The Leaseholder Handbook provides important information for leaseholders and anyone thinking of buying a council leasehold flat. Click here to download the Leaseholders’ Handbook. You can also download our Leasehold Management Policy. These documents are aimed at:

• leaseholders in Colchester Borough Council blocks of flats
• council tenants who are thinking of buying the leasehold of their flat
• anyone who is thinking of buying a flat from a leaseholder

In these documents you will find:

• information about  your rights and responsibilities as a leaseholder, and the council’s rights and responsibilities as the landlord of your block
• help and advice about being a leaseholder in a shared block of flats, including the services you are entitled to
• information about service charges, why you have them, and how we can help if you have problems paying them

Leaseholder Focus Group

Would you like to share your thoughts and views on Leaseholder services, why not join the Leaseholder Focus Group, working together to make positive changes in the way we operate by holding regular and informal discussions. Involved leaseholders have led the way for positive changes in the services provided. Find out more and register an interest on our Resident Engagement page.

Reporting a repair

We are responsible for keeping the ‘common parts’ of your block in good repair. This means we will look after the structure of the building and landings and hallways (including lighting, controlled door-entry systems and so on). If you would like to report a repair that we are responsible for please provide as much detail as you can about the problem here.

Service charges

When you buy a flat in a building owned by the Council, you buy a leasehold interest in the property. This means that you are legally responsible to pay a proportion of the running and management costs for your block. These costs are called service charges. Click here to find out more about service charges. You can find out about your legal rights and obligations here.

Advice for Leaseholders

Click Government – leasehold property for government advice and information for leaseholders.

Major Works

A major work is any large piece of building or improvement work which we may carry out to your building or estate and which will result in a charge of more than £250 per flat.

Buildings Insurance

Please see the summary of cover for our Building Insurance with Zurich

2023/24 Insurance Document

Home Contents Insurance

For further information please click here.