A family will pay Hackney Council £12,500 after building a three-bedroom loft extension in breach of their lease more than 25 years ago.

The Standard reported that the family, who live in Lingwood Road, Clapton, made "significant alterations" to the their home without council consent in 1997, breaking rules in their lease.

A Hackney Council cabinet meeting on June 24 heard the family had made changes to the roof structure so the attic space could converted into three additional bedrooms and a bathroom.

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Although the family received planning permission at the time, they failed to make a required legal declaration to the council.

Hackney Council has granted a new lease for the family, incorporating the large loft space, as long as they pay the £12,500 premium.

The £12,500 payment is half the market value of the loft space as determined by an independent valuer.

The meeting heard the leaseholder had applied for consent for the alteration retrospectively in 2021.

At the start of negotiations, Hackney Council had said that the loft space should be returned to its original layout.

However, due to changes already made to the rooms - and the leaseholder refusing to reinstate the property to its original layout - the council concluded this option was "unworkable".

Since 2021, the council’s Housing Leasehold Surveyor team have inspected the loft conversion and found no issues with the structural integrity of the building.

One of the reasons for the decision to agree a payment of £12,500 was that loft spaces have been sold in the past.

A report of the council meeting said: "Loft spaces have previously been sold on a small number of occasions, and in the above case, the best option is to formalise the situation by agreeing terms for the loft space to be included into the existing lease."

The meeting heard that from this point on the council would develop a "robust" new policy to govern how such cases are managed in future.

The Standard reported that the family declined to comment when contacted by its reporters.