Leaseholders

When you buy a flat from the council, you are purchasing a leasehold interest, while the council retains ownership of the freehold. This means you have the right to live in the flat for a fixed number of years, usually 125 years from the date the first flat in the building was sold. The length of the lease decreases over time from the date it was originally granted.

Understanding your lease

Your lease is a detailed document specific to your property. It describes what you own and includes a plan showing your flat and any shared areas. For precise details, read your lease carefully and consider getting legal advice.

Useful documents

Council responsibilities

We are responsible for the main structure of the building, the shared parts and any shared services to your building or estate.

We have a duty to:

Repair, maintain and redecorate the structure and exterior of the property. Depending on your property this may include: external decoration, roofs, estate lighting, grounds maintenance, door entry systems and window replacement
Keep the building insured
Manage your block or estate in a proper and reasonable manner
Advise leaseholders of the Council’s yearly service charge for their flat

Your responsibilities

As a leaseholder, you must:

Observe all the terms and conditions in your lease
Pay the ground rent and service charge costs as demanded
Pay a reasonable proportion of any major works carried out to your block
Not to make any alteration to the structure of the building without the Council’s prior written approval
Advise the Council’s Legal Services section of any transfer of the lease, mortgage, assignment etc
Keep your home in good repair
Not to do any illegal act or thing which may be or become a nuisance or annoyance or cause damage to residents or any part of the building
Not to play loud music causing a nuisance or annoyance to neighbours

Leaseholder legislation

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 are the two main pieces of legislation that detail the rights and responsibilities of landlords and leasehold tenants. The 2002 Act introduced important changes to the law on service charges and leaseholder consultation, as well as clarifying and extending leaseholder rights in other aspects.

Ground rent

A leasehold ground rent is a periodic payment made by the leaseholder (the person who holds the lease) to the freeholder (the person who owns the land) for the use of the land on which the leaseholder’s property is built. The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 came into effect from the 1st of April 2023 putting an end to ground rents for new, qualifying long residential leasehold properties in England and Wales. After the Act comes into force, ground rent in most new leases cannot legally be for anything more than “one peppercorn per year”. This “peppercorn rent” means that no money can be legally charged or paid as ground rent on leases regulated by this Act. If your lease was created on or after the 1st of April 2023, your lease will be complaint with this legislation however any existing lease prior to this date will still have an annual payable ground rent.

Service charges

When you buy a flat in a building owned by the Council, you buy the leasehold interest in the property. This means you are legally responsible to pay a proportion of the running costs and management costs of your block. These costs are called service charges. More information on service charges can be found on the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) website: Service Charges and other issues and Service Charges - summary of tenants’ rights and obligations.

Selling your property

If you are in the process of selling your property this transaction is known as an assignment. The Solicitor acting for you in the sale will require information from us about your individual property as well as the block and estate in which it is sited in order to answer questions raised by potential purchasers. For instance, how your property’s annual service charge is calculated and details of the current years estimated and previous years actual charges.

We provide as much information as we can about future planned major works and any outstanding service charges and loans which must be cleared on completion of the sale. Ipswich Borough Council is not party to your sales transaction and is not bound by whatever agreement you make as the vendor with your purchaser on the apportionment of outstanding service charge invoices.

Therefore liability for all outstanding charges up to the date of completion must be agreed as part of the contract of sale. Your Solicitor will be able to exercise his/her discretion, based on the information provided, on whether or not to hold a retention sum (this charge and any major works charges which have not been invoiced). You have an absolute responsibility to disclose to your purchaser any information you may have received by way of notice or otherwise telling you of likely future costs.

Notifying Ipswich Borough Council of your sale

It is extremely important that we are notified of the assignment as soon as possible as until this is done we will not be able to amend our records to show the details of the new owner. This means that correspondence will still be addressed to the former leaseholder who will still appear to be responsible for any liabilities attaching to the property.

It is advisable to inform us of your sale, and if possible, to provide the name of the Solicitors acting on behalf of the purchaser. This will enable us to chase the appropriate documentation if required.

Right of First Refusal

If you bought your flat prior to 18 January 2005, you do not need our permission to sell your flat. However, if your flat was bought on or after 18 January 2005, and you wish to resell or dispose of it within ten years of purchasing, you will be required to offer it back to Ipswich Borough Council. This is because under the Housing Act 2004, we are required to insert a covenant into the lease that gives us or another Registered Provider (RP) nominated by us, the right of first refusal.

Repayment of discount

If you sell your flat within five years (after 18 January 2005) under the Right to Buy scheme, you will have to pay back a proportion of the discount, unless the sale is an exempted sale.

Home insurance

As the freeholder, we insure you against loss of, or damage caused to, the building in which your flat is situated. You are charged a proportion of the insurance costs relating to your flat through your annual service charges.

Please note that the insurance included with your service charges only covers the structure of the building, including fixtures and fittings. You must make your own arrangements to protect your contents and personal possessions.

If you wish to make a claim under the buildings insurance, you should in the first instance contact our insurance section on fsinsurance.enquiries@ipswich.gov.uk.

Repairs and alterations

Reporting repairs

You are responsible for maintaining everything inside your flat. The council handles repairs to the building’s exterior and shared areas. Report any repair needs related to these areas by calling our Repairs Team at 01473 432000.

Making alterations

As a leaseholder you have the right to improve your home, but for some improvements you will need written permission from us. This is because, as a landlord, we have an investment in the block and a responsibility to the other tenants. We will not refuse permission unless we have a good reason. You may also need to get planning permission and building regulation approval before starting work.

We do not need to know about minor work such as decorating, but we do need to know about any addition or change to the structure in your home including alterations, which affect walls, windows, door frames, and anything, that alters the outside appearance of the property. We will also need to know if you wish to erect aerials or satellite dishes.

In order to obtain permission you must complete and submit the form Request for permission to carry out alterations or an extension (Word Document). A building surveyor may need to visit your home to see what you intend to do, before we can make a decision.

Please note that the permission we give you to go ahead is not the same as planning permission. You are responsible for getting any necessary planning permission or building regulation approval. We will normally make it a condition that you do this when we give you permission for the work. You will have difficulties in selling your flat if you cannot show this written consent.

Housing Services Reasonable Adjustment Policy

The council is committed to making sure disabled tenants and leaseholders can access our services. We will make reasonable adjustments where needed. For details, see our Reasonable Adjustment Policy (PDF). We can provide this policy in alternative formats like large print or Braille. Contact us to arrange this.