What Freeholder Surveyors Want on Licence to Alter Packs

Risk, not mood boards

A freeholder surveyor is not assessing kitchen style. They assess whether the works damage structure, flood neighbours, weaken fire separation, create noise paths, or put common parts at risk during construction. Licence to Alter drawings should answer those risks with plans, sections and method notes.

Planning permission, if required for external works, is a separate public-law track. See planning vs Licence to Alter.

Typical sheet content

Existing and proposed plans of the demise; structural opening information coordinated with an engineer; fire and acoustic notes where floors and party walls are touched; waterproofing notes for wet-area moves; protection of stairs, risers and common parts; method statements for noisy or dirty works and access.

Estate streets in Marylebone, mews access in Chelsea, and garden-square vaults in Notting Hill change which risks dominate — write the host building, not a generic flat template.

Sequencing with planning and building control

One measured model should feed freeholder packs, any planning submission, and later building regulations drawings. Divergent openings between packs force redesign. Programme freeholder time early — it often outlasts the statutory householder clock.