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Your lease and rights as a leaseholder

What is the leasehold system?

Almost all flats in England and Wales are leasehold, as are many houses. As a long leaseholder (i.e. a tenant under a long lease) you have the right to live in your property for a fixed number of years. However, your landlord (the council) retains the right to enforce the tenant’s obligations in the lease and retains ownership and responsibility for the building and all common areas.

What is a lease?

Your lease is a legally binding agreement between the council and you. It sets out all the rights and obligations of both parties relating to your property and the block and estate in which it is situated. Please note that each lease may be different and it is important to always check your own document for exact details. Many leaseholders do not have a copy of their lease, as the original is held by the mortgage company, but we would advise you to get hold of your own copy so that you know what rights and obligations you have agreed to. In addition, the wording of your lease can be difficult to interpret. Although individual leases can differ in some respects, the general principles as outlined below are common to all leases. The glossary at the back of the Leaseholder Handbook explains some of the terms we have used in the lease. We provide some explanations for the main sections here.

When the council signs the lease they agree to:

  • Allow you to live in your home, as long as you pay the ground rent and other charges and meet all your obligations.
  • Keep your home insured for the full reinstatement value (not contents), give you a schedule of cover and a summary of the policy, and allow you to see the full policy if you ask.
  • Keep the structure and outside of the building in good repair, and keep all shared parts of the building or estate in which you live in good repair.
  • Reinstate the building if it is damaged by any insured risk.
  • Allow you to use the facilities that you share with other residents in your building or on your estate.
  • Keep proper accounts in relation to service charges. The council should make these accounts and supporting documents available for your inspection if you ask and give you information on how service charges are worked out.

Your rights as a leaseholder

These are some of your rights under the law. You will have other rights under the terms of your lease. Please refer to your own lease to check these rights. The glossary at the back of the Leaseholder Handbook provides a summary of some of the laws (acts of Parliament) relevant to leaseholders.

Freedom from interference

You have the right to ‘quiet enjoyment’. This has nothing to do with ‘noise’ but means that you can live in your home without the council interfering as long as you keep to your obligations under the lease. However, the council can go to court if you do not keep to the conditions of your lease.

The right to enfranchise

Enfranchisement means leaseholders can group together and buy the freehold of their block of flats if they and the building qualify. If you meet the requirements of the law, you can do this even if the freeholder does not want to sell it. The new owners of the freehold take on all the landlord’s responsibilities for managing and maintaining the building, serving legal notices, collecting service charges, accounting for payments and enforcing the terms of the leases.

Staying in your home

You are secure in your home as long as you keep to the terms of the lease. Only a court can allow your home to be taken from you. This could happen if, for example, you failed to pay your service charge, or mortgage, or you knowingly made false statements when you applied for the lease

 

For more information on your lease and your rights as a leaseholder, please see section 4 of the Leaseholder Handbook