Leaseholder Repairs & Improvements

Plasterer Repairs for leaseholder fall between both the owner and us as landlord.

We are responsible for the repair and maintenance to the structure, exterior and common parts of the building.

We will repair and maintain the foundations, roofs, communal doors, windows, chimney stacks, structural walls, external decorations and communal facilities.

The leaseholder is responsible for the repair and maintenance within their property. This includes internal doors, plaster and wall coverings, pipes, cables and wires.

Fittings such as kitchen units, baths, sinks, toilet and wash hand basins and individual domestic heating systems are also included.

The leaseholder may also repair and maintain the entrance door providing permission is first obtained from us.

The cost for repairs and maintenance is covered through the service charge. The amount charged will depend on both the actual cost of the repair and your responsibilities as set out in your lease.

Arranging repairs

Leaseholders should make your own arrangements to deal with the repairs where it’s your responsibility.

Please do not carry out structural works or alterations without written permission from us. If this is required, outline the proposed works and enclosing plans where possible and send them to us.

If it is our responsibility, contact us and report the problem to us.

In emergencies, if it is our responsibility, a tradesperson will normally call within 2 hours for general repairs. This can be for leaking pipes or sparking or dangerous electrics to communal areas.

When access is required for routine repairs we will give you reasonable notice. You must allow access to us and our sub-contractors to inspect and carry out repairs.

It our duty under the terms of your lease we carry out repairs. If you are not satisfied a complaint will be dealt with in accordance with our complaints procedure.

Major Repairs

Major Repairs are works that prevent the building falling into a poor state of repair. If your home was bought from us through the Right to Buy scheme you will have received a Section 125 Landlord’s Offer Notice.

This tells you about possible major works that might be carried out within the first 5 years of your lease along with how much this might cost. This document protects you against unforeseen major works charges only for the initial 5 year period.

During this time we cannot charge you for more than the amount shown except for an allowance for inflation. Subsequent purchasers are covered by the Section 125 Landlord’s Offer Notice until it expires.

Properties no longer covered by a Section 125 Landlord’s Offer Notice will receive a Major Repairs estimate as part of the legal documentation.

We will consult with you before beginning major repairs or maintenance which will cost you, or another leaseholde in your block, more than £250. We also consult you on long-term agreements estimated at costing you, or another leaseholder, more than £100 a year. This might include lift maintenance, grounds work or caretaking.

Major repairs consultation

We ask contractors to return estimates of their costs. You may also nominate a contractor to provide an estimate. However, they must meet certain requirements.

Leaseholders are sent a Notice of Intention which details the proposed works. You have 30 days to comment in writing.

A second, Section 20 Notice, will tell you the lowest two acceptable estimates received and your proportional contribution. Following your comments, we will award the contract.

If the contract is awarded to the contractor that submitted the lowest estimate, or a contractor suggested by a leaseholder, we will write to you to advise you of the start date of the work. If we have awarded the contract to another contractor, we will write to you within 21 days giving our reason for the selection. At the same time we will summarise any comments received.

We do not have to follow the consultation process if we can show it is reasonable to dispense with the requirement. This may apply in cases of very urgent works on grounds of health and safety, or for which it is difficult to obtain more than one estimate.

Improvements

Improvements are additional services to those received under the terms of your lease. Upgrading services to bring them into line with current regulations and standards are not.

Generally, we do not charge leaseholders for improvements we make to buildings or land unless you agree.

We are able to charge for improvements without agreement if it will save you money in the long term. Where this is the case we use the major repairs process. Your proportion of the cost will be recovered through the service charge.

Where we are not legally entitled to charge we will still ask if you might pay your share. At times we may not be able to undertake the work.

If however, we do decide to go ahead with the work, you will still be charged for the future repairs and maintenance of the improvement.

Quality repairs

There are strict written rules relating to how we get prices for building works. The way we do this depends on the type and value of the work.

We use a schedule of rates for costing smaller repair works. This lists minor repairs likely to be needed and is updated regularly.

Contractors are interviewed by a panel comprising of tenants, council staff and a councillor. Contracts are awarded to those who score best on a combination of both cost and quality considerations.

We have a Code of Conduct for Contractors which was developed in partnership with tenants and leaseholders and sets out the standards required of contractors working in Council homes and buildings.

Documents

PDF
PDF Leaseholder repairs and responsibilities handbook (0.56mb)

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