Leaseholder information

Leaseholds

A leasehold is a transfer of a flat or house on a long lease arrangement rather than an outright sale.

Leases are legal documents and will contain all the terms and conditions covering your use and occupation of the property and any additional charges that you may have to pay towards the costs of services and major repairs to the building.

A leaseholder is a person or business that has the ownership of a lease.

Properties

If you purchased a bedsit, flat or maisonette directly from us, it will be sold as leasehold. There will usually be another property above, below, or next to yours but within the same building.

Each property will share things such as a roof, foundations, entrance and stairwell. The shared parts of the building need to be looked after for the benefit of all residents with the costs being shared between all leaseholders and council tenants within the block.

Selling on or transferring

If you were the first purchaser under the right to buy scheme, there are time limits on when you are able to sell the property:

• Within 5 years - You may have to pay back some, or all, of the discount you were given as part of your application to buy the property
• Within 10 years - You must offer to sell the property back to the council first before being allowed to put it on the open market. We have the right to nominate another registered provider to purchase the property in its place.

If we do not wish to buy the property back, or nominate another registered provider to buy it in our place, we will consent to you putting the property for sale on the open market.

Renewing or extending a lease

Apply

You can apply to renew or extend your lease after you have owned the property for at least 2 years. You will be required to cover costs incurred as part of the process including the the cost of evaluating the property, solicitor and other legal fees.

Next Steps

The extending of a lease can give the council the opportunity to review the terms and conditions to take into account any changes it has made to its' lease agreements; services that are provided to the property; or other terms and conditions that have been updated since the original lease was granted.

Ending a lease

Even if an extension is granted, the council still has some rights to end a lease early if the block or property is required for redevelopment purposes. After a lease has ended and if it has not been extended, there is no automatic right to a new one.

You will still be able to occupy the property until such time the council has decided whether to either grant you a new lease, grant a periodic tenancy to make you a council housing tenant again, or commence legal proceedings to recover possession of the property.

In any event, you will not be forced to leave the property until the council has obtained a court order.

You should seek independent legal advice about your housing situation if you are approaching the end of your lease agreement.

Last updated 20 May 2025