Your lease

The Lease
When you buy a flat or a maisonette, you do not buy the flat itself, you just buy the lease from the council which gives you the right to live in the property for an agreed period of time.
At the end of the lease period the flat will revert back to the council unless the lease is renewed or extended.

The lease is a legal contract between you ‘the leaseholder’ and the council ‘the landlord’.  It contains details of the property, including a map showing your home, the block it is in, the estate where the block is located (if relevant), and 
any garden, shed or garage included in the sale. The lease will also explain your rights and obligations, as well of those
of the council.

Types of lease

Two tier lease
The most common types of lease is a two tier which applies
to flats in blocks on housing estates.  It contains two percentages, one for the block and one for the estate, which are used to calculate your service charge.

The block percentage covers the cost of items such as block repairs, lift maintenance and block electricity.

The estate percentage covers the cost of items such as 
garden maintenance, repairs to walls and fences, estate cleaning and the lighting of footways, paths and grounds as these relate to the estate as a whole.  If you live on an 
estate, you are required to pay your share of the costs for 
the upkeep of the general estate areas.

Your service charge does not cover the costs arising from repair and maintenance of light on adopted public highways running through some estates. These costs are met from the General Fund, into which council tax payments are made.

Single tier lease
Not all blocks are situated on council estates.  Some are
single blocks in residential areas and are know as infill blocks.  If you live in an infill block, you will possess a single tier lease. The council also grants single tier leases to 
people who have purchased flats within converted houses.

If you live in a block or converted house which is not situated on an estate, you will be required to pay only your share of
the costs for the upkeep of the area surrounding and affecting your individual block.

There is no need to calculate an estate percentage for single tier leases. The estate (if relevant) and your block are shown on the map which forms part of your lease.

99-year lease
Before the Right to Buy scheme came into force, the council had already sold flats in certain non-estate properties on 99-year leases.

The housing act 1980 introduced the Right to Buy scheme whereby local authorities were obliged to sell council properties to qualifying tenants who wanted to buy there homes.  The council sold these properties with 125 year leases. The date you purchased your property will determine the length of lease you have.      

Unlike 125 year leases, 99 year leases do not have a standard format.  Instead, each was drawn up by negotiation with the purchases solicitor.  Hence the term negotiated leases. However, most negotiated leases have common features.

These are:

  -  The leaseholder shares the responsibility for maintaining the structure of  the building with the council and all other 99 year leaseholders residing there;

 -  The only services provided to 99 year leaseholders by the council, as landlord, is building insurance.

 -  There in no service charge as such, and the council, as landlord, negotiates any repairs to the structure with 
individual leaseholders as and when they arise.

125 year lease
If you brought your property with a 125 year lease, the council, as landlord, is obliged to provide you with certain services and to charge you for those services. These are called routine service charges. In addition, from time to time you will be charged for your share of the costs of any major works to your block or estate (if relevant). These are called major works service charges.

Block and estate definitions

Your lease may contain definitions for the term ‘block and ‘estate’.  In May 1986, the council amended its definitions of ‘block’ and ‘estate’. One reason for this was that previously a group of blocks on an estate might be classified as one “block”. Since the change, costs attributable to individual blocks can be more easily identified.

Before 1986, costs for works to a group of blocks were often calculated as one amount, which was then divided between all the properties in that group. As there are a larger number of properties in a group of blocks than in an individual block, the percentage was relatively small. Similarly, large estates were redefined into smaller more local ones.

The amended definitions mean that the leaseholders are now able to see the costs which are attributed to their individual block, with costs only being shared between properties in 
that block.

All leaseholders were given the option to change the amended definition or remain with the old one. Whether your lease percentage has been calculated under the old or amended definition, it is binding on both parties.

Your lease will have an estate percentage (if applicable) and one of the following:

  -  Old block definition: Smaller lease percentage, but you contribute to works carried out by all blocks, whether your 
individual block is affected or not; or

  -  Amended block definition: Larger lease percentage, but you only have to contribute to works directly affecting 
your block.

If you require clarification about and aspect of your lease, please contact your managing agent, management co-operative or resident management organisation.