Legal

Legal Structure

Each apartment owner signs a lease and a covenant. These form a three-way legal arrangement which specifies the rights, duties and obligations of the freeholder, the apartment owner and Rishworth Palace Ltd. (the management company). You should read your lease and covenant and, if required, take appropriate legal advice.

Definitions

• The freeholder owns the estate and buildings.

• The apartment owner is the person (or persons) who leases each apartment from the freeholder.

• The company (Rishworth Palace Ltd.) carries out certain duties on behalf of the freeholder and the apartment owners.

• The apartment owner's share is the proportion of the company and its costs that the apartment owner is responsible for, defined as 1/88 in the lease.

An annual ground rent of £50.00 is payable in advance on the 1st of January by each apartment owner to the freeholder at Freehold Managers (Nominees) Ltd. PO Box 2098, London SE1 1WY. Tel: 0207 940 4764.

The company has to keep the buildings and grounds in good order and repair. This includes the foundations, walls, roof and main structures.

The company must insure the buildings, maintain the lift, entry phone, TV and CCTV systems, paint the building internally and externally, including each apartment's front door, clean common area windows internally and externally, clean and keep free from obstruction the stairways and hallways, and maintain the gymnasium and laundry. 

The company may provide other services for residents, such as arranging the cleaning of their external windows.

The company may hire staff or contractors to carry out its obligations and introduce byelaws with which the apartment owners and residents must comply.

Apartment owners have a single equal share and voting rights in Rishworth Palace Ltd. and have covenanted to pay their share of Rishworth Palace Ltd.'s costs in carrying out its duties and responsibilities. This currently takes the form of a monthly maintenance fee of £175.00 (as from 1st April 2025) but could involve larger amounts if major works were required. If apartment owners fail to pay their share, legal action may be taken to recover either the money or the apartment.

The apartments are referred to as the 'demised premises'. The apartment comprises its internal walls, the inner half of its perimeter walls, its floor and ceiling and all internal heating and sanitary ware, its doors and door frames and its window frames and glass. Excepted are the external painted surface of the entry door and the external painted surface of the external window frames.

Apartments must only be used as private residences. No commercial activities. Residents must have written consent to keep animals on the premises. Consent can be revoked at any time.

The mill is a Grade 2 listed building, and it is a criminal offence to alter it without authority.