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Improvements and alterations you can do
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Improvements and alterations you can do
You must get our written permission before you carry out improvements or alterations in your home. Use our online form to tell us about any work you are planning or download the form, complete it yourself and return it to us.
You must not start any work until we have agreed that you can do it and before you get all necessary permissions. If you do not, you could be asked to restore the property to the original condition at your own expense.
Getting permission is particularly important if you live in a flat. Any alterations may affect the fire safety of your flat or the whole building. Even small alterations such as making holes in walls for cables and pipes or fitting an extractor fan can have a serious effect.
Follow this four step procedure
- Fill in the form on this page, attach a drawing if you wish, and send it to your Housing Office.
- Do not start any work on your home until we have agreed that you can do it.
- Once someone from your Housing Office has signed the form and agreed the work, you can start.
- Let us know when you have done the work and we will visit to check it.
The sorts of things we mean by improvements and alterations include:
- Installing a cooker
- Putting in a new or extra gas fires
- Putting in new kitchen units
- Taking out internal walls
- Blocking off doorways
- Putting in wall heaters
- Fitting a shower
- Fitting an outside light
- Building an extension or conservatory
- Putting up fencing
- Having a satellite dish fitted
There are other things that we call improvements, so it's best to ask for our permission before you make any changes or do any work in your home.
You don’t need to ask our permission to decorate your home.
Work that requires building or planning permission
If the work you want to carry out needs building and/or planning permission, it is your responsibility to get this permission and provide us with evidence that approval was given for the work to be carried out.
A suitably qualified person must carry out all work involving gas or electrical installations. You must obtain a safety certificate from the person carrying out the work and let us have a copy of this.
