Lessor
A lessor is the party that grants a lease, in everyday letting terms, it usually means the landlord. You’ll see “lessor” most often in more formal paperwork (leases, deeds, lender documents, leasehold packs) rather than in day-to-day conversations about a tenancy. The lessor grants the right to occupy. The lessee receives that right and pays rent.
In mainstream private renting, your occupier is normally called a tenant, and you’ll usually use a tenancy agreement rather than a long lease. But the vocabulary overlaps, for example many documents still borrow “lessor/lessee” language even where the arrangement is a tenancy. The practical implication is that any clause written in “lessor” language is still talking about you, your repairing obligations, your right to serve written notice, your ability to recover sums, and the tenant’s duties around use and care of the property.
The term matters most in flats and blocks. If you are the freeholder, you may be the lessor to your leaseholders, who are lessees. If you’re a landlord renting out a flat that you hold on a long lease, you are the lessor to your tenant, but you are also a lessee of the superior landlord. That “two-tier” structure can affect repairs, service charge, sinking fund contributions, and how quickly building issues get fixed, often the root cause of housing disputes.
From 1 May 2026 in England, the Renters’ Rights Act abolishes Section 21 notice and moves most private lets onto open-ended assured periodic tenancies. The word “lessor” doesn’t disappear. Leases, lenders and property law will keep using it, but as the lessor/landlord you’ll rely more on compliant processes, for example Section 8 notice and valid grounds for possession, rather than “no-fault” exit routes.
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