Start with who owns the roof
The lease decides which parts of the building are yours to look after and which the freeholder keeps, and a rooflight can fall on either side of that line.
Every lease has a description of the demised premises: the parts of the building let to you. In a converted Victorian house in Romsey or Chesterton, or a purpose-built block at Eddington or Great Kneighton, the roof structure is commonly kept back by the freeholder along with the main walls and foundations. A top-floor or loft flat can be different. Some leases include the roof space, the roof covering, or the windows and rooflights set into it; others let you the inside of the flat only, down to the plaster.
So the same skylight over the same kitchen can be your responsibility in one building and the freeholder's in the next. Look for wording about the roof, the structure, windows, glass and window frames. Some leases name the glass as yours and the frame as the landlord's, which matters if you are deciding between new glass and a whole new unit. Our guide to glass only or full unit replacement explains the practical difference between those two routes.
Leases are individual documents and the wording varies widely. If it is unclear after a careful read, a solicitor or the managing agent can tell you how your particular lease should be read. Nothing on this page is legal advice for your building.
Asking for consent
Even where the rooflight is yours to maintain, a lease will often say that alterations to the structure or the outside appearance need the landlord's written approval first.
Alteration clauses come in a few forms. Some ban structural alterations outright. Some allow them with the landlord's consent, and some add that consent cannot be unreasonably withheld. A like-for-like replacement, where a failed unit is swapped for a new one of the same size in the same opening, may be treated differently from a bigger or repositioned rooflight, but the lease wording decides that, not the builder.
In practice the safe order is simple. Write to the freeholder or managing agent, describe the work, and include the survey details: the existing size, the proposed unit, the glass and whether the opening or roof finish changes. Formal consent is sometimes given as a licence for alterations, and the landlord may ask you to cover their legal or surveyor's costs for reviewing the request. Keep a copy of whatever comes back with your property papers, because a buyer's solicitor may ask for it when you sell.
Who pays for the new rooflight
Responsibility for cost usually follows responsibility for upkeep, but a replacement you ask for as an upgrade is not always treated the same as one the building needs.
If the lease makes the freeholder responsible for the roof, and the rooflight has clearly failed (misting between the panes, a cracked pane, a unit past its working life), the replacement may be a building cost recovered through the service charge. Larger works funded that way can bring in a formal consultation process with the leaseholders before the work goes ahead, which takes time. Our answer on the signs a rooflight needs replacing is a useful thing to share when you raise it.
If you want something better than a straight swap, such as slimmer frames, solar control glass on a hot south slope, or an opening vent, the freeholder may agree to it only if you pay the difference or the whole cost. The building insurance is also usually held by the freeholder, so check whether any damage cover applies before assuming it does; whether insurance covers misted rooflights sets out the usual position. For general price ranges, see skylight and rooflight costs.
Planning and Building Control for flats
Flats do not have the permitted development rights that houses have for rooflights, so anything beyond a like-for-like change needs a closer look at planning.
A house can usually take a new rooflight under permitted development if it projects no more than 150mm from the roof plane. Those rights do not apply to flats and maisonettes. Replacing an existing unit with one of the same size and similar appearance is generally not treated as development needing permission, but a larger opening, a new position or a raised unit on a flat roof may well need an application. Conservation areas and listed buildings add their own controls. See whether you need planning permission to replace a rooflight for the detail.
Building Regulations are a separate question from both planning and the lease. A replacement rooflight has to meet current thermal standards, and some replacements are notifiable. We install to current Building Regulations and handle the Building Control notification where the work is notifiable; Building Control for replacement rooflights explains when that applies. In a block, the fire strategy for the building may also matter, which is one more reason to involve the freeholder early.
Access, neighbours and the day itself
Replacing a rooflight in a flat can mean working from shared parts of the building, so access needs to be agreed as well as the work.
A rooflight on a flat roof over a top-floor flat may be reached through a roof hatch in a common stairwell. On a pitched roof above a converted house, a tower or scaffold may stand in a shared garden or on the front path. The freeholder or managing agent will usually want to know dates, how the common parts are protected and how long any scaffold stays up. Our answer on whether replacing a rooflight needs scaffolding covers the options by roof type. A quick note to the neighbours below is courteous too, since a roof opening is noisy for an hour or two.
The light is still the point of the job. A top-floor flat under a south-facing slope in summer can run hot, and a new unit is the moment to choose glass that controls that heat and glare rather than copying what was there. Our page on how we plan the light shows how orientation shapes that choice, and the misted and failed rooflight replacement service page sets out the full process. When you are ready, book a light survey and we will give you a written specification you can send straight to your freeholder.
Questions people also ask
Can I replace the rooflight first and ask the freeholder afterwards?
It is a risk. If the lease requires consent and none was given, the freeholder may treat the work as a breach, and the missing consent can surface later when you come to sell. Asking first is slower, but it keeps the paperwork clean.
Does a like-for-like replacement still need consent?
It depends on the lease. Some leases only catch structural or external alterations, and a straight swap of a failed unit may sit outside that. Others are wider. If in doubt, a short letter to the managing agent settles it.
What if the freeholder will not respond?
Keep a written record of each request and follow up with the managing agent. If the rooflight has failed and the lease puts it on the freeholder, a solicitor or a leasehold advice service can explain what options your particular lease gives you.
Can a new rooflight in a flat be a different size?
Possibly, but a size change usually needs both the freeholder's consent and planning permission, because flats lack the permitted development rights of houses. Read whether a replacement rooflight has to be the same size before you ask.
