Leaseholder

Leases and legislation usually call the leaseholder the tenant or lessee, and the freeholder the landlord or lessor. That can be confusing, because a leaseholder who rents out their flat also has a tenant of their own.

What leaseholders usually have

• The right to occupy their flat (the demised premisesDemised premisesThe property a lease actually grants to the leaseholder: their flat, as the lease and its plan define it.) until the lease ends.
• Promises (covenants) to keep: paying the service charge, repairing inside the flat, getting consent for some changes, not causing a nuisance.
• Legal rights, including challenging unreasonable service charges, being consulted on large works, and, if enough leaseholders agree, claiming the right to manageRight to manage (RTM)The legal right of qualifying leaseholders of flats in England and Wales to take over the management of their building from the landlord, through a company they control, without having to prove the landlord was at fault or buy the freehold. or buying the freehold together.

In a self-managed block, leaseholders are usually also members of the company that runs the building, and some become its directors.