Home ownership with Latimer
Advice and instructions for seeking permission and making applications for certain things you may want to carry out in or to your home. Each type of enquiry has different requirements.
You'll find information on the following as you scroll through this page:
- Home improvements and alterations
- Subletting options
- Keeping pets
- Running a business from home
- Pre-sale management pack
- Extending your lease
- Remortgaging your shared ownership home
- Transfer of ownership for shared owners
- Homebuy equity loan scheme
- Buying the freehold
- Get involved - do you want to make a difference to where you live?
We charge non-refundable administration fees for reviewing your lease and progressing applications.
You'll find out more about these charges on our Service charges, fees and rent page.
Making alterations to your home
Check out our home improvements and alterations page. It's dedicated to providing advice and information.
If you're planning home improvements there's a handy checklist to follow before making an application. You'll find other links and useful details there too.
Don't forget that you're able to decorate and make cosmetic improvements to your home without seeking permission. The terms of your lease or freehold transfer outline where you'll need to get permission first.
Subletting your home
Keeping pets
If you live in a house, you’re normally able to have pets. If you live in an apartment you'll need to seek permission from us.
We recognise the importance of pets to their owners, including their positive impact on wellbeing. We'll not unreasonably refuse permission without good reason. However, there are some homes we may not be able to approve. This could be apartments in tall buildings or homes where we're not your freeholder.
Running a business from home
You'll need permission from us. The terms of your lease may only permit that your home is only for residential purposes. Even if your lease doesn't prevent you from running a business from home, consider if it will affect your mortgage agreements and any insurance.
Homeowners are responsible for ensuring that their business complies with all regulations, legislation and standards relevant to the type of business. We won't accept responsibility where a business fails to comply with these requirements.
Where a business is related to childcare we'll ask for more information to confirm that the person running the business is appropriately registered. We won’t permit any signage relating to the business to be affixed to our property.
We'll need the full details of your planned business use, the hours of operation, level of noise and how much you think it could impact on your neighbours.
Pre-sale management pack enquiry
The pre-sale management pack can be used by your solicitor to complete the Law Society LPE1 or FME1 form. Please note, we don’t complete these forms on your behalf.
There are administration fees that apply to these requests. View our administration fees table for details. The pack is valid for six months after issue. After that, a new pack will be needed and the full fee will be payable again.
Extending your lease
Every year your lease’s length diminishes. A shorter lease may make it more difficult to find a buyer for your home if you want to sell. It may make it difficult to re-mortgage as well.
Most housing association leases have historically been granted for 99 or 125 years. More recently they've been granted for 250 or more years. Older leases, or leases that have come into our management via a stock transfer from another housing association or local authority, may differ.
Lenders favour leases with an unexpired term in excess of 80 years. The cost of a lease extension increases once the remaining term drops below 80 years. If you can afford it, it's best to extend your lease before the remaining term falls below 80 years.
Lease extensions are legal processes, so you should always get specialist legal advice.
Extending a lease is a statutory right for all open-market leaseholders. We'll still offer an informal lease extension service. Shared owner leaseholders are required to apply to extend your lease only through the informal service.
Remortgaging your shared ownership home
As a shared owner if you're changing your lender or borrowing additional funds the new mortgage offer must be approved by your Housing Association prior to the remortgage taking place.
The terms of your shared ownership lease only allows further borrowing for the purchase of additional shares, home improvements or if one joint shared owner wishes to purchase the interest in the lease of the other joint shared owner.
If you're remortgaging to fund a staircasing application, the new mortgage document will be reviewed and approved by our solicitors.
If you're remortgaging for more favourable terms, but remaining with the same lender, check with your lender. We don't usually need to provide consent, but some lenders may want it.
You're also required to pay the remortgage administration fee and notice of transfer fee.
View our administration fees table
Remortgaging application checklist:
- New mortgage offer document (including the full market value).
- Redemption statement from the current lender.
- The reason you're looking to remortgage.
Transfer of ownership
As a shared owner you may want to transfer the lease agreement to either the other joint owner, so they become the sole owner, or to share your lease with another person. You'll need our consent.
Often referred to as transfer of ownership or transfer of equity, the following steps are required:
- Speak to your mortgage lender, a new mortgage offer will be needed along with their consent.
- We'll need to approve the new mortgage offer.
- Shared owners are responsible for arranging with their solicitors to carry out the legal transfer of the property.
- We'll be served with Notice of Transfer on completion.
Before we're able to grant consent to the transfer of your lease we require written confirmation:
- Of consent to the transfer taking place from the person being removed or being added to the title.
- That the leaseholder(s) understand that compliance with the terms of the lease will be their sole responsibility.
- From the remaining leaseholder(s) that they agree with the transfer.
Important - if you're transferring your shared ownership lease from sole to joint names, the new owner will need to be eligible for the shared ownership scheme. You'll be required to confirm this during the permission process. The joint household income needs to be below £80,000 (£90,000 in London). They must not own another property.
For the home ownership team to progress your request you're required to pay the transfer of equity administration fee and notice of transfer fee.
Homebuy loan
If you bought your home with a Homebuy loan you’ll have contributed a certain percentage of the purchase price through your mortgage.
As your housing provider, we will have provided the remaining percentage of the purchase price in the form of an equity loan.
If you're now seeking to sell your home, or if you wish to purchase the remaining share, the loan needs to be repaid. Complete our Homebuy loan enquiry to start the process.
Buying the freehold
As a leaseholder you may be eligible to purchase the freehold of your apartment block through collective enfranchisement.
The freeholder of a property:
- Owns it outright, including the land it's built on.*
- Is responsible for costs and maintenance of the property and land.*
*Please note estate-based service charges may remain payable for communal spaces retained under the ownership of Clarion Housing Association.
The process of purchasing a freehold is formally known as the statutory right of collective enfranchisement. It's the right provided by the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 to enable qualifying leaseholders to request the freehold of their building is sold to them.
We'll agree to collective enfranchisement of qualifying properties in cases where there are enough qualifying leaseholders. To pursue a collective enfranchisement application, you may choose the statutory procedure or our own informal procedure. The Leasehold Advisory Service provides useful and independent guidance.
Buying the freehold can be a complicated process. We recommend you seek professional advice from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area.
Do you want to make a difference to where you live?
We want to get even more residents working with us to improve our services; to do this we're asking you to tell us how you would like to get involved.
We know how busy life can be so involvement activities take varying levels of commitment - it could be as little as half an hour a year.