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Thanks, Wickes did the kitchen a few years ago and the bathroom was done from a recommendation.

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Looks priced to sell, I would be surprised if that did not generate good interest.  Who did your kitchen and bathroom refurb?

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Thank you, yes, we already found one.

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I am taking down one wall and “moving” another. My surveyor's report, written at the start of Feb cost £500 and HJP costs were £705. Building regs, solicitor's costs to instruct the freeholder's solicitor to issue a license will bring my total closer to 2k I expect.
I am still to complete the paperwork trail but nearly there.

20th August update
solicitor’s costs from the freeholder to issue the license is £1161.60 and may be more depending on adjustments. If I appoint a solicitor to read through the license draft that’s another 1k.
I forgot to mention the need for pre and post works plans which and architect has to draw up and provide insurance for; kerching again.

Not sure why I needed my own surveyor to stick a hole in the ceiling for the freeholder to send another surveyor? I would have hoped the freeholder would have had some construction details to refer to.

Quite a paper trail.

Just read Henry’s update too and not looking forward to the additional billing from RQRC and Habitare. This is costing more than my kitchen!

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Hi Henry

Would it be possible for me to give you a call regarding the process please?

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EDITED AND UPDATED ON 15 AUGUST

Hi David, sorry for the delayed reply. The process is long winded and highly inefficient – because of the freeholder. This is the process as far as I know –

1) Get your own structural surveyor to report that the load bearing wall is not structural (circa £300-400)
2) Send this report to freeholder's surveyor (called HJP)
3) HJP them require a large amount of documents including floorplans (old and new), Buildings approval confirmation from the council (can be done online and costs £240), various details about your builder and their insurance etc
4) After HJP have all the docs they need, they then come round to your flat to 'check' that the other structural report was correct. This will cost you £400-500 and you have no choice. You must also agree to replace any new flooring with more expensive sound proofing underneath the new flooring as a requirement (not sure if this is legally required but they wont progress without you agreeing to it).
5) Then HJP send their report and all the documents to Secure Reversions (the freeholder) so they can issue a 'license to alter'.
6) Sampson Coward (the freeholders solicitors) will now be engaged, and send you a bill for £1200 + VAT to draw up the paperwork for the license to alter. This must be paid upfront
7) After that has been completed, The Rainbow Quay Residents Company will charge around £450 for their solicitors to look over and approve the paperwork, then Habitaire will require £150 to sign the documents
6) Then you can actually complete the 6 hour job of knocking down a non-load bearing wall – so simple

The weak link in the chain is HJP and Secure Reversions. From experience, HJP need to be hassled aggressively to get anywhere and they are incredibly inexperienced (I knew more about the process than they did).

Secure Reversions on the other hand are laughable. After completing steps 1-5, I have then called and left messages to the freeholder, sent countless emails to all of the different people in the company and for months have not heard anything back.

Total costs –

£350 for First report
£240 for Council buildings control
£550 for HJP 
£1400 for Sampson Coward
£450 for RQRC
£150 for Habitaire

= over £3140 in admin costs to knock down a non-load bearing wall 🙂

If anyone else thinks these charges are not 'reasonable' (as defined by Schedule 11 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002), then please get in touch so we can act on it.

Any questions let me know, cheers!

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Hi Henry, Linda

Just wondering if you either of you had any updates on the process and whether you were successful?  Would it be possible to give you a quick call (or even to have a look) to speak about the process in more detail?

I spoke to an architect and they told us we didn't need to use them and instead should just ask the freeholder for the structural plans to see if it was load bearing or not.  Subject to them existing anything else was just inflated costs or processes in their opinion.

Thanks,
David

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Maybe you already found one but if you are still looking Anita text me on 07834 207236.  Thanks

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It was.  It would probably would be useful to have the two crime numbers linked.  I do not have either of those.

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We also had a bike stolen at this time. Have reported it to the police, but didn't hear anything. Was the CCTV footage sent to the police?

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I am joining in for renting a car space. Please let me know if there's one available. Thank you.

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I asked for some clarity from Southwark Council and was told the following:

The definition of an HMO is a property that is rented out by at least 3 people who are not from 1 ‘household’ (for example a family) but share facilities like the bathroom and kitchen.
This has always been the definition, however, when the requirement to licence HMOs came in with the Housing Act 2004, it was initially only concerned with licensing larger HMOs under the mandatory licensing scheme. This applied to houses where all of the following the following apply:

• it is rented to 5 or more people who form more than 1 household
• some or all tenants share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities
• at least 1 tenant pays rent (or their employer pays it for them)

The Act however, also made provisions for two other types of property licensing: additional and selective. Additional licensing covers all HMOs that are not covered by the mandatory scheme and selective licensing applies to any rented property in a designated selective licensing zone. Not every local authority runs additional or selective licensing schemes. In Southwark, we have had both selective and additional licensing schemes since January 1st 2016.

In answer to you question, yes a couple with a single sharer would require an additional HMO licence; and this has been the case since 1st January 2016.

The terms ‘Mandatory’, ‘Additional’ and ‘Selective’ are prescribed by the Housing Act 2004, and we are unable to change them.

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Mm I've seen it. :-

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Maybe a useful starting point is the legislation:

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/home-owners-services/private-home-owners-and-landlords/property-licensing?chapter=2

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I have left it as we have a new website that should be coming soon.  Hopefully within the next 4 to 6 weeks.

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