Common terms

- The leaseholder or lessee is you (as the owner of the lease)

- The landlord or lessor is Wandsworth council (as the owner of the freehold)

-  The lease percentage is the means by which your service charge contribution is assessed. The percentage for the block charge if appropriate, for any estate charge, represents the portion of costs you will have to pay.     

-  The demise premises is the part of the block or house included in the lease which you have purchased, in other words the interior of your flat or maisonette.  It is your responsibility  to maintain this area which includes:

 -  The floor surface, including floorboards or floor screed and balcony floors 

 -  The ceiling plaster or plasterboard

 -  The wall plaster or plasterboard

 -  The walls, including exterior walls, and walls dividing the property from other properties or common parts

-  The window glass (glazing)

-  All doors and doorframes

The reserved property or common parts means the part of the block or housing estate that are not included in the property you have purchased and which are not separately let to other owners or occupiers. It is the councils responsibility to repair and maintain these parts and you will have to contribute towards the cost of repairs, maintenance, and cleaning.

These parts include:

  -  Communal staircases, corridors and balconies

  -  Door entry system

  -  Lifts

  -  Roofs

  -  Foundations

  -  External walls or a wall dividing your property from another (but not the internal faces of walls within your home)

  -  External window frames