If you’re a leaseholder, which also includes shared owners - you own your home for a set number of years, but not the building it’s in, or the land it’s on. Your lease agreement will set out your responsibilities, our responsibilities and what you own and for how long.
If you are a shared owner you’ll usually pay us a rent, a service charge and buildings insurance as one combined monthly amount. If you are a leaseholder you’ll usually pay us a ground rent, service charge and buildings insurance which is charged once a year.
What does leasehold mean?
Your home may be ‘leasehold’ if you are liable to pay a service charge to Coastline Housing Ltd because:
- You live in a flat with shared areas that are maintained by us
- You live on an estate with shared areas that are maintained by us
- You live in a house that has a restriction meaning you are unable to be the freeholder
Your lease will set out the services we must provide to your home. It will also refer to what you will have to pay towards the cost of these services. We charge you the cost of providing these services in the form of an annual service charge.
For full details of what it means to be a leaseholder and what your responsibilities are, please read our Leaseholder Handbook, available at the bottom of the page.
FAQs
This refers to buying additional shares in your home.
As a shared owner you have the right to buy all, or part of your home from us if you can afford to do so but there is a special process to go through. Find out more here.
No. Coastline is responsible for insuring the building against loss or damage by fire, or other similar risks. The cost of this insurance is recharged to you under the terms of your lease. We advise you of these costs each year as part of your annual estimates of charges.
Make sure you are not paying twice - mortgage lenders will frequently try to sell buildings insurance alongside your mortgage. Inform them that your landlord is responsible for insuring the building under the terms of the lease. If need be, we can provide lenders with details of our insurance policy.
The cost of this may be higher than you can purchase privately, however, it is a higher level of cover and has to be arranged under Coastline's Group Insurance Policy.
Once you 'staircase' to 100% ownership, you will be responsible for arranging your own buildings insurance, unless you remain a leaseholder, as not all properties allow you to become the freeholder.
If you wish to remove a partner's name from the lease, we suggest you contact a solicitor in the first instance to seek independent legal advice.
If the property is new and within the initial defects period (usually 12 months), then we may be responsible for any defects arising as a result of the build process.
However, as a shared owner, you are generally responsible for all repairs to the property. You should consult your lease agreement in the first instance, but contact us if you are unsure.
Most new build properties are covered by a National Housing Building Council (NHBC) warranty. If you think you may have a claim, you can contact them direct to see if they can help.