Leasehold and Freeholder Consent
If your flat is leasehold, you hold a lease from a freeholder, and letting it on a government lease usually needs the freeholder’s written consent. Your own lease may also restrict letting or subletting, or require the freeholder to be notified. This is the first thing to check, and it is easier to resolve early than late.
None of this is unusual and it is rarely a problem, but it does need doing in the right order. A freeholder who is asked properly, with the arrangement explained, will usually consent. A freeholder who discovers a government lease after the event is a problem you do not need. We handle the request as part of setting the arrangement up.
What to check in your own lease
- Whether letting is permitted at all, and on what terms.
- Whether subletting requires the freeholder’s consent in writing.
- Whether there is a notice or registration fee payable to the freeholder or managing agent.
- Whether there are restrictions on who the property may be let to.
If consent is refused
It is uncommon, but it happens. Some freeholders will not permit a lease of this kind, and if yours will not, the arrangement cannot proceed on that flat. We would rather establish that at the start than have it surface once things are underway, which is why we raise it before anything is agreed.
Service Charges and Ground Rent
Service charges and ground rent remain your responsibility as the leaseholder. A government lease does not transfer them, because they are costs of owning your leasehold interest rather than costs of the property being occupied. This is worth being clear about so the arrangement is not mistaken for one that covers everything.
Service charge
Who pays : You
Note : A cost of your leasehold interest. Continues as normal.
Ground rent
Who pays : You
Note : Payable to your freeholder as usual.
Buildings insurance
Who pays : Usually the freeholder
Note : Commonly arranged by the freeholder and recovered through the service charge.
Repairs inside the flat
Who pays : Government body
Note : The internal repairing obligation sits with the body for the term.
Utilities and council tax
Who pays : Government body
Note : Covered for the term of the lease.
Communal repairs
Who pays : Freeholder
Note : Handled through the block’s own arrangements, as they are now.
The simplest way to think about it: the government lease covers what happens inside your flat while it is occupied. Your leasehold obligations to the freeholder — service charge, ground rent, your share of the building — carry on as they always have, because you still hold the flat.
Buildings insurance on a flat
On most leasehold flats the freeholder insures the building and recovers the cost through the service charge, so you do not arrange buildings cover yourself. That does not change under a government lease. What you should confirm is that your own contents or landlord policy permits the arrangement, which we cover with you at the outset.
What Is Covered on a Flat
Inside your flat, the arrangement works exactly as it does for any government lease. The body pays your rent for the term, is responsible for the condition of the flat and repairs within it, covers the utilities and council tax, and places and supports the household. Your rent continues whether the flat is occupied or not
For a flat specifically
Void periods
If the household moves on, your rent continues. Re-letting is the government body’s concern.
Internal repairs
The body carries the internal repairing obligation for the term, as with any government lease.
Communal areas
Outside your demise and unaffected. The block’s existing arrangements continue as before.
Leasehold obligations
Your service charge and ground rent continue. The lease does not change your relationship with the freeholder.
A useful point for flat landlords
Flats can sit empty between private tenants more easily than houses, particularly in areas with a lot of similar stock. A government lease removes that void risk for the term, which for a flat in a competitive rental market is often the strongest reason to consider it.
Whatever the type, the process is the same: we survey the flat, confirm what it will let for, check your lease and freeholder position, and set out the terms in writing. The type of flat affects how the consent is obtained, not whether the arrangement is available.
FAQ
Flat and Apartment Questions
Usually, yes. If your flat is leasehold, letting it on a government lease normally needs the freeholder’s written consent, and your own lease may restrict letting. We check what applies and handle the consent request as part of setting up the arrangement, before anything is agreed.
You do. Service charge and ground rent are costs of your leasehold interest, not of the flat being occupied, so a government lease does not transfer them. They continue exactly as they do now, payable to your freeholder or managing agent as usual.
Then it needs checking before anything proceeds. Some leases prohibit subletting, some allow it with consent, and some are silent. We review your lease at the outset and tell you honestly whether the arrangement can go ahead on your flat.
No. New-build apartments are placed regularly. They often have a developer or management company as freeholder with a set consent process, which we handle. What matters is the condition, the certificates and the consent, not the age of the building.
Yes. Your rent continues for the full term of the lease whether the flat is occupied or not. Flats can sit empty between private tenants more easily than houses, and removing that void risk for the term is often the main reason flat landlords consider a government lease.
Find out what your flat would earn
Free survey and valuation, and a written offer setting out the rent, the term and what your freeholder consent will involve. No obligation at any stage.
Or call us on (612) 123 - 4456 78 to talk it through first.
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