The combination of heritage housing stock and a chronic shortage of new land means many Londoners live in apartment blocks in need of extensive repair and refurbishment. The cost to freeholders and leaseholders of maintaining, let alone improving, such properties can be overwhelming and ever increasing.
If you are the freeholder of such a block of flats, or one of the leaseholders and facing a large service charge bill for upgrades or maintenance, airspace development with Fruition Properties could be an innovative way to help meet these costs.
Airspace development is the creation of new properties in the air rights or space on top of existing buildings by usually the addition of one or two storeys. We are able to offer freeholders and leaseholders a mutually beneficial solution by undertaking maintenance, refurbishment and upgrade work for free by developing rooftop apartments in the airspace above an existing building, a win-win for all sides.
Airspace development can provide benefits for freeholders, leaseholders and residents in a variety of ways.
For example, replacing an old leaky roof can be vastly expensive however, by adding the additional storeys a new roof will be incorporated within the build. The building will also then benefit from better thermal insulation and residents will enjoy lower heating costs, increasingly important as fuel bills rise and the need to live sustainably comes to the fore. Future services charges and building maintenance fees will reduce as they are split between more flats and very often the value of the freehold and existing flats increases as the new rooftop apartments and enhancements to communal areas lift the block’s overall value.
Airspace development could also cover the cost of the works required to make a building fire safe – which should always be the number one priority. We are able to advise on the extent of the safety works required and can project manage them, working hand in hand with residents, leaseholders and industry-leading fire engineering firms to come up with a detailed Fire Strategy. This could include upgrading the building’s alarm systems, removing or encasing potential combustible material in communal areas, installing fire doors and installing fire-fighting shafts for larger developments.
Lastly, airspace development also brings the peace of mind that your block’s property management company can focus on maintenance, without the worry that there will be significant long-term issues in the future.
At Fruition Properties, we have considerable experience with helping leaseholders and freeholders in London do exactly this and have built a specialist team of in-house planning, technical and development experts who understand the unique complexities of airspace development. We are well-placed to deliver airspace schemes quickly with as little disruption as possible to existing owners and tenants.
For example at The View in Putney we helped leaseholders realise the airspace potential of their property and save money which allowed them to repair the roof and upgrade the block for both tenants and leaseholders – a clear benefit to all parties involved.
On completion, when required, we also offer the services of our property management company to assist with future maintenance to ensure that your block stays up-to-date and issue free.
We pride ourselves on designing innovative, thoughtful, and inspiring homes across London. To discover more about our extensive property and airspace development experience please click here and view some of our completed developments or if you want to find out more about airspace, please click here.
We offer leaseholders and freeholders a free block assessment to gauge rooftop development potential, please get in touch or call us today on 020 3828 0109.