Matters / Consent and alterations
Create a route to regularisation.
Retrospective Consent
Corvinus establishes what was built, which consents and approvals were required, what evidence exists and what route may be available to regularise or otherwise resolve the position.
What Corvinus does
What Corvinus does on this matter.
The work within Corvinus's control, subject to the agreed scope.
- 01Reconstructs what was actually built, and when.
- 02Audits which consents and statutory approvals were required and which exist.
- 03Identifies the evidence that survives and the evidence that must be recreated.
- 04Defines a regularisation route, or a structured response where none is available.
Typical situations
- Alterations were carried out without landlord consent
- Building-control sign-off cannot be located
- A freeholder has raised a breach or indemnity issue
- A buyer's solicitor has raised enquiries on completed works
- Reinstatement has been requested
Typical situations
- Alterations were carried out without landlord consent
- Building-control sign-off cannot be located
- A freeholder has raised a breach or indemnity issue
- A buyer's solicitor has raised enquiries on completed works
- Reinstatement has been requested
How it is examined
How the matter is examined.
- 01
Establish what exists
Reconstruct the works from drawings, invoices, photographs, surveys and inspection.
- 02
Audit the approvals
Identify each consent regime engaged and whether it was satisfied at the time.
- 03
Test the routes
Assess which regularisation routes remain legally and technically available.
- 04
Prepare the position
Produce the application, evidence set or response the position requires.
The difficulty
Why the matter becomes difficult.
Unauthorised or undocumented alteration often surfaces years later, during a sale, remortgage or freeholder review. The works, the records and the people involved may all have moved on, and separate consent regimes each apply their own test.
What Corvinus establishes
What is established before any position is advanced.
- 01
The works carried out
The works actually carried out and when they were carried out.
- 02
The lease position
The relevant lease restrictions and the landlord-consent position.
- 03
Statutory approvals
Planning, listed-building, building-control or building-safety approvals that may be relevant.
- 04
Technical evidence required
Whether structural, fire, acoustic or other technical evidence is required.
- 05
What evidence exists
What historic documents and inspection evidence exist.
- 06
What is missing
What is missing, and whether it can still be obtained or reconstructed.
- 07
The exposure
The risk of reinstatement, further works, indemnity requests or specialist legal action.
Legal and technical framework
What may govern this matter.
Jurisdiction: England and Wales. Applicability depends on the contract, lease, works, parties and facts. This page provides general information and does not determine the position on a particular matter.
View the legal and technical framework
- The lease remains central
- The lease governs the landlord-consent position, including whether the works required consent and what remedy the landlord may pursue.
- Separate statutory regimes
- Planning, listed-building consent, building-control regularisation and higher-risk-building requirements are distinct regimes with different tests and different availability. One approval does not cure an omission under another.
- Regularisation is not guaranteed
- Not every unauthorised alteration can obtain retrospective consent. Availability depends on the lease, the works, the regime and the evidence.
- Common triggers
- Missing consent often becomes urgent during a sale, remortgage, refinancing exercise or freeholder review. Those are not the only circumstances in which it arises.
- Evidence carries the position
- Where records are incomplete, survey, inspection and opening-up evidence may be needed to establish what was built and how it performs.
- The lease remains central
- The lease governs the landlord-consent position, including whether the works required consent and what remedy the landlord may pursue.
- Separate statutory regimes
- Planning, listed-building consent, building-control regularisation and higher-risk-building requirements are distinct regimes with different tests and different availability. One approval does not cure an omission under another.
- Regularisation is not guaranteed
- Not every unauthorised alteration can obtain retrospective consent. Availability depends on the lease, the works, the regime and the evidence.
- Common triggers
- Missing consent often becomes urgent during a sale, remortgage, refinancing exercise or freeholder review. Those are not the only circumstances in which it arises.
- Evidence carries the position
- Where records are incomplete, survey, inspection and opening-up evidence may be needed to establish what was built and how it performs.
Resolution
What resolution may look like.
These are the routes the work is intended to make available. Whether any is realistic depends on the lease, contract, works and facts.
- Retrospective licence or landlord-consent application
- Technical evidence and inspection programme
- Building-control regularisation route where legally available
- Remedial or opening-up works
- Structured response to sale, remortgage, refinancing or freeholder enquiries
- Specialist legal advice where the position cannot be regularised conventionally
What you receive
The output is the product.
The deliverables within Corvinus's control on this matter, subject to the agreed scope.
- 01Approval and Consent Audit
- 02Works-As-Built Record
- 03Regularisation Roadmap
- 04Missing-Evidence Schedule
- 05Technical Inspection Requirements
- 06Draft Application or Response
- 07Professional Briefing
If the matter does not resolve
Prepared for specialist legal escalation.
Corvinus prepares the lease position, the as-built record, the consent audit, the evidence obtained and the unresolved issues for a specialist property solicitor or counsel.
- Relevant lease provisions and consent history
- Works-as-built record
- Approval and consent audit
- Technical evidence obtained
- Missing-evidence schedule
- Briefing for a specialist property solicitor or counsel
Common failure points
What goes wrong, and the better route.
Answering enquiries without the record
Statements can be made that the surviving evidence does not support.
Better route
Establish the as-built and consent position before responding.
Assuming indemnity insurance resolves it
The underlying technical and consent position can remain unaddressed and can resurface.
Better route
Identify the regularisation routes alongside any insurance question.
Treating one approval as covering all
A regime that was never satisfied can be overlooked entirely.
Better route
Audit each engaged regime separately.
Common questions
Questions about retrospective consent.
Other matters
- Consent and alterationsLicence to AlterMove the alteration towards consent.Move the alteration towards consent.Establish what the lease requires, what the works involve, whether the objections and conditions are supported, and what submission or response moves the application forward.Establish what the lease requires, what the works involve, whether the objections and conditions are supported, and what submission or response moves the application forward.
- Construction disputesConstruction DisputesEstablish responsibility and the route to resolution.Establish responsibility and the route to resolution.Reconstruct the project, test the competing accounts and determine what the agreement, technical evidence and documentary record support.Reconstruct the project, test the competing accounts and determine what the agreement, technical evidence and documentary record support.
- Construction disputesDefective WorksEstablish what is defective and what should put it right.Establish what is defective and what should put it right.Compare the delivered work with the obligations that apply, examine causation and responsibility, and define the remedial and evidential position.Compare the delivered work with the obligations that apply, examine causation and responsibility, and define the remedial and evidential position.
Present a matter
Create a route to regularisation.
Present the issue first. Corvinus will determine whether the matter is suitable, what information is required and what the proposed scope should address.
Initial enquiry · No obligation to proceed