Leasehold terms and conditions

The lease can only be changed in exceptional circumstances. In general, the conditions of the lease can only be changed if we both agree to the changes, and/or by the direction of a court or First Tier Property Tribunal.

There are specific procedures that need to be followed in these instances and you will need to get legal advice.

If the change or correction to your lease involves one of the clauses that the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) considers to be fundamental to shared equity home ownership, JJH will also need to obtain their agreement to the change.

For more information or advice about changing your lease please contact Johnnie Johnson Housing on: 0345 305 5335

Obligations vary from lease to lease, but cover such items as:

• Keeping the property in good repair
• Paying charges
• Not causing a nuisance
• Not altering your home without asking for permission from the landlord.

Please refer to your lease agreement for details of the specific obligations applicable.

Landlord obligations may include:

• Allowing you peaceable enjoyment of your home
• Arranging buildings insurance (but not contents insurance)
• Providing a warden call system (where applicable usually at schemes where residents are 55+)
• Arranging external repairs and replacements (in some schemes but not all).

Please refer to your lease agreement for details of the specific obligations applicable

Check your lease for specific restrictions applicable. These may include restrictions on keeping pets, putting up TV aerials, car parking etc.  Please make sure you are made aware of these restrictions.

Your lease also details other things you may be able to do including buying more shares in your home or selling your share to somebody else if you want to move, and tells you how to do it.  It may allow you to:

• Staircasing i.e. to purchase more shares in the property
• Sell your share of the property to someone else
• Transfer ownership, for example from a joint to single name.

Should you have a dispute with us, we have a complaints procedure to help resolve the situation. If there are still problems even when you have exhausted our complaints procedure, you can complain to the Independent Housing Ombudsman.  However, if your dispute is over certain matters connected with your lease, for example the level of service charges or your liability to pay them, then there are other routes of complaint and you should seek appropriate legal advice or contact JJH for more information and advice.

We can only end your lease if you break some of the conditions of the lease. For example if you do not pay the rent or service charges.

If we consider that you have broken the conditions of your lease we will write to you. We will explain how you are breaking the conditions of your lease and what you must do to put it right.  If you continue to break the conditions of your lease, we may ask a court to end your lease.

The court will ask us to prove that:

• You have broken the conditions of your lease; and
• It is reasonable for you to lose your home as a result.

Leases vary from scheme to scheme but most shared ownership leases will allow for staircasing provision up to 100% of the property. However, the leases for most of the Leasehold Schemes for the Elderly normally only allow leaseholders to purchase up to 70% of the equity in their home.

If you want to sell your home, the lease normally states that you must inform JJH first. You should inform us in writing that you want to move and we will undertake to find a purchaser for your share from our waiting list.  This helps to make sure that as many people as possible benefit from shared ownership.