &/or the contractor who
is personally liable in the event of any loss or claim - no liability
will be accepted by Castle Court Freehold Limited or its Managing
Agents or Insurers.
Contractors, including window cleaners, who are employed
by Castle Court Freehold Limited or its Managing Agents are not
appointed unless they have demonstrated to the Managing Agents that
they are adequately insured and fully compliant with Health &
Safety legislation etc.
Leaseholder planned works involving water
Any leaseholder who intends to do work to their flat
involving water pipes, valves etc should contact Cooke & Arkwright's
Property Management department (Tel: 029 20 346335) to clarify whether
this will require a shutdown of hot &/or cold water or communal
background heating units to other areas of Castle Court.
If a shutdown is required, Cooke & Arkwright's
Property Management department will normally require at least four
working days notice of the proposed works so that they can arrange
the communal shutdown via the firm who maintain the communal water
distribution pipes & valves and notify occupiers of affected
flats.
Any delay with providing sufficient details to Cooke
& Arkwright may delay the proposed water shutdown beyond the
leaseholder's preferred date, and any inconvenience resulting from
such a delay would be the responsibility of the leaseholder and
not the responsibility of Cooke & Arkwright or Castle Court
Freehold Limited.
|