The document underneath the dispute
The lease is not one clause. It is a connected system.
A definition can change a covenant. A plan can change a repair answer. A later deed can change both. Start with the complete signed set, then follow the live question through it.
Find the complete set
Do not start reading until you know what you have.
Match the title, parties, date and term
Confirm that the document belongs to the right flat and interest. The current landlord or leaseholder may not be the original named party.
Use HM Land Registry when your copy is missing
Search the register first. The online title register costs £7. If it says the lease is filed, request an official copy of that document. HM Land Registry currently charges £11 per document.
Open HM Land Registry →Check every schedule and plan
The demise, shared rights, service-charge machinery and building rules often sit at the back of the document or on a plan.
Look for deeds and superior interests
A deed of variation, transfer, licence, headlease or other filed document may change what the first lease appears to say.
The working anatomy
Six places the answer may be hiding.
Parties, date and term
Who granted what, to whom, for how long and from which start date.
Definitions
The document's own meaning for the premises, building, common parts, service costs and other repeated terms.
Demise and plan
The physical extent of the flat or other premises. Exact boundaries matter for repairs and alterations.
Covenants
Promises to pay, repair, insure, obtain consent, allow access or refrain from particular uses.
Rights and reservations
Rights given to the leaseholder and rights kept for the landlord or other occupiers.
Schedules
Detailed service-charge machinery, insurance obligations, regulations, rights and technical provisions.
Read for the live question
A five-pass reading is faster than guessing from one paragraph.
State the exact question
Who repairs this pipe is a better search question than what does my lease say about repairs.
Find the controlling words
Search the covenant, right or charging power and open every defined term used inside it.
Follow every cross-reference
Read the referenced schedule, plan, proviso, exception and later document before forming a view.
Name the party and capacity
Landlord, freeholder, management company, RTM company, headlessee and leaseholder can have different jobs.
Add the current source separately
Check whether current law adds a test, process or protection. Keep that source visible beside the lease wording.
Sources for this page
Open the law and guidance yourself.
HM Land Registry explains how to identify a filed lease or deed and order an official copy. The online title register costs £7 and an official document copy currently costs £11. Fees can change, so use the live page.
↗Registration guideLeases: when to registerCurrent HM Land Registry practice guidance on registration of leases and the exceptions that can apply.
↗Building Trust methodThe evidence standardKeep the executed document, current source, evidence, inference and uncertainty separate.
→Links and current-law position checked 18 August 2026. Apply the governing documents, building facts and current law to the case in front of you.
Take the next step in LEASE-iQ
Build a source map before asking for a conclusion.
Use this when the issue is unclear or several clauses may interact.
Keep checking: A well-structured question makes uncertainty easier to see. It does not turn incomplete sources into certainty.
