I live in a flying freehold property - can I convert a bricked-up window back to normal?

I live in a seventeenth-century semi-detached house which used to be one large farm house.

My main bedroom has two front-facing windows, but one of the windows is bricked up, and has been ever since I purchased the house.

I have recently had extensive work done to my house, but the main bedroom, which is a large room, is still very dark.

I'd like to open the bricked-up window and covert it into a normal window again.

However, the outside of the window is on next door's property. It's tricky to explain, but the inside of my bedroom goes over next door's home. From the outside, the window looks like it belongs to next door, when in fact it's in my home.

Who does the window belong to and can I convert it back into a standard window?

Jane Denton, of This is Money, replies: While it may not be applicable to your case, large numbers of windows were bricked-up in the eighteenth century and before in order to avoid the window tax.

Part of your bedroom is built over your neighbour's property. This scenario is known as a flying freehold.

A flying freehold exists when part of a property extends, protrudes or overhangs a neighbour's property.

Taking a few examples, basements or cellars that go underneath neighbouring properties, balconies overhanging next door's home or rooms above shared passageways all create flying freeholds.

Terraced or semi-detached houses where the dividing line between the two adjacent properties is not straight down the middle from top to bottom is another example.

While far from impossible, it can be challenging to get a lender to provide a mortgage for a flying freehold property.

Flying freeholds are not always straightforward and give some solicitors the heebie-jeebies.

Disputes between neighbours can crop up over renovations, repairs and access. There is also the question of who pays for any works required.

Check the deeds for your property to see if they shed light on any existing arrangements for the window and flying freehold area. Before considering getting a solicitor involved, have a discussion with your neighbour to get an idea of how amenable they are to getting the window put back to normal.

As you live in an older building, consider whether planning or listed building consent to covert the bricked-up window back to a standard window will be required.

I asked two solicitors for their thoughts on your question.

Jessica Barnes, a solicitor at SO Legal in Brighton, says: Flying freeholds often crop up in older properties like farmhouses or terraced cottages.

They arise when part of one property extends over a neighbouring property.

In your case, your bedroom projects over next door’s home, so although the space inside belongs to you, the external wall — where the window is bricked up — actually forms part of your neighbour’s property.

That creates a legal grey area. From inside, the wall looks like yours, but you don’t automatically have the right to alter the exterior or gain access to it.

Reinstating the window without the correct rights or your neighbour’s agreement could lead to a dispute.

The first step is to check your title deeds. Sometimes, flying freeholds come with express rights of support, repair, or access, but it’s common for these to be missing.

Indemnity insurance is sometimes used to address flying freehold issues, but that is more relevant when selling rather than when carrying out new work, and it does not resolve the issue in the long-term.

If your main aim is to bring more light into your home, an agreement with your neighbour backed by legal advice is the safer route.

A deed of mutual covenant and grant is a legal document that is commonly used when a flying freehold is present.

This is drawn up to allow each owner to give rights over their own land and sets out the obligations on each owner in terms of maintenance, support and protection.

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The deed is then formalised by being registered at HM Land Registry to note the restrictions on the title and ensure future owners enter into the same agreement to observe the mutually enforceable restrictive and positive covenants.

Planning permission and building regulations may also come into play.

Any external alteration needs to comply with building control, and if the property is listed or sits in a conservation area, further restrictions may apply.

With seventeenth-century houses in particular, there is a real chance the building is listed, which would make consent from the local authority essential before any work is done.

So, can you open up the window again? Possibly, but not without care.

The safest approach is to have a solicitor review your deeds, speak to your neighbour, and confirm whether planning consent is needed.

Flying freeholds can look complicated, but with the right advice, you can find a way forward that brings light back into the room without dimming relations with next door.

David Lewis, a partner at Laytons in London, says: Your query raises a multitude of issues and is quite the legal conundrum.

First, there appears to be a flying freehold issue. A flying freehold occurs where part of a house, like your main bedroom, is built over another person’s house or land and does not sit within its own grounds.

Why is this an issue? Because you do not own the land or buildings supporting the flying freehold room, you may lack rights of support and entry to carry out repairs and maintenance. This can be an issue when mortgaging a property, as well as having practical consequences.

However, there are legal solutions such as specialist indemnity insurance, available for a one-off premium, or negotiation of a deed of mutual rights between the two landowners to enable repairs to be carried out on notice and granting rights of support.

The right of support is, literally, the right of your section of the building to be physically supported by that of your neighbour, prohibiting them from doing anything that might destabilise your property.

You should also check the legal title to your property because it may already contain such rights within the original sale transfer.

Given that your property dates from the seventeenth-century it may well be a listed building.

If so, you will require planning consent or listed building consent to convert the window back to an open useable window in keeping with the nature and characteristics of the house.

The new window may also need to be a sash window because one that opened outwards would potentially trespass on the air space of the neighbouring property.

As always, specialist legal advice should be obtained on issues such as this when purchasing a property.