Your rights to information as a leaseholder

Leaseholders in England have legal rights to know who their landlord is, how the building is insured and how the service charge has been spent. Most requests need nothing more than a short letter or email that names the right you are using.

Who is your landlord?

Every demand for service charge or ground rent must show the landlord’s name and address. If that address is outside England and Wales, the demand must also give an address in England or Wales where notices can be sent. That comes from section 47 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, so your last demand is the first place to look. Section 48 separately requires the landlord to give you an address in England or Wales for serving notices.

• You can ask in writing for the landlord’s name and address under section 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. The reply is due within 21 days.
• If the landlord is a company, you can then ask for the names and addresses of its directors and secretary under section 2.
• If the freehold is sold, the new landlord must write to tell you, under section 3.
• The title register at HM Land Registry names the owner, and Companies House holds the details of any company.

How the service charge was spent

You can ask in writing for a summary of the costs behind the service charge for the last accounting year, under section 21 of the 1985 Act. The landlord has one month from your request, or six months from the end of the accounting year if that is later. Where the service charge covers more than four homes, the summary must be certified by a qualified accountant. If you already receive full year-end accounts, you may not need a separate summary.

Within six months of receiving the summary you can ask to inspect the accounts, receipts and other documents behind it, under section 22. The landlord must make them available within one month and keep them available for two months. Inspection is free to you. A reasonable charge can be made for copies.

What must come with a bill

• A service charge demand must come with a summary of your rights and obligations. If it does not, you can withhold payment until it does.
• A demand for an administration charge, such as a fee for consent or for late payment, must come with its own summary of rights.
• Ground rent only becomes payable once the landlord has sent a notice in the form the law prescribes, under section 166 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.

Insurance

Where the landlord insures the building and you pay towards it, you can ask in writing for a summary of the cover, including the insurer, the sum insured and the risks covered. You can also ask to inspect the policy and proof that the premium has been paid. The reply is due within 21 days. These rights are in section 30A of the 1985 Act and its Schedule.

Major works and long-term contracts

You must be consulted before works that will cost any one leaseholder more than £250, and before the landlord signs a contract of more than 12 months that will cost any one leaseholder more than £100 a year. Our guide to Section 20 consultation explains the stages.

Rights that leaseholders use together

• A recognised tenants’ association can ask to be consulted about the appointment of the managing agent, and can appoint a surveyor to advise on service charges.
• Where at least two thirds of the qualifying leaseholders act together, in a building with three or more flats, they can appoint a qualified accountant or surveyor to carry out a management audit under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.

Your personal data

Under UK data protection law you can ask any organisation, including a landlord or managing agent, for a copy of the personal information it holds about you. The reply is normally due within one month and there is normally no fee. The Information Commissioner’s Office explains how to make a request.

What is changing

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will replace the present rules with standard service charge demands, an annual report and wider rights to information. The government confirmed its plans in July 2026. The detailed regulations have not yet been made, and the changes are expected to start during 2027. Until then, the rights described here are the ones that apply.

Asking Butlin Property Services

If we manage your building, write to us at enquiries@butlinps.co.uk or use the general enquiry form. Budgets and year-end accounts are sent to every leaseholder each year, so the answer may already be in your paperwork. Our FAQs cover the questions we are asked most often.

Further reading

• The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE), free government-funded advice for leaseholders

This article is general guidance based on the law in England in October 2026. It is not legal advice. Your lease or transfer deed always comes first, so check it, and take professional advice on anything in dispute. The TPI advice note attached to this article was revised in March 2024. Two points in it have since been overtaken: a subject access request is now normally answered within one month and without a fee, and a tribunal looks for at least 50% membership before recognising a tenants’ association. You will find more answers in our FAQs.