An example Barbican flat lease

The City of London owns the Barbican Estate and all the flats within it.  For many years these flats were rented out directly by the City as council flats, but the 1980 Housing act changed all that by introducing the right to buy.  While some flats, a very small number, are still are rented directly from the City, most barbican flats have been 'bought'.

... BUT what has been bought is not the flat itself but rather a lease.  This is why the 'owners' of Barbican flats are formally referred to as long leaseholders.  The few remaining council tenants are short leaseholders.

The lease is the deal between the 'owner' and the City, and it defines all kinds of obligations upon both parties; quiet hours, cleaning rules, floor coverings, television services ... the lease is long.  In theory, if a long leaseholder breaches the terms of the lease they can lose their flat (though I've never heard of this actually happening, and the estate office warns if it thinks rules are being broken), so it's worth knowing what the lease actually says:

Click to read the whole example lease