LEASEHOLD OWNERS
We provide the following services
for leasehold owners
HELP TO UNDERSTAND YOUR LEASE
We are able to help you understand your lease, and provide specialist advice on any red flags or issues that require attention.
Do not purchase a leasehold property without first understanding key clauses in your lease. A copy of the lease should be available from your solicitor. The Land Registry usually maintains a copy as well.
HELP WITH SERVICE CHARGE ACCOUNTS
We are able to help assess your service charge accounts, providing insights on whether the charges are realistic.
ENSURE FAIRNESS AND TRANSPARENCY
There is increasing legislation protecting leaseholders – we stay on top of these latest developments so we can provide up to date advice.
We ensure leaseholders receive fair and equitable treatment. We believe freeholders should provide full disclosure of how service charge and reserve fund monies are allocated and spent, on a regular and timely basis.
Examples of key clauses in leases include:
RIGHTS GRANTED WITH THE PROPERTY: May include rights with regards to access to common areas, rights to use common areas (eg: for parking a bicycle), and/or rights to an allocated parking space within the property.
REGULATION: Specifies what is and is not allowed in your property. This may include requiring consent to keep pets, consent for alteration (renovations), or consent for subletting. It often includes a clause on nuisance, to avoid a leaseholder causing problems for other leaseholders in the building.
FREEHOLDER ACCESS: The freeholder’s right to access your property for certain purposes is usually detailed in the lease document. The procedure for this taking place (eg: advance notice in writing) should be clearly specified in the lease.
FREEHOLDER OBLIGATIONS: Specifies the freeholder’s responsibilities under the lease. This may include responsibility for insuring the building, maintaining common areas, maintaining the exterior and structure of the building. It is important to be aware leases almost always allow the freeholder to recover a share of these costs from each leaseholder.
LEASEHOLDER OBLIGATIONS: Specifies the leaseholder’s responsibilities under the lease. This typically includes detail on ground rent payments (amount, payment frequency, intervals for increase if any), service charges (to cover costs of operating and maintaining the building), sinking fund contributions, administrative charges (eg: late payment fees).