Tenant and Leaseholder Alteration and Improvement Policy

When carrying out alteration and improvement works to their homes for either approved or permitted works, tenants and leaseholders must use a qualified contractor for works that required certification on completion (gas/electrical), all other works should be completed by a competent person. A copy of all required consents as well as gas/electrical certification of works should also be provided to the Council within 28 working days of the completion of works.

Whether the alteration is an approved or permitted type, all installed materials/works completed must be installed as manufactures instructions, this is especially important when new flooring of any type if laid in upper floor flats. No "laminate/hard" flooring is to be laid without the "manufacture approved" sound-deadening or underlay.

It remains the responsibility of the tenant/leaseholder, to ensure that both approved and permitted alterations do not detrimentally affect the property or neighbouring properties.

Any approved/permitted alterations made by tenants/leaseholders remain their responsibility to maintain and repair for the duration of the tenancy.

For all tenanted properties where alterations whether approved/permitted and the works have been completed satisfactorily in accordance with this policy, tenants will not be asked to remove these at termination of tenancy or mutual exchange.

At termination of tenancy, tenants may be asked to remove the alteration if in poor condition or not installed correctly and approved by the Council.

On mutual exchange the approved/permitted alterations will become the responsibility of the exchange tenant when they move in. The council will not remove any tenant alterations or replace non-standard items such as kitchens and bathrooms until they are due to be replaced as part of a planned capital work program or they cannot be repaired.

In some cases, an alteration or improvement will require Building Regulations or Planning approval. If this is the case the tenant or leaseholder will be responsible for obtaining these and will need to provide an original copy of such statutory approvals before GYBC approval can be given, all before any works starts.

An asbestos survey (and potential subsequent removal of asbestos) may need to be carried out before any works can take place, this would have to be at the expense of the tenant or leaseholder. GYBC has a duty of care to manage Asbestos (ACM's) in its properties and will work with tenants and leaseholders to supply held survey data as required. An asbestos survey may also need to be carried out before any works take place at the expense of the tenant or leaseholder.

If permission is granted but on inspection it is identified that the works have not been carried out to meet agreed conditions or to required standards, the tenant/leaseholder will be required to carry out further work to rectify this and will be given a reasonable timescale to comply with our instructions. Failure to do so will result in legal enforcement action being taken against the tenant or leaseholder of which they will be liable for the costs.

The Council understands that some tenants/leaseholders may have completed alterations and improvements to their homes previously. The Council will now only seek retrospect "approvals" for works that fall into the requires approval category as stated above. If these alterations/improvements do not comply with the Council's requirements, the section on refusals will apply. If you are seeking a transfer to another property your transfer will be delayed until all issues around unapproved alterations have been resolved including the payment of the council's costs incurred as a result of the unapproved alterations, including any costs to remove the alterations and make good the property afterwards.