Buying Extra Land and Loft Space
Buying Extra Land and Loft Space
On behalf of the Council, we will consider all requests to buy extra land or other unused areas that are not shared or owned by anyone else. The Council has to sell the land or space to you at its current market value. If you're not sure whether an area can be sold to you, talk to us. All homes are different and every application is viewed on a case by case basis.
For example, if you are interested in doing a loft conversion and the loft space doesn’t belong to you, you will need to buy that space. We class this as buying extra land.
If you are thinking about a loft conversion, you will need to get our written permission to do the work, so we suggest you do this first, before going ahead with buying the land (see ‘Alterations and improvements to your home’).
Areas you cannot buy
There are some areas of land we usually cannot sell. These include:
- garages in a separate block
- loft spaces with shared water tanks or other communal services
- roof terraces situated above another home.
The Council also does not allow leaseholders to buy communal areas such as basement well areas, internal stairs and communal or tenanted gardens.
The process of buying extra land
Applying to buy
Firstly, write to us to apply to buy the extra land. We will then do some initial checks and consider the following:
- Would the area be self-contained or easily identifiable as belonging to you?
- Would the sale interfere with our ability to maintain, renew or service any part of the building, including shared and outside areas?
- Would the sale cause disadvantage to other people living in the building or neighbouring buildings?
- Are there any plans to refurbish, renew or develop the area that will prevent the area being sold?
In some cases, our Asset Manager may need to visit you to survey and inspect the area you wish to buy. If we do accept your request, we will write to let you know. If you are still happy for the purchase to proceed, we will write to you let you know what to do next. If we turn down your request to buy the land, we will explain why in full.
Valuing the land
To find out how much the land is worth, it will have to be valued. Once our Home Ownership Team has received your valuation fee of £504.00, we will send your application to the Council’s appointed valuers, who will contact you to arrange a day to do the valuation.
The valuer will write to you to let you know the valuation price, the associated legal costs, and any other requirements of the sale. If you decide to go ahead, you should let the valuer know. The valuer will then instruct Islington's Legal Department to finalise the formal conditions of sale with you and your solicitor.
Owning the land – your Supplemental Lease
When you buy the land, the Council’s Legal Department will need to prepare a new lease for it, called a Supplemental Lease. The Supplemental Lease sits alongside your existing lease and shows the extra area you have bought. The current fee for preparing and issuing a Supplemental Lease is £764 .
Other fees
You will have to pay your solicitor’s fees and the Land Registry fees for your Supplemental Lease.
All fees may be subject to annual changes.
Last updated 20.7.23