The lease sets out the legal agreement between you (the leaseholder) and the council (the freeholder).
The lease is a very important document as it sets out your rights and responsibilities as leaseholder and those of the council as freeholder and your landlord.
The lease will have a plan attached showing your property and the block in which it is situated (the building), together with any garden and/or shed included in the sale. The plan may also show the neighbourhood your building is in (the estate) and any communal areas that you may be entitled to use within the estate.
When you purchase a flat, maisonette or certain other types of property, you purchase the leasehold interest in that property and the council retains the freehold interest.
Generally, as a leaseholder you will be responsible for the area within the flat and the freeholder will be responsible for the exterior of the building and the land on which the property is situated.
Most leases are for a term of 125 years from the date of sale of the first property in the block.
The lease will specify which parts of the property and rights over communal areas you may have. You may also be entitled to use communal areas within the estate.
Please be aware that you are not allowed to store anything within the communal area, such as furniture, bikes etc. In some cases you may be allowed small items such as a plant pot or door mat.
Your solicitor or licensed conveyancer should give you a copy of the lease when you complete the purchase of your property. If you lose your copy of the lease and have a mortgage you should contact your mortgage lender who would normally be able to supply you with a copy although there could be a charge for this service.
A photocopy of your lease can be provided free of charge by Norwich City Council.
Download a plain English sample lease.
Can your lease be changed?
If you and the council agree to change your lease, for example to correct a mistake in the plans, this is done by a ‘Deed of Rectification’. If the lease needs to be varied for some other reason, and both parties agree to the change, then it can be made by mutual agreement, resulting in a ‘Deed of Variation’. To do this, you will need to instruct a solicitor and pay them.
If, however, either you or the council wishes to change a lease, but the other party does not agree to the change, then an application would have to be made to a court for a decision. The court may, of course, not agree to the requested change being made.
