Leasehold Law and the Legal Framework Governing Long Leases
The lease as contract, estate and statutory creature
A long lease is one granted for a term exceeding 21 years. It is at once a contract, a legal estate in land, and an instrument heavily overlaid by statute. A candidate must be able to identify the parties (freeholder/reversioner, head lessor, leaseholder, management company), the demise (the flat plus rights of access and use of common parts), the term, ground rent and the mutual covenants.
The covenant structure is the most heavily examined topic. The landlord's statutory repairing obligation in s.11 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 applies only to leases of seven years or less at grant, so it does not rescue most long leaseholders - for them the repairing obligation comes from the lease itself. Implied covenants sit alongside the express terms: quiet enjoyment and the landlord's duty not to derogate from its grant. Leases over three years must be granted by deed (s.52 Law of Property Act 1925).
Enforcement runs largely through forfeiture, which is procedurally protected: a s.146 LPA 1925 notice for general breaches, a s.168 Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 notice before forfeiture for breach of covenant other than non-payment of rent, and a s.81 Housing Act 1996 notice before forfeiture proceedings for service charge arrears. For leases granted on or after 1 January 1996, the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 abolished privity of contract on assignment, backed by authorised guarantee agreements.
Traps: assuming s.11 applies to a 125-year lease; confusing forfeiture with expiry; forgetting the deed requirement; treating a headlease and sublease as interchangeable when identifying who owes what to whom.
Rule of thumb: the "long lease" test throughout enfranchisement and RTM law is the original term at grant exceeding 21 years - the years remaining are irrelevant to that threshold.