Lease, responsibilities and rights
Your rights and responsibilities as a leaseholder or freeholder are set out in your lease or transfer agreement. Shared owners are also leaseholders. In general, as a homeowner, you're responsible for repairs within your property.
Your solicitor provides you with a copy of your lease or transfer agreement when you complete on your purchase. If you can't find that copy you can request one from the Land Registry.
If you bought your home recently we'll have given you a home user guide when you first moved in (this applies to new-build shared ownership homes only). It also contains information specific to your home that you'll find useful.
What are my responsibilities as a homeowner?
Leaseholders and shared owners are, in general, responsible for:
- Paying any service charge and rent by the agreed dates.
- Seeking our written permission before carrying out any major alterations to your home. You'll find useful information on our home improvements page.
- Maintaining and repairing the inside of your home, including fixtures and fittings.
- In the event of major works activity you'll be required to allow our contractors access to your home to carry out any necessary repairs. This will happen with notice (which you'll receive in writing from us) or immediately in an emergency.
Some typical terms found in lease documents are explained below...