What is a leasehold property?
A lease is a contract giving you the right to occupy and use your property for a set period, referred to as the ‘term’ of the lease. The lease is a legally binding contract between yourself as a leaseholder and the landlord. Everything you and your landlord do about your property and the wider development is governed by the conditions of your lease.
Many leaseholders will already be aware that when a lease becomes “short” its value reduces. There is of course no exact time when a lease is classed as “short”, but generally it is thought to be that way when a lease falls below 80 years. A “short” lease may create difficulties for a leaseholder if they wish to sell or remortgage.
Lease length
When buying a new Peabody home the lease length can be between 125 and 999 years. The length of the lease varies by development and is always clearly outlined in the development brochure.
If you buy a resale home from Peabody then the length of the lease will vary based on how long is left on the specific home's lease agreement. The length of the lease remaining will be advertised along with the home's various other financial information.
A Peabody homeowner can extend their lease if the lease extension criteria are met. For more information on extending your lease, speak to our team.
Costs involved with leasehold homes
As a leaseholder, you will be required to pay for service charges. Some properties are also subject to ground rent charges. Learn more about what this means below.
Service charge
One of the key aspects of being a Peabody leaseholder is that you will be required to pay a service charge. This is a sum of money collected monthly which covers your share of the cost of maintaining the communal area of the development and administering the contracts, building insurance and major work.
Your service charge is reviewed on 01 April each year based on the expenditure of the previous year.
Audited accounts for each financial year are prepared and issued in September. We will tell you the new service charge amount by mid-March each year.
Service charges cover a variety of items including the cost of repairing and replacing communal fixtures and fittings, general upkeep and management of communal areas, and repairs to door entry systems and lifts.
Ground rent
If you buy a new home from Peabody there is no ground rent to pay.
There may be ground rent to pay on a pre-owned home purchased through Peabody. This will depend on the individual home and its lease agreement.
All costs will be clearly outlined for a pre-owned property.
Homeowner Stories
Discover a collection of homeowner stories from previous Peabody New Homes purchasers and find out how we were able to help them onto the property ladder and find their dream home through Shared Ownership, London Living Rent and private sale.
"It's great to be living in a buzzing new area that is both affordable and has plenty to offer!"
"I was scared but I took a leap of faith with Peabody New Homes, they were really caring and accommodating."
"Every time I go into Central London, I’m shocked at just how close I am."
"It’s a 10/10 apartment, the quality here is exceptional!"
"I couldn’t be happier to have found The Switch, and to have got on to the property ladder by myself in south west London - it’s a real achievement. "
