The lease
What is a lease?
When you buy your flat, you do not buy the property itself; you buy a lease that gives you the right to live in the property for a set period of time.
The council owns the freehold and will still be your landlord and East Durham Homes manages the properties.
The lease is an agreement between you and the council that tells you your responsibilities as a leaseholder and the council's responsibilities as your landlord. The lease also tells you what parts of the property have been sold to you and what rights you have over communal areas.
The lease sets out the council's responsibilities and the charges you must pay to the landlord, such as ground rent and service charges, including the buildings insurance premium. It also sets out when the service charges are due for payment. This is explained in more detail in the service charge and ground rent section of the website.
It is important to understand that the lease is a legally binding contract enforceable by law. Neither party to the lease can simply walk away from it or act outside the terms of it.
Further information
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Document Created:
01/09/2009 11:30
, last modified:
16/11/2010 10:33