Leasehold Housing

What is a leaseholder?

Elmbridge Housing Trust currently provides a leasehold service to over 500 lessees.

A leaseholder is someone who owns a lease. The lease gives you the right to live in your home for a certain period of time without having to pay rent, except for a small ground rent. As a leaseholder you buy the right to live in your home, you do not own the land surrounding your home or the structure of the building that your home is in.

Elmbridge Housing Trust retains the freehold of the land and building and is your Landlord.  As your Landlord we retain a legal right to enforce your obligations in the lease and also to maintain the outside and shared parts of your building and the land surrounding it which we own, and to charge you your share of the costs. 

What is a lease?

The lease is a legal document and is the contract between you and the Trust and tells you what rights you have as a leaseholder. 

Before you purchased your property, your solicitor should have explained your lease to you so you understand both your responsibilities as a leaseholder and ours as a landlord. It is important that you understand your lease and its conditions.

The lease is a fairly complex document and it remains the fundamental basis of the relationship between us.  If you have any queries on the contents or implications of your lease you are advised to seek legal help although we will be happy to help wherever possible.

You should keep your lease in a safe place. If you lose it we may be able to provide you with a copy but there will be a charge for this service.

The initial length of a lease sold under Right to Buy or Right to Acquire is 125 years.  Subsequent owners take over the number of years remaining on the lease at time of purchase.