Leaseholder
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What is a leaseholder?
A leaseholder is someone who owns a property, for a set amount of time, as outlined in a legal contract called a ‘lease’. This means leaseholders have the right to live there for a set time period. The lease will specify things a leaseholder is responsible for, such as:
- sharing the cost of repairs to the building - the proportion depends on the specific lease
- following the conditions laid out in the lease - these might include things like noise restrictions or pet policies and permissions to make alterations to the property
Leaseholders also pay ground rent to the freeholder who owns the land and service charges to cover maintenance costs for shared areas like communal areas or gardens.
How we can help leaseholders
We can consider complaints from a resident who has a lease, tenancy, license to occupy, service agreement, or other arrangement to occupy premises owned or managed by a landlord member about housing management.
Our fact sheet provides guidance on what we can consider when investigating leaseholder complaints.
Guidance
Landlord expectations
Use this guide to understand what’s expected when handling reports from leaseholders.
It gives clear steps to manage cases effectively and meet the standards set out in the Complaint Handling Code.
Resident support guide
Use this guide to make the complaints process easier and clearer.
It will help you understand your rights, know what steps to take, and get practical advice as a leaseholder.
Reports
Spotlight report on leasehold, shared ownership, and new builds
Our Spotlight report on leaseholders, shared ownership and new builds, brings together insight from our casework.
It provides recommendations for landlord learning and case studies to improve standards in areas we see the most complaints.
Learning from severe maladministration
Explore a collection of reports that reveal the most serious failings we see in landlord services. These reports highlight recurring issues in leasehold complaints.
Use this collection to learn from real cases, understand what went wrong, and apply practical lessons to improve your own services. Browse the full set of reports to find the topics most relevant to you.
Landlord training
Leaseholder and shared owner training for landlords
Understanding leasehold and shared ownership is essential. It helps landlords to manage homes effectively and support residents with clarity and confidence.
Our training will help you:
- navigate key responsibilities around leases, repairs, and service charges
- respond to leaseholder and shared ownership queries clearly and fairly
- handle complex issues confidently, using proven approaches that prevent escalation
- learn from real cases to strengthen your policies, decisions, and communication
Choose from quick microlearning modules, bitesize videos, real case studies, and expert podcasts. All designed to build your knowledge and improve the service you provide.
Landlord Learning Hub
Your free training platform from the Centre for Learning
The Learning Hub gives you easy access to expert training designed for member landlords.
Create your account today and start using a wide range of resources to strengthen your complaint handling and meet the Code’s requirements.
Podcast
Leasehold Advisory Service
Martin Boyd, Chair of the Leasehold Advisory Service will join Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman for a conversation about changes to the leasehold sector and the challenges the organisations are seeing for leaseholders.
They discuss common leaseholder issues, including disputes over service charges, maintenance responsibilities, lease length, communication challenges, and the complexities of legal rights, providing insights and advice for navigating these challenges.
Case studies
These case studies come from real cases we’ve handled. You can explore all published decisions via our online decision library, which we share to stay open and transparent.
No maladministration
This case shows no maladministration. The landlord provided clear information and guidance to the leaseholder about their service charges and responded appropriately to the concerns raised.
What happened:
- the resident questioned several service charges, including guttering works, increased electricity costs and fire risk assessment charges
- the landlord responded promptly and within the Complaint Handling Code timeframes
- it provided itemised service charge calculations and explained increases linked to rising energy costs and legal fire safety requirements
- when the landlord discovered an error in the guttering and drain work calculation, it corrected the mistake and updated the service charge information
- we reviewed how the landlord handled the resident’s request for information, we cannot assess the level of service charges or the size of any increase
Severe maladministration
This case shows severe maladministration. The landlord failed to deal with a long‑running roof leak, causing significant loss, stress and disruption to the leaseholder.
What happened:
- the resident reported repeated roof leaks that the landlord did not properly fix
- after early attempts at repairs failed, the landlord stopped taking meaningful action
- it only unblocked a downpipe, which reduced water but did not resolve the cause of the leaks
- inspections were delayed and not treated with urgency, breaching the landlord’s own repair timescales
- the landlord failed to keep the resident updated, leaving them to repeatedly chase for information
- the landlord withdrew an earlier compensation offer and later refused repairs, citing a neighbour’s legal action
- although the works were complex, the landlord gave no updates, even though it knew the resident needed information to progress selling their home
- the unresolved leaks caused the resident to lose 7 potential buyers
Resident information
Resident support guides
Use this collection of support guides to make the complaints process easier and clearer.
They will help you understand your rights, know what steps to take, and get practical advice on all aspects of complaints.
These resources will give you the confidence to raise issues and get them resolved.
When to get help from us
Not sure when to contact the Housing Ombudsman?
This page explains the right time to get help. It shows what steps you need to take first, what we can and cannot look at, and how we can support you if your landlord has not resolved your complaint.
Use it to understand your options and make sure your complaint reaches the right place.