Your lease explained

This section explains in simple terms the provisions of the lease. It is a guide only and is not a legally binding document.

Your solicitor should have explained the nature and content of your lease to you before you bought your property. If you require a full interpretation of your lease you will need to consult your own solicitor.

Most of our leases follow a basic format approved by our regulator and are broadly on the same terms. Some changes have been necessary over the years to reflect changes in legislation. Your lease states that, in return for paying Magna a sum of money and agreeing to pay rent, Magna grants you a lease of the property for 99 or 125 years.

The lease is a form of agreement between you as leaseholder and us as landlord. The document sets out obligations (these are called “covenants” in the lease) on the leaseholder and landlord together with rights granted to the leaseholder and rights reserved to the landlord. A covenant is a legally binding agreement.

Here is a brief overview of the main obligations contained within the lease.

You, the homeowner, promise:

to pay the council tax or any other taxes on the property and to share the payments of any council tax or taxes for any common parts of the building
to keep the demise and the interior of the premises clean and repaired, maintained and decorated
to pay the rent, building insurance and service charge (if any) in the manner detailed in the lease. Some shared ownership properties are responsible for their own insurance so please read your lease.
to pay Magna’s expenses for any fees or charges made in connection with the property, e.g. surveyors, accounts for management or maintenance or the collection of the rent. These people may be our own staff. This is included in the service charge
not to alter the property without Magna’s consent (this includes changing front doors and adding loft conversions or conservatories)
to allow us to inspect the property inside and out following adequate notice, stating this intention
to allow us entry to repair any adjoining property or maintain any common services, following receipt of adequate notice of this intention
to repair any defects within one month following receipt of a Notice from us if repairs are not carried out, to allow us to enter the property, carry out those repairs and then charge you for the work carried out. We will provide estimates before carrying out such works
only to use the property as a private residence
not to cause a nuisance, annoyance or disturbance to adjoining occupiers or visitors or to use the property for illegal/immoral purposes
not to do anything which would make our insurers refuse to pay out on any claim which we might wish to make, if we are responsible for insuring the property

We, the landlord, promise:

to allow you to live in the property, provided that the rent and other applicable charges are paid and that you have kept all your promises
to keep the structure of the property insured (see below)
Note: In most cases, there is no need for you to pay additional building insurance, for instance, through your Building Society. However, personal effects are not covered by our policy and it is important that you purchase adequate contents insurance. Please see the insurance section more information on insurance.
to repair, redecorate and renew the main structure of the building and the services which it uses, together with the common parts
to enforce the obligations or covenants against one occupier for the benefit of the other occupiers, provided that our costs are paid for by all the home owners.