Your lease with us
The lease tells you what parts of the property have been sold to you and what rights you have over communal areas.
When you buy your flat, you do not buy the property itself, you buy a lease which gives you the right to live in the property for a set period of time.
Havering Council owns the freehold and is your landlord. We are responsible for completing repairs to communal areas, providing cleaning services to communal areas, maintaining grounds etc.
Although leaseholders do not have to pay a weekly rent you are required to pay annual 'ground rent' and a service charge.
Leaseholders are looked after by the Home Ownership team who are part of the Council's Housing services.
The lease
Not all leases are identical, some clauses may vary slightly.
The front page of your lease explains who is involved in the agreement. The lease gives the name of the person who originally bought the flat from the Council. Later purchasers take on all the rights and responsibilities of the first purchaser.
The lease also includes the requirement to pay service charges for major works, communal services and repairs, management and administration costs and ground rent.
The Lease is a legal document that sets out the relationship between you and the landlord.
Don't understand your lease?
If you find it difficult to understand your lease then you should get advice from a solicitor and insist that they provide a report on its terms when they are instructed to deal with the purchase of your home.