Frequently Asked Questions

Leasehold Flats

For the majority of applications for consent to alterations, a premium payment to the landlord will not be required.

If the alterations that you wish to carry out are outside of the demise of your property (for example, alterations involving a structural wall or that extend into loft space or areas that belong to the landlord), these are outside the scope of your lease and therefore consent may be granted at the landlord’s discretion.

In such cases, the landlord may request an additional payment, or premium, as a condition of consent, to reflect the additional rights and value being granted to you over and above the terms of your lease.

Commercial

If the alterations that you wish to carry out are outside of the demise of your property or will interfere with the landlord’s reserved structures (for example, mounting air-conditioning condensers on an external structural wall, creating mezzanine levels or creating openings in structural walls), these will be outside of the scope of your lease and consent is at the landlord’s discretion.

In such cases, the landlord may request a premium as a condition of consent, to reflect the additional rights and value being granted to you over and above the terms of your lease.

The process can take 10–14 weeks, provided we receive all the relevant information and fee payment. But it does depend on the complexity and individual features of each application.

As both a Letter Licence and a Licence Deed are legally binding documents we recommend that you take legal advice. Neither HomeGround nor the landlord can advise you on the implications of signing these documents; and you may need to consider other factors, for example, your lender’s consent where the property is mortgaged.

Residential Leases

It is extremely important that you get consent to alterations as required by your lease before you start. If you carry out work without getting prior consent, you are contravening the terms of your lease, which is known as being in breach. This can have serious consequences.

If you have carried out unauthorised alterations, you will need to contact us with information on the works. We will then investigate and report back to you on the landlord’s position.

Commercial Leases

It is extremely important that you get consent to alterations as required by your lease before you start. If you carry out work without getting prior consent, you will be in breach. This can have serious consequences for you as, in addition to increased costs, failure to remedy the breach could result in the lease being forfeited.

If you have carried out unauthorised alterations, you will need to contact us with information on the works. We will then investigate and report back to you on the landlord’s position.

HomeGround and the landlord are only able to grant consent to the owner of the property.

Consent to sublet might still be required even if you are purchasing a property with the intention to rent it out. All mortgage providers will need to see the freeholder’s consent to sublet.

Your solicitor should have obtained consent to sublet or given the landlord notice of subletting, if it was required by the terms of the lease. This consent may have been requested from the developers during purchase.

If this is the case, please send us copies of the necessary documentation so that we can update our records. If this is not obtained, our sublet process will need to be completed.

If you decide to renew your tenancy with the same tenant, we will require written confirmation to keep our records up to date.

If you have acquired a new tenant(s), our sublet process will need to be completed again.

Our online consent to sublet form is easy and convenient. You can upload supporting documents, provide tenant’s details and even pay the sublet fee.

You will need to have registered on the HomeGround portal. If you have not yet registered, you can click here. You will need your alphanumeric security key and 12-digit customer reference number. If you need help with your password to gain access to your personal account, please click here.

We charge a fee of £75 to review your consent to sublet form, which is paid during the application process. If your lease does not require landlord’s consent and/or a notice of registration to be served, we will let you know and will refund you the £75. We do not store payment details, so you will need to supply your bank or card details for a refund. HomeGround can only send refunds to the account or card which was used to make the original payment. Please note that refunds can take up to ten working days.

To complete your application you need to upload a signed copy of your agreement with your tenants, in most cases this will be an assured shorthold tenancy agreement (AST). Please note that the minimum sublet term we would accept is three months.

It is also important that you give us your alternative address for receiving your ground rent or insurance invoices. Non-payment of ground rent or insurance might result in late payment charges or further arrears action on your account.

This type of let is not permitted according to the terms of your lease and short-term lets could be considered a breach of the lease.

Multiple agreements in your lease may prohibit this activity, for instance: that the property may not be used as a place to run a business; or that it has to be occupied by a single, private resident; or that short-term lets may be considered a nuisance.

All lets are to be a minimum of three months (90 days).