Permissions for improvements

An alteration or improvement to your council house is any work you undertake which alters or improves the building, its grounds or the fixtures and fittings within it.

These include but are not limited to:

• installing or upgrading central heating
• replacing windows and doors
• installing smart doorbells or CCTV cameras
• any change to the layout of your property, including fitting a new kitchen or bathroom
• altering any services, such as electrics, gas, drainage and water

If you are a tenant or a leaseholder you need to get our written permission before carrying out any improvement works or alterations to your home, as outlined in either your tenancy agreement or lease.

Leaseholders are charged £60 when requesting our consent. If you fail to gain consent, any future sale could be put at risk.

When considering your request, the things we will look at include:

• why you want to do the improvement
• what impact it will have on others and the surrounding area
• is it safe and could it be dangerous to others
• are there any other health and safety implications
• who will do the work
• could you maintain it in the future 
• could we incur any future cost
• would it decrease the value of the property
• would it breach the tenancy agreement, lease, covenants or planning restrictions
• would it detrimentally affect the layout of the property
• could it affect the re-letting of the property in the future (for rented homes)

If you are a tenant, we will check the terms of your tenancy agreement and will check to see if there are any tenancy breaches, for example if you have rent arrears.

Permission should be requested from your Crawley Homes area surveyor. When asking for our permission you will need to send us:

• details of what you intend to do. Provide a plan, drawing or sketch of the proposed alteration or improvement and give us details of materials you intend to use
• details of who will be carrying out the work on your behalf
• photographs to show where you intend to do the work

You will need to email this to your area surveyor by email:

• for Bewbush, Gossops Green, Ifield, Ifield West, Langley Green, Northgate and West Green contact surveyors.west@crawley.gov.uk
• for Broadfield, Forge Wood, Furnace Green, Maidenbower, Pound Hill, Southgate, Tilgate and Three Bridges contact surveyors.east@crawley.gov.uk

Alternatively, it can be posted to:

You need to check if your alteration or improvement requires planning permission or building control approval in addition to our permission. You must comply with the law as appropriate.

Many jobs in the home, including electrical works, may need to be notified to and approved as being compliant with Building Regulations by Crawley Building Control. Visit our About Crawley Building Control for further information and contact details.

The exception is if the work is carried out by installers registered with a competent person scheme who can self-certify that their work is compliant. Find out more under ‘Use an appropriate tradesperson’ below.

Find out if you need planning permission on the Planning portal or visit our Do I need planning permission? webpage. You can also complete a planning pre-application enquiry form on our Planning pre-application advice webpage.

Some plumbing work may be governed by the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999. Visit the WaterRegsUK website to find out more and to see if you need to notify your water supplier of any work you intend to do.
 

If we are happy that the improvement or alteration you’ve requested is reasonable and sustainable we will write to you giving you conditional permission for the work.

These conditions could include:

• future maintenance and possible reinstatement
• completion of works date, usually six months from the date on the permissions letter
• a request for certificates

You will need to comply with the conditions within the letter and provide any certificates and documents requested.

If you start work, we will consider you accept the conditions set out. If you don’t comply with the conditions, we will ask you to reinstate the property to the condition prior to the work or upgrade any substandard work. If you fail to re-instate the property or upgrade the work, we will do the work and charge you for it.

The work must be carried out entirely at your expense. Make sure you can afford to do all the work you want to do and can afford to maintain it, before you start. There must be no immediate or future cost to us.

You are responsible for future maintenance of the improvement or alteration. You may need to return the property to its original state at the end of your tenancy or as a leaseholder, when you dispose of the property.

All work needs to be carried out in a professional manner by a qualified tradesperson with membership of the appropriate trade organisation.

All gas work must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Visit the Gas Safe Register website to find local registered engineers. Email  enquiries@gassaferegister.co.uk or telephone 0800 408 5500 for further information.

All electrical and plumbing work needs to be carried out by a registered competent tradesperson. Visit the Front Door website to find a competent person. You can also find out about what a competent person scheme is on the Front Door website.

Replacement windows need fitting by a FENSA registered installer. Find a local FENSA approved installer on the FENSA website.

If we are not happy with your proposals we will not give permission for the improvements. We will write to you detailing why permission has been refused.