Home lifts in listed buildings, conservation areas, flats and leasehold homes

Our planning permission guide covers the ordinary house. This page covers everyone else.

Who has to agree: the consent map

The 8-week figures are published targets (Planning Portal, GOV.UK); other timescales are indicative.

Listed buildings

Why an internal lift still needs consent

Section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 bars works to a listed building “for its alteration or extension in any manner which would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest” unless they are authorised. Historic England says: “Listing status covers the entire building, so works requiring consent might include replacing windows and internal alterations.”

A through-floor lift means cutting historic joists. Assume that needs consent and speak to the conservation officer before ordering. Historic England warns: “Carrying out unauthorised works to a listed building is a criminal offence and individuals can be prosecuted.”

The Planning Portal says there is no fee and consent “should be granted within 8 weeks”. Pre-application talks come first, so our estimate from first contact to an installation date is two to four months.

What the conservation officer will look at

The officer will ask how much historic fabric is lost and whether the work can be reversed. A self-supporting through-floor lift carries its load on its own rails and needs no load-bearing wall (see our Stiltz and Companion pages). Removing it later and reinstating the floor typically costs £1,000 to £1,500 (see how a home lift can be removed).

Where the floor cannot be cut, a screw-drive shaft lift in an existing stairwell void may work. Our Cibes page records that its prefabricated shaft stands on the existing floor with a 50mm pit or none. An external shaft needs planning permission as well as listed building consent.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

• In Scotland you apply to the planning authority under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997. Historic Environment Scotland says interior alterations that “affect the character of the building” need consent.
• In Wales you apply to the local planning authority with a heritage impact statement, under the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023 (Cadw).
• In Northern Ireland you apply “to the local council for Listed Building Consent” (nidirect); the council consults the Department for Communities.

Conservation areas

A lift inside an unlisted house in a conservation area normally needs no planning application. The outside is different. Historic England says permitted development rights “are slightly different in conservation areas”, and councils can make Article 4 directions that “restrict work you can normally do without planning permission such as replacing a door or window”.

Flats

Between two separate flats: rarely possible

Approved Document B, the fire safety guidance for dwellings, says: “Every flat should be separated from any other part of the building by compartment walls and compartment floors.” A through-floor lift puts a hole in that compartment floor. You would need the freeholder’s consent, the other owner’s agreement and a fire-resisting enclosure. The practical alternatives are a communal lift or a move.

Maisonettes and duplexes: the realistic case

A maisonette spans two storeys of one flat, so a through-floor lift is technically the same job as in a house. The lease still governs it. The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) says that where alterations affect “parts of the building the landlord owns”, the landlord “might be able to charge a fee called a ‘premium'”, with no legal limit on the amount.

Leasehold houses and flats

Read the alterations clause first

A qualified covenant allows alterations with consent; an absolute covenant bans them. LEASE says “If your lease bans alterations, the landlord does not have to consider your request and does not have to respond.”

What the landlord can refuse, and charge

Where the covenant is qualified and the lift counts as an improvement, section 19(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 says consent “is not to be unreasonably withheld”. The landlord may still ask for a reasonable sum for any “diminution in the value of the premises”, its “legal or other expenses properly incurred”, and in some cases an undertaking to “reinstate the premises”.

We found no national survey of licence fees. Hampstead Chartered Surveyors (June 2026, London flats) gives the freeholder’s surveyor fee as “commonly from around £600 to £1,500 for straightforward works” and the solicitor’s fee as “frequently £750 to £2,000-plus”. LEASE says these administration charges “must be reasonable”.

Extra protection for disabled tenants and leaseholders

Section 190 of the Equality Act 2010 applies where a disabled person lives there as their only or main home, the lease allows improvements with consent, and the tenancy is not secure, protected or statutory. A refusal needs written reasons. Silence beyond “a reasonable time”, or an unreasonable condition, counts as unreasonable withholding, and such consent “must be taken to have been given”.

Common parts: a duty still not in force

In England and Wales the landlord’s duty to adapt common parts is not in force: the House of Commons Library (updated 8 July 2026) says section 36 and Schedule 4 of the Equality Act “have not been brought into force”. A lift inside your own flat is not in the common parts anyway. Scotland is ahead: under its 2020 regulations “you now only need the consent of a majority of owners”, says the Scottish Government.

Shared owners and tenants

Shared ownership

GOV.UK says “All shared ownership homes (houses and flats) are leasehold properties” and “You might need written permission from your landlord to make structural changes.” A floor aperture is structural.

Council tenants

Section 97 of the Housing Act 1985 makes it a term of every secure tenancy that the tenant “will not make any improvement without the written consent of the landlord”, consent that “shall not be unreasonably withheld”.

Housing association and private tenants fall under section 190 of the Equality Act where the tenancy allows improvements with consent.

Grants

GOV.UK says a Disabled Facilities Grant applicant can be an “owner, tenant, [or] landlord”. The council must approve it before work starts. See our grants guide and the occupational therapist and DFG process.

Which lift type causes the least trouble

UK Homelifts does not sell, supply or install lifts, so we have no preferred type. For a house not yet built, see new build vs retrofit.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need listed building consent for a lift inside a listed house?

Almost certainly. The test is whether the work affects the building’s special character, and Historic England says listing covers the whole building, including internal alterations. In England there is no fee, a decision is due within eight weeks of validation, and unauthorised works are a criminal offence.

Does a conservation area stop me fitting a home lift?

Not usually. A lift inside an unlisted house normally needs no planning application. The controls concern the outside: permitted development rights are narrower, and an Article 4 direction can require permission for changes to doors and windows. An external lift shaft or extension will need planning permission.

Can I put a through-floor lift between my flat and the one above?

In practice, no. Fire safety guidance requires every flat to be separated from the rest of the building by compartment floors. You would need the freeholder’s consent, the other owner’s agreement and a fire-resisting enclosure. A lift inside a two-storey maisonette, where both floors belong to one flat, is the realistic case.

How much does a licence for alterations cost?

There is no fixed national fee. One London surveying firm, writing in June 2026, puts the freeholder’s surveyor fee commonly at £600 to £1,500 and the solicitor’s fee frequently at £750 to £2,000 or more, plus managing agent charges. The Leasehold Advisory Service says such charges must be reasonable.

Can my freeholder refuse consent for a home lift?

If the lease bans structural alterations outright, yes, without giving reasons. If the lease allows alterations with consent, consent to an improvement cannot be unreasonably withheld. Where a disabled person lives there, the Equality Act 2010 adds that a refusal needs written reasons and that failing to answer within a reasonable time counts as an unreasonable refusal.

UK Homelifts is an independent information site. We do not sell, supply, install or service lifts and are not affiliated with any manufacturer. This page is general information, not legal, planning or property advice. Check your own lease, tenancy and circumstances with a solicitor, your landlord or your local planning authority.