Freeholder fees for License to Alter request

[BillyBub]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my query, really helpful. I had three estate agents over to give me a valuation on what the flat would be worth after the extension works. They all agreed that the work wouldn't add any value (it would balance out at the cost of the works). As we intend to stay in the flat long-term, this isn't a concern for me - we just want the flat to be a better place to live / entertain. But it makes the formula of benefitting equally from the extra value added challenging to apply in this case! So I've responded to the freeholder and offered £5k - as you say, it's all a negotiation. We'll see how they respond. Certainly at £20k its not affordable. But, as you point out, if they don't negotiate they'll get nothing. Leasehold is a royal pain in the posteria. Suffice to say, I'd never buy a property that is leasehold again!

[ram]

Don't forget that you may be buying ( leaseing ) the ground the extension takes up, included in the price.
You buy a lease to use rooms in a flat for (say £ 100,000 ) so you buy a lease to lease the extra ground the kitchen takes up.

[LondonSW]

Exactly.
In this specific case, if the FH is asking 20K, and let's imagine there are 20K of work to be done, means that the value added to your property need to be 60K.
60K-20K (work)=40K added value, and the FH is asking is 50%.
The solicitor and surveyor 5K seems too much.
Said that, given the formula above, the FH may accept 10-15K, that is better then nothing if you decide not to proceed.
Everything is based on negotiation.

[JK0]

I think a rule of thumb is 50% of the profit you make by virtue of the place being worth more money, less the cost of the building work. The idea is that you both profit equally from the work.

[BillyBub]

I want to extend the kitchen of my garden flat into the side-return. The flat is leasehold and the First Schedule of the lease outright prohibits alterations such as the ones I'm proposing. So the Landlord wants to charge a fee to give permission for the work and provide a License to Alter. They want to charge £20k + £5k for solicitors & surveyor fees. I've no ideas whether this is reasonable, but it's way beyond what I can afford and represents almost a third of the costs of the building works. Does anyone know what a reasonable fee for a License to Alter is? Thanks!