What is a Licence to Alter?

If you lease a shop, restaurant or office, your lease almost certainly restricts what you can change without the landlord’s permission. Before a fit-out starts, most landlords will want to approve the works formally. That approval is usually documented in a Licence to Alter: a short legal agreement between landlord and tenant that permits specific alterations, on specific terms.

Why it matters

Starting work without consent can put the tenant in breach of the lease. In practice, many shopping centres and managed buildings will not let a contractor on site until the drawings have been approved and the licence is in place or agreed in principle. For a new restaurant or shop with an opening date, landlord approval is often one of the first things that can hold up the programme.

What landlords usually ask for

Requirements vary between landlords and buildings, but a typical submission includes:

• Existing and proposed floor plans, sections and elevations
• Reflected ceiling plans and finishes
• Shopfront and signage drawings
• Mechanical and electrical proposals, including any extract or ventilation routes
• Fire strategy information and how the design relates to the building’s fire systems
• Structural information for new openings, mezzanines or heavy equipment
• A method statement, programme and insurance details for the contractor

Shopping centres and large estates often publish a tenant fit-out guide setting out their technical standards. It is worth reading this before design begins, not after.

Who is involved

The landlord’s surveyor or managing agent reviews the technical information and comments on it. Solicitors for both sides agree the wording of the licence itself. Most leases require the tenant to cover the landlord’s reasonable professional costs for this, so it should be allowed for in the budget.

Reinstatement

A Licence to Alter often says whether the tenant must remove the works and reinstate the premises at the end of the lease. It is worth checking this early, as it can affect how some elements are designed and fixed.

How we approach it

On our commercial fit-out projects we prepare the landlord approval package alongside the design, coordinate with the landlord’s surveyor and respond to comments as the drawings develop. Treating approval as part of the design process, rather than a separate step at the end, usually saves time. See our Licence to Alter and landlord approvals service for more detail.

This article is general guidance and not legal advice. Your solicitor should advise on the terms of your lease and licence.