Assignment

This is the term used when you sell your flat and with it the lease. The new leaseholder is the assignee.

Block

The building in which your property is situated.

Charge

A charge is a legal document that secures debt against the value of a property.

Common parts

The parts of the building or estate that all the residents can use, such as stairs, lifts, paths, communal gardens.

Constitution

This is a document that sets rules for an organisation such as a residents' association.

Consultation

This is the process of asking for other people's opinions. Where possible we will consult you about anything we do which will affect you.

Contingencies

Insured risks or dangers that are covered under our block insurance policy.

Covenant

A covenant is a promise to take responsibility for something. The lease states what you are responsible for during your ownership of the property.

Cyclical maintenance

Work that we usually carry out according to a set, planned programme or schedule / timetable. It is included in your service charges.

Curtilage or demised premises

That part of the block included in the lease you have bought. This will include your flat, the common parts, any garage area and the landscaped area which form part of your block. Your lease will have a plan showing the curtilage. It will show which parts of the building are yours and which parts you share with other people.

Enfranchisement

The process where leaseholders may be able to buy the freehold of their block.

Estate

The block, any out buildings and any land associated with the block.

Fixtures

You are responsible for these fittings in your flat. They include kitchen units, the bathroom suite, light fittings and any central heating system.

Forfeiture

This means that the lease is terminated, and we as freeholder can lawfully repossess the property, require you to vacate it and dispose of it with vacant possession. This would only take place after significant breaches of the covenants in your lease and following decision by a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal or a Court.

Freehold

Absolute ownership of property and the land on which it stands

Freeholder

See landlord

Ground rent

This is the rent paid to the landlord during the term of the lease. It is a small annual fixed sum payable by a leaseholder to a freeholder in recognition of the legal contract between them. We charge £10 each year as ground rent.

Improvement

Doing more work to a property than is required to satisfy an obligation to repair.

Landlord

This is a person or organisation that owns the freehold (or long term lease) of a property and grants a tenancy or lease to a tenant or leaseholder.

Lease

The lease is a contract that explains our responsibility to you, and your responsibility to us.

Leasehold

Ownership of a property in a building, that comprises other flats/maisonettes and subject to the payment of service charges and ground rent for a set period of time.

Leaseholder

This is the person who has been granted the lease by the landlord and is, strictly, known as a tenant.

Leasehold Valuation Tribunal

A body that makes decisions about service charge disputes between landlords and leaseholders. It is made up of a panel of people with experience of property disputes such as solicitors and surveyors.

Lessee

This means the same as leaseholder

Mortgagee

This is a bank or building society that has lent you money so that you can buy a property.

Section 20 Notice

This is the consultation letter we must send you when we are intending to carry out works, which cost more than £250 per property as a one off payment or a contract that will run for over one year and will result in a service charge of over £100 per annum.

Section 20B Notice

If we cannot confirm your actual proportion of the cost of major works within 18 months, we will notify you of the delay under this section, or we will not be able to charge you for the work.

Section 125 Notice

This is the Offer Notice, which is provided when the lease is first sold under the Right-to-Buy scheme. It contains the estimated costs of service charges, repairs and improvements during the first five-year period of the lease, together with the maximum contribution you will be expected to pay, subject to an adjustment for inflation.

Service charge

This is a payment made by a leaseholder to a freeholder in return for services the freeholder provides.

Sub-letting

This is where you rent out part or all of your home to a sub tenant.

Tender

This is what we do to get the best prices for big contracts such as redecoration works, and is based on a detailed specification of the works. We invite contractors to give their price or 'tender' for the work.