Commercial landlord and tenant
Licence to alter
The landlord's formal consent for a tenant's works to commercial premises, setting approved plans, conditions and reinstatement at lease end.
This work depends on the details, so our team prepares a quote for you, usually within one working day.
If the works are part of taking a new lease, ask for them to be approved in the lease or an agreement for lease at the outset. It is usually quicker than applying for a separate licence after you have moved in.
A commercial lease usually limits what a tenant can change, and anything beyond minor works commonly needs the landlord's written consent. A licence to alter is the deed that gives that consent for specific works, from new partitioning or a shop front to structural changes, and sets the conditions for carrying them out.
Tenants planning a fit-out or improvements use this service, as do landlords asked to approve them. For a tenant, the licence lets work start lawfully and limits what has to be removed later. For a landlord, it protects the building by controlling how the work is done, who is responsible and whether the premises must be put back at the end of the lease, known as reinstatement.
Because the scale of the works and the need for a surveyor's review vary so much, the team prices each licence individually, usually replying to a quote request within one working day. Drawings, even in draft, help us give a firmer figure.
What is involved
A licence to alter usually follows this sequence:
- Checking the lease: reading the alterations clause to see whether consent is needed, whether it can be refused and which works are banned outright, such as structural changes in some leases.
- The application: the tenant sends drawings, specifications, a programme of works and details of its contractors and insurance. Landlords commonly have the plans checked by their surveyor.
- Other consents: planning permission, building regulations approval, listed building consent where relevant, and consent from any superior landlord or the landlord's lender.
- Drafting the licence: identifying the approved works, setting standards and working hours, dealing with insurance, health and safety and access, and saying whether the works must be removed at the end of the term.
- Reinstatement and rent review: tenants usually want to leave the works in place and to have them ignored when the rent is reviewed, so they do not pay extra rent on their own investment.
- Completion and works: the licence is signed before work starts, and the landlord may inspect the finished works and ask for as-built drawings (drawings showing what was actually built).
- Afterwards: the licence is kept with the lease, because it governs reinstatement and dilapidations (claims for disrepair) when the tenant leaves.
What the legal fee covers
- Reviewing the alterations clause and any absolute restrictions
- Putting together or checking the works application and drawings
- Drafting the licence, or commenting on the landlord's draft, with the approved plans attached
- Negotiating reinstatement and the rent review treatment of the works
- Checking which planning and building regulations consents are needed
- Coordinating any head landlord or mortgage lender approval of the works
- Completing the licence before the works begin
Costs you may see on top
- The landlord's legal costs, which the lease usually makes the tenant pay
- The landlord's surveyor's fees for reviewing plans and inspecting the works
- Planning, building regulations and listed building application fees
- Fees for architects, engineers and health and safety consultants
- A deed of variation, if the works change the extent of the premises
- The cost of removing the works and reinstating at the end of the lease, if required
What to have ready
- The lease and any earlier licences for works
- Drawings and a specification of the proposed works
- A programme showing start and finish dates
- Your contractor's details and insurance cover
- Any planning permission or building regulations approval, or applications in progress
- Any asbestos survey covering the areas affected
How long it takes
A licence for straightforward non-structural works commonly takes 3 to 6 weeks once the landlord has full drawings. Structural works, works needing a superior landlord's or lender's consent, or plans that the landlord's surveyor queries can take 6 to 10 weeks or more.
Applying as soon as the design is fixed, rather than once contractors are booked, avoids the most common problem: a team ready to start on site with no consent in place. Planning and building control approvals run separately and can take longer than the licence itself.
Things to watch for
- Never start work before the licence is signed. Unauthorised alterations are a breach of the lease and can give the landlord grounds to forfeit (end) the lease or claim the cost of reversing them.
- Agree reinstatement at the start. If you must remove the works and put the premises back when you leave, include that cost in your plans, because it can form part of a dilapidations claim.
- Where the works are improvements and the lease requires consent, the law says consent cannot be unreasonably withheld. A landlord can generally only require reinstatement of improvements that do not add to the letting value, and only where that is reasonable.
- Make sure the works are disregarded at rent review. Otherwise a future review could be based on the improved premises you paid for.
- Keep the signed licence, drawings and sign-off certificates with the lease. You will need them when you assign, sublet or leave, and missing paperwork often delays a sale of the lease.
Questions people ask
Do I need a licence for minor works?
It depends on the lease. Many leases allow non-structural internal works, such as moving office partitions, without consent or on notice only. Structural works, external changes and anything affecting the building's services usually need a formal licence. Your solicitor can confirm what your lease allows before you plan the works.
What does reinstatement mean?
Reinstatement means removing the alterations and returning the premises to their original state, usually at the end of the lease. Licences often let the landlord decide, shortly before the lease ends, whether the works must be removed. If you have spent heavily on works that would benefit the next occupier, it is worth negotiating for them to stay.
Can the landlord charge me for giving consent?
The landlord can usually recover its reasonable legal and surveyor's costs of dealing with the application, and most leases make the tenant pay them. For improvements, the law also allows the landlord to require a reasonable sum for any damage to, or reduction in the value of, the premises or its neighbouring property. Ask for an estimate of costs before the landlord's advisers start work.
Who is responsible for health and safety during the works?
Usually the tenant, as the party commissioning the works. The licence normally requires the tenant to use competent contractors, carry suitable insurance, follow construction health and safety rules and provide information for the building's records. For structural works, landlords may also ask for warranties from the contractor or designers.
Who does the work
Your matter is handled by a law firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers or CILEx Regulation, or in Northern Ireland by a solicitor regulated by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. At the moment the law firms on our panel act for property in England and Wales, so for property in Northern Ireland we tell you whether a firm can act for you before we pass your details to anyone. The firm confirms who will work on your file, their experience and its terms before you instruct it. How we choose our firms.