Your lease

Your lease

You can get advice on your lease from the Leasehold Advisory Service, an independent organisation that provides free legal advice to leaseholders. Your lease is an important document - if you don't have a copy you can order one from the Land Registry. For more details, see the Land Registry website.

Common terms found in your lease. The laws which apply to your lease.

Our  guide to your lease (PDF) [1MB] .

Your rights and responsibilities

Your exact rights and responsibilities depend on your lease, but a general list can be found below. If you have a question about your rights and responsibilities, please contact us.

• Your rights and responsibilities - an overview

Lease plan

A plan for your property is attached to the lease document. It includes additional information on the boundaries that you are responsible for, together with any right of access.

Guidance on understanding the lease plan colours (PDF) [88KB] .

Extending your lease

You may be eligible to extend your lease for an additional 90 years - on top of what is left. For example, if you have seven years left on your lease, you may be given a new lease for 97 years.

You should contact a solicitor before taking any action to extend your lease. Your solicitor will need to send us notice to extend your lease or enfranchise.

You will have to repay our costs of getting a valuation and negotiating and granting a new lease to you or selling the freehold.

The lease advice service provides guidance on Extending your lease.

Breaches of lease

Where there is a persistent breach of any term of the lease, we can apply to the court for forfeiture of your lease. If forfeiture were granted you would lose your home and any value that is in the property.

We would only do this in exceptional circumstances and where a persistent breach of the lease occurs. We will always send you notice of our intention, giving you an opportunity to correct the breach before we make our application for forfeiture.

Ordering a copy of your lease

Always keep your lease in a safe place, so that you can refer to it when you need to. If you need a copy of your lease you can:

• Buy one from the Land Registry Service: Land Registry Service - Lease
• Ask your mortgage lender for a copy (you may be asked to pay an administration fee)
• Buy one from Gateshead Council (you will be charged a retrieval and printing fee)

Loft space

The loft space above leasehold flats is not sold with the property and remains under the ownership of Gateshead Council.

Gateshead Council will consider the sale of the loft space, subject to certain conditions.

If you wish to buy your loft space, you must send a completed  Loft Space Application Form (Word doc) [169KB]  to leasehold@gateshead.gov.uk. You must pay the non-refundable fee for an initial inspection, to establish if the loft space is suitable for sale.