What is a leaseholder?

You will be leaseholder if you have bought:

• Your home under a shared ownership scheme (now known as HomeBuy)
• Your home under another low cost home ownership scheme such as discounted sale
• Your flat/apartment under the right to buy or right to acquire

Your lease

Your lease is a formal contract, between you (the leaseholder) and us (Broadacres – the freeholder), setting out the rights and obligations of both parties. When you bought your home you bought the right to live in your property for a period of time (up to 125 years).

Length of lease

If you are the first person to buy the property, the lease will be granted for a period of up to 125 years. Subsequent owners take over the number of years remaining on the lease at the time of the purchase. When the lease runs out the property reverts back to us or you can apply for an extension of the lease.

Main terms of the lease

The main sections of your lease give you details on the following:

• A description of the property defining the boundaries and areas you are responsible for
• Rent and service charges you must pay when the lease starts
• How and when the rent and service charges are reviewed
• The items that may be included within your service charges
• An explanation of the legal responsibilities for you and us

Your rights and responsibilities under the lease

As a leaseholder you have the right to:

• Live in your home for the length of the lease
• The quiet enjoyment of your home
• For apartment owners, the repair of the structure and communal areas by us.
• Sell the lease on your home (for the remaining years) or leave it to someone in your will. If you have bought your home under the Right to Buy or Right to Acquire, you may need to repay some or all of the discount that you received.

If you bought your home under a low cost home ownership scheme, there are restrictions on who you can sell your home to which are outlined in your lease.

If you are a shared owner, you have additional rights to:

• Purchase further additional shares of the equity (known as staircasing) although in some rural schemes you cannot purchase 100%.
• Obtain the freehold if you have purchased 100% of the equity of a house.

As a leaseholder you have a responsibility to:

• Pay the ground rent and existing and future taxes on the property
• Keep the property in good repair, decoration and condition, including servicing appliances and installations in line with current regulations.
• Pay the buildings insurance for your property.
• Pay the yearly service charges as a contribution to the maintenance in and around the building
• Obtain permission from us prior to making any alterations to your home.
• Allow your neighbours the same right to “quiet enjoyment” of their home and not to cause nuisance or annoyance or cause damage to any neighbouring property.
• Comply with the conditions in your lease about pets and use of the property.
• Not to do anything which is likely to damage the structure of the building or damage any shared services.
• Keep the communal areas clean and tidy unless we provide a service for which you pay.
• Send us legal notice of any change of ownership with a registration fee.
• Inform us in writing of any correspondence address.

Shared owners have additional responsibilities:

• To inform us if you wish to sell your home and obtain our consent. This will not be unreasonably withheld.

As the freeholder, our responsibilities are:

• To maintain any external communal areas for which you pay a charge
• To keep your home insured against loss or fire
• To send an annual statement of service charges

If you live in an apartment:

• To maintain the structure and exterior of the building
• To maintain the internal communal areas and keep them clean and well lit.

Your statutory rights

In addition, as a leaseholder you have extra statutory rights, which give you the right to:

• Information about your landlord (Broadacres)
• Seek recognition for a residents association
• Information about the service charges and right to challenge them
• Be consulted about any major works and long-term agreements to carry out works to your apartment or block of apartments.
• Information about the landlords (Broadacres) insurance.

If there are a majority of leaseholders in a block of apartments and they agree you also have the right to:

• A management audit
• Manage

More information about all these rights can be obtained from the booklet called “Residential long leaseholder – a guide to your rights and responsibilies”.