# SERVICE OCCUPANCY AGREEMENT
Date: 1 March 2029
Parties: Ashcombe Estate Ltd and Lewis Turner
## 1. Parties and purpose
Ashcombe Estate Ltd (Company No. 06542177), owner of Ashcombe House, Hartfield, East Sussex TN22 8QJ, permits its estate manager Lewis Turner to occupy the lodge at 2 Park Drive only because his employment requires him to respond to alarms, visitors and urgent water-system failures outside ordinary hours.
## 2. Scope, price and subject
The occupation begins on 1 March 2029 and is personal to Lewis. No rent is payable, but he pays electricity and broadband and contributes £65 per month for heating. The lodge may be occupied by Lewis, his spouse Erin and their child; it is for residential use connected with the employment, not a business or short-term letting.
## 3. Operating duties
The parties intend a service occupancy, not an assured tenancy or a lease. The permission is conditional on the continuing employment nexus; it does not grant a proprietary interest or exclusive rights against the employer’s reasonable access for estate operations. A court may characterise occupation according to substance, and statutory rights cannot be contracted out of.
## 4. Compliance, records and controls
Lewis must keep the lodge clean, report defects, permit access on 24 hours’ notice (or immediately for emergency), observe estate security and fire rules, and not alter, sublet or assign. Ashcombe maintains the structure, heating plant and fixed services, while Lewis pays for damage caused by his negligence and holds contents insurance.
## 5. Term, ending and remedies
Ashcombe will account for any taxable benefit in kind and report it through PAYE and P11D where required under ITEPA 2003. Lewis must provide information reasonably needed for the valuation; neither party promises a particular tax outcome. Council tax is Lewis’s responsibility unless Ashcombe is legally liable as owner.
## 6. Liability and reservations
The permission ends when employment ends, subject to any lawful notice and any longer period required by housing or employment law. Ashcombe will give a written vacation date and will not use self-help eviction; Lewis must return keys, remove belongings and leave the lodge clean. Serious safety or security misconduct may justify immediate suspension of access.
## 7. Governing law and signatures
English law governs and courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. Ashcombe’s director Farah Malik and Lewis sign on 1 March 2029. The parties acknowledge that the true legal status depends on facts, that independent advice is available, and that this agreement cannot remove statutory protection.