Securing a License to Alter (LTA) | City of London Corporation Planning Guide

The vast majority of residential properties in the City of London are leasehold. Even if you hold Full Planning Permission, Listed Building Consent, and Building Control approval, you cannot legally unscrew a single kitchen cabinet without the explicit, written permission of the building's Freeholder.

This permission is granted via a devastatingly complex, formal legal document known as a License to Alter (LTA).

The Freeholder’s Absolute Power

The LTA process is completely separate from the City Corporation’s planning department:

The Scope of the License: The standard lease strictly forbids 'cutting or maiming' any structural wall, altering the external appearance (even changing window blinds in some blocks), or changing the acoustic profile of the floors. To breach these covenants for a refurbishment, you must 'apply' to the Freeholder’s management team for an LTA.
The Landlord's Surveyor: You must submit full architectural blueprints, structural engineering calculations, and acoustic reports to the Freeholder. Crucially, the Freeholder will hire their own independent surveyor and structural engineer to scrutinize your plans. As the leaseholder requesting the alteration, you must pay all of the Landlord's professional and legal fees, with zero guarantee that they will actually grant the license.
The Reinstatement Clause: A completed LTA often contains brutal legal 'teeth'. It may state that when you eventually sell the flat, the subsequent buyer, or the Freeholder themselves, can demand that you fully reinstate the original 1970s layout at your own cost if the new layout is deemed undesirable.

The Veto: The Breach of Lease Forfeiture If a leaseholder decides to bypass the LTA process—perhaps assuming a bathroom refurbishment is 'internal and superficial'—and physically alters the plumbing stack or removes an original stud partition, the Freeholder can argue this is a fundamental breach of the lease. In extreme cases, the Freeholder can launch legal proceedings for 'forfeiture'—attempting to seize the property entirely for violating the core covenants.

How We Can Help

If you are considering a major refurbishment, amalgamation or penthouse extension in the City of London, our in-house architectural and construction teams are highly experienced with the specific constraints and policies of this council. Do not leave your planning application to chance—our Planning & Permissions and Architecture services are explicitly designed to handle strict London authorities from initial conceptual design through to final, legal consent.

Once permission is secured, our Refurbishment & Interiors division carefully manages the execution, guaranteeing the design integrity is maintained throughout the build phase.

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*Published in the Hampstead Renovations Planning Guide Collection — delivering expert design and build strategies for London's most heavily guarded conservation boroughs.*