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As a homeowner, you can redecorate the inside of your home and make repairs as you need to. You don't need to tell us about them. You can do things like:
- Paint and decorate the inside of your home
- Fit wardrobes or shelves
- Fit burglar bars or security systems
- Replace light fittings and taps
- Install cat flaps (only on wooden rear doors on houses)
For other things, you'll need to get our permission before you start work. You'll need permission if you want to:
- Change anything with the electrical or gas systems
- Install a new bathroom or kitchen
- Install a shower
- Change the structure of the walls inside your home
- Extend your home in any way
- Put a shed or other structure in your garden
Fees apply for leasehold alteration applications.
You'll also need to meet our requirements and use qualified tradespeople. We have these requirements to protect everyone, because changes you make to your home could affect your neighbours.
Your lease might have other requirements, too. Here are the ones that apply to all homeowners who make alterations. You must:
- Get planning permission from your local council if you need it
- Tell your local council's building control department about any relevant work and comply with their requirements
- Use competent, professional people who have liability insurance
- Have all gas and electrical work done by registered tradespeople
- Be considerate to your neighbours in how you do the work
- Make good any damage caused by your work to any shared areas or neighbouring homes
- Tell your mortgage lender what you're doing if they need to know
You must send us copies of:
- Any consent and conditions from any superior landlord
- Any local authority planning permission and/or local building control requirements and conditions
- Any completion certificates or certificates to show that work has been done by registered contractors
At the end, you'll need to send us a letter to confirm that you've finished the alterations and met these requirements.
To discuss changes you want to make, email leasehold@a2dominion.co.uk.
For further information please see our Improvements & Alterations guide.
As a homeowner, you can redecorate the inside of your home and make repairs as you need to. You don't need to tell us about them. You can do things like:
- Paint and decorate the inside of your home
- Fit wardrobes or shelves
- Fit burglar bars or security systems
- Replace light fittings and taps
- Install cat flaps (only on wooden rear doors on houses)
For other things, you'll need to get our permission before you start work. You'll need permission if you want to:
- Change anything with the electrical or gas systems
- Install a new bathroom or kitchen
- Install a shower
- Change the structure of the walls inside your home
- Extend your home in any way
- Put a shed or other structure in your garden
Fees apply for leasehold alteration applications.
You'll also need to meet our requirements and use qualified tradespeople. We have these requirements to protect everyone, because changes you make to your home could affect your neighbours.
Your lease might have other requirements, too. Here are the ones that apply to all homeowners who make alterations. You must:
- Get planning permission from your local council if you need it
- Tell your local council's building control department about any relevant work and comply with their requirements
- Use competent, professional people who have liability insurance
- Have all gas and electrical work done by registered tradespeople
- Be considerate to your neighbours in how you do the work
- Make good any damage caused by your work to any shared areas or neighbouring homes
- Tell your mortgage lender what you're doing if they need to know
You must send us copies of:
- Any consent and conditions from any superior landlord
- Any local authority planning permission and/or local building control requirements and conditions
- Any completion certificates or certificates to show that work has been done by registered contractors
At the end, you'll need to send us a letter to confirm that you've finished the alterations and met these requirements.
To discuss changes you want to make, email leasehold@a2dominion.co.uk.
For further information please see our Improvements & Alterations guide.
You can't make any structural changes to your home, but you can redecorate and hang pictures. Just get permission from your Property Manager first.
When you move out, you'll usually have to return everything to the way it was when you first moved in.
You can't make any structural changes to your home, but you can redecorate and hang pictures, unless you're living in a room with shared living spaces. Just get permission from your Property Manager first.
When you move out, you'll usually have to return everything to the way it was when you first moved in.
Things you can do
You can do these things, but when it comes to you moving out you'll usually have to return everything to the way it was when you first moved in. Check with us if you're unsure.
- Paint and decorate the inside of your home
- Fit wardrobes or shelves
- Fit battery-powered smoke or heat detectors
- Fit extra locks, burglar alarms or other security systems to your home
- Replace light fittings – this must be done by a qualified electrician and can’t involve any changes to the electrical circuits
- Install a garden pond if you live in a house or bungalow
- Replace taps in your home – this must be done by a qualified plumber
- Fit extra outdoor lighting – this must be done by a qualified electrician
- Install a cat or dog flap to an outside door if you live in a house and have a fully-enclosed garden
- Fit a garden shed or other garden structure that doesn’t require any concrete or masonry work and you have a fully-enclosed garden
Things you can't do
There are some changes you can’t make to your home. If you do, you'll be breaking your tenancy agreement. We'll have to charge you what it costs us to put your home back to the way it was.
- Fit laminate in your bathroom or kitchen
- Change the gas system or electrical circuits of your home
- Install a wood-burning fire
- Fit a hob or oven to an existing kitchen unit that doesn’t have an existing cooker or oven
- Install a gas appliance that needs a chimney
- Install solar panels
- Convert your garage into a living space, unless you have permission from Social Services
- Install ground-source heating
- Fence off an area of your home that’s not already fully enclosed
- Change a door into a window or a window into a door, unless it’s part of an approved adaptation
Things you may be able to do
You may be able to do these things if you talk to us about them first. If we give you permission, you’ll need to meet certain requirements, and some things you might need to undo when you move out.
- Put down laminate flooring in the living areas and bedrooms
- Install a TV aerial and connection – this must be done by a qualified engineer
- Fit a new electric or gas cooker, built-in hob or oven – this must be done by a qualified electrician or Gas Safe-registered engineer, and you're responsible for maintaining the appliance
- Add heating or cooling systems, such as air conditioning units, that don’t use gas
- Install a shower – you'll need to fit extra tiling and other protection against water damage
- Adapt your home to meet the special needs of someone living there
- Add a conservatory
- Replace a kitchen or bathroom (we replace bathrooms and kitchens in our rented homes as part of a programme of planned work. You can ask us when yours is scheduled to be done.)
- Put down paving slabs or other masonry work outside your home to create extra car-parking spaces
- Replace an outside door or window
To tell us about a change you'd like to make, contact us.
You can't make any changes to your room.
You can't make any structural changes to your home, but you can redecorate the inside of your home and make repairs as you need to. You don't need to tell us about them. You can do things like:
- Paint and decorate the inside of your home
- Fit wardrobes or shelves
- Replace light fittings and taps
You may also be able to adapt your home if it will help you live independently for longer.
You can't make any structural changes to your home, but you can redecorate and hang pictures. Just get permission from your Housing Officer first.
When you move out, you'll usually have to return everything to the way it was when you first moved in.