Camden
We prepare Licence to Alter drawings for West Hampstead leasehold homes after reading the executed lease, plan, proposed work and any written landlord requirements. Landlord consent, planning permission, Building Regulations approval and Party Wall procedures are independent routes; neither the neighbourhood nor the fact that work is inside the demise decides them.
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The short answer
Not automatically. The executed lease, demise, retained parts and proposed work decide whether landlord consent is required and what drawings support it. Planning, Building Regulations and Party Wall routes are assessed independently, without promising consent or timing.
Planning at a glance
West Hampstead
| Local planning authority | Camden |
|---|---|
| Postcode district | NW6 |
| Likely approval route | Householder planning application or permitted development, depending on conservation status, listing and property type — confirmed for the exact address before drawings begin |
| Statutory determination time | 8 weeks for most householder applications (13 weeks for major applications) |
| Local planning note | West Hampstead is a neighbourhood label, not proof that an address is inside the Fortune Green and West Hampstead Neighbourhood Area, West End Green Conservation Area, South Hampstead Conservation Area, a heritage Article 4 direction or a listed building. Camden adopted the Camden Local Plan on 3 July 2017. Its proposed replacement was submitted for examination on 3 October 2025; hearings ended on 12 June 2026 and Camden was still publishing examination documents on 3 August 2026, so it was not an adopted replacement on the 12 August 2026 source check. The Fortune Green and West Hampstead Neighbourhood Plan was made on 16 September 2015 and applies only inside its mapped neighbourhood area. The West End Green appraisal was adopted on 28 February 2011, but its recommendation for Article 4 controls is not itself an operative direction; Camden’s current heritage Article 4 page does not list West End Green. Camden adopted a replacement heritage direction on 9 June 2026 for mapped South Hampstead properties and scheduled operations only. Its separate borough-wide basement Article 4 direction took effect on 1 June 2017. Check the exact address, property type, planning history, policy and designation maps, Article 4 schedule, national and local listing records, title and lease, and proposed works before advising. |
| Typical drawing package | £1,500–£2,750 inc. VAT, fixed fee. Find my package → |
A Licence to Alter is contractual consent under a lease. It is not automatic for every flat and it is not triggered by a West Hampstead or NW6 label. Read the alteration covenant, demise, retained structure, rights, reservations and any landlord procedure against the actual work before deciding whether consent is required and what information the landlord may reasonably request.
Start with the executed lease and plan, Land Registry material where relevant, the complete address and a precise schedule of work. Record who can grant consent, which parts are demised or retained, and whether the proposal affects structure, common parts, services, fire separation, acoustic separation, waterproofing or access. Unknowns stay marked as unknowns until the appropriate legal or technical adviser resolves them.
The drawing pack should be proportionate to the work and the lease process. Existing and proposed plans may be enough for a limited alteration; structural calculations, service routes, fire or acoustic details, waterproofing and a method statement are added only where the proposal or written landlord requirements engage them. A postcode does not prove which documents are required.
Planning permission is a separate public-law decision. It depends on the planning unit, complete application site, planning history, mapped policies and designations, and proposed operation — not on whether work sits inside or outside the lease demise. A change can be internal to the demise and still require planning, or fall outside the demise without itself requiring planning; the two tests must not be merged.
Building Regulations approval is also independent. Define the building and work, then identify the structure, fire, ventilation, drainage, waterproofing, accessibility or higher-risk-building information the applicable control route needs. Landlord approval neither grants nor replaces that approval.
Party Wall duties follow defined work and statutory geometry, not the flat label. Where notice is required, the adjoining owner may consent or dissent; an award is needed only after dissent or deemed dispute, not automatically whenever notice is served. Valid written consent does not require an award. The lease process, planning and Party Wall procedure can run in parallel without one determining another.
Common-part protection, access, working hours and delivery arrangements belong in the pack only where the lease, landlord requirements or measured site conditions engage them. We do not infer loading restrictions, acoustic standards, neighbour practices or managing-agent rules from West Hampstead, NW6 or a building-type label.
The written appointment should list drawings, decisions, client inputs, specialist responsibilities, exclusions and third-party fees. Landlord, council, legal, engineer, surveyor and building-control timescales and outcomes remain outside an architect’s control, so neither consent nor programme is promised.
Local analysis
Record the alteration covenant, demise, retained structure, service rights, common parts and consent procedure against the proposed operation. This establishes the contractual question; it does not answer planning, Building Regulations or Party Wall questions.
Maintain a route ledger identifying the decision-maker, trigger, evidence and outcome for landlord consent, planning, listed-building consent, Building Regulations and Party Wall procedure. Shared drawings do not merge the legal tests.
Add structural, fire, acoustic, drainage, waterproofing, access or method information only where the proposal, building and written landlord requirements engage it. Do not convert assumptions about NW6 flats into invented requirements.
Local services
A lease-led schedule and proportionate existing and proposed drawings, plus technical evidence justified by the alteration and written landlord process. Parallel public or technical submissions are separately scoped.
State drawings, decisions, client inputs, specialists, exclusions and third-party fees. Do not imply that landlord consent includes planning or building-control approval, or that any outcome is guaranteed.
Local evidence
Executed lease and plan, complete address, written landlord procedure if supplied, existing information, photographs and a precise schedule of work. Add technical evidence only after the proposal and requirements justify it.
Local process
Read the executed lease and plan, define the work, identify the competent landlord and written process, and record the evidence required. Assess planning, Building Regulations and Party Wall routes separately rather than making them depend on the demise.
Use a measured base for consistent drawings, then label landlord, planning, building-control and Party Wall information by audience. Programme third-party reviews without promising dates or outcomes.
Thinking about a project in West Hampstead?
Send the address and a short description. We will confirm the likely approval route and the drawings your project needs.
Local planning
Licence to Alter is private contractual consent under the executed lease. Planning permission and Building Regulations approval are separate public and technical decisions.
Whether planning is required follows the planning unit, application site, history, mapped controls and proposed operation. Whether the operation crosses the lease demise is not the planning test.
Whether landlord consent is required follows the alteration covenant, demise, retained parts and proposed work. Neither a flat label nor a type of room proves the answer.
Party Wall notices follow defined work and statutory geometry. Consent to a notice avoids a dispute; an award follows dissent or deemed dispute rather than every notice.
Use one measured base where several routes require drawings, but state which decision-maker receives each document and do not imply that one approval grants another.
Map the complete application site against current heritage records only where the proposed operation makes those records relevant to planning or listed-building consent.
Heritage status does not decide whether the lease requires landlord consent, and landlord consent does not grant planning or listed-building consent.
For the wider local-authority picture — policies, timescales and application routes — see planning in Camden.
Services
Extensions & Renovations
Leasehold & Licence to Alter
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Send the complete address, executed lease and plan, a precise description of the proposed work, and any written landlord procedure. We will outline the information indicated by those documents and the work without promising consent or timing.
