My lease

In most instances the lease agreements state that South Lakes Housing are required to insure the buildings that leaseholders and shared owners live in and you pay us for providing this cover. The insurance clause within leases requires South Lakes Housing to insure and keep insured the building against usual risks with an insurance office of repute, and to have the interest of the tenant and their mortgagee noted on the policy.

The insurance is arranged via a block policy covering all leaseholders, rather than a separate policy for each individual block of flats. This is standard practice for buildings insurance in England.

Leaseholders are provided with the following documents on an annual basis.

• An annual service charge letter which sets out the cost and requirement to pay for buildings insurance
• A document entitled ‘buildings insurance information – key information for leaseholders’ which contains a summary and details of the insurance policy, premium information, services provided by the broker and remuneration information, and any conflicts of interest
• A document called ‘residential buildings insurance cover summary – which summarises the policy and the cover that is provided in respect of loss or damage caused to the building, reporting a claim, and details of the complaints procedure
• It is your responsibility to contact the Insurer if you wish to make a claim.

Leaseholders are advised to take out their own home contents insurance policies through a renowned insurance broker, as contents are not covered within the buildings insurance policy which South Lakes Housing arranges.

The cost of buildings insurance increased nationwide in 2020. This increase was due to several factors including:

• The impact of the coronavirus
• A reduction in insurer capacity, which means it’s been harder and more expensive to find insurance – the Regulator of Social Housing have acknowledged in their 2024 Sector Risk Profile report that “there is a limited range of insurers in the sector and some landlords have reported difficulties in obtaining multiple or even any quotes”
• Increased risks associated with things like building safety, flooding and climate change risks
• Rising inflation which has impacted on increased rebuild valuations, which is used to calculate the value of the buildings and its reinstatement costs
• Unsustainable loss ratios – property insurance premiums have been artificially low for many years. As a result, insurers combined operating ratios often exceed 100%, meaning the cost of providing property cover has been higher for insurers than the premium received.
• Rising reinsurance costs

If you bought your property from us under the Right to Buy, there is a five year discount repayment period meaning you will need to repay a percentage of the discount you received at the time of purchasing.

A residential lease is granted for a specific term. At the expiration of this term, the property reverts to the landlord. Once a lease has been granted the term immediately begins to get shorter. Qualifying leaseholders can buy, at a fair price, 90 years to add on to what is left on their existing lease. To qualify you must have owned the property for at least 2 years.

It is always advised that the lease is extended before less than 80 years remain on the lease before marriage value is payable, which drastically increases the price of the extension. Please contact us if you need further advice or please visit Lease Advice.

In addition to this, if you sell your property within the first 10 years, we have the right of first refusal on the property. If you did not buy your property through the Right to Buy Scheme you are not subject to the above restrictions.

Once you accept an offer, you and the purchaser instruct respective solicitors to deal with the sale. We will need to provide your solicitor with information about the property by completing a Leasehold Property Enquiry form (commonly known as LPE1). SLH will charge you an admin fee for this service.  You can find our Information on Administration Fees here.

The information provided

• Copies of service charge accounts for the property for the past three years
• The most recent estimated service charge account for the property
• Details of any outstanding major works liability
• A schedule of future planned works for the block or estate
• A copy extract of our insurance policy

If we are the freeholder of the property you wish to buy, we advise you to instruct your solicitor to request an assignment pack from the seller’s solicitor.

Once the sale is complete it’s important to make sure that your solicitor sends us a copy of the transfer with a payment of £5 to ensure we can register you as the new leaseholder.

Do refer to your lease and whilst our leasehold services team are happy to offer advice and guidance, you may also need to seek independent advice from either your solicitor, local Citizens Advice Bureau or please visit the Leasehold Advisory Service.

The Leasehold Advisory Service can help you. If you are unable to find the answer to your question on their website Lease Advice you can call one of their trained, specialist lawyers on 020 7832 2500 for FREE legal advice.

The service is government-funded and completely free to you.