Council's rights and
responsibilities
When you buy a Council flat, you are buying a part of a larger
building. The council, as the owner of the block, has certain
rights and responsibilities.
Our rights
This depends on the lease. However, in general
we will have the right to:
- If we give you reasonable notice, enter your home to carry out
work to the structure, outside or shared parts of the block
- Extend or carry out alterations or improvements to the block or
estate
- Close, divert or alter any roads, footways or gardens on the
estate
Our responsibilities include
- Keeping the structure of the buildings, and the outside and
shared areas of the building in good repair and condition
- Repairing any structural faults which develop
- Making good any damage to the building (including your flat but
not your personal possessions) caused by any peril against which it
is the usual practice to insure e.g. storm, flood, fire etc.
The cost of repairs
Your lease will tell you who is responsible for repairing the
various parts of the block and your flat. In general the
council is responsible for all repairs to shared
facilities.
If you need a repair done, check the Leaseholders
Handbook. This is sent to you when your sale on the property
completes. It sets out whether the repair is your
responsibility or the council's. If we are responsible please
contact the Leasehold Management Team.
Major works
To ensure our buildings are warm and weatherproof we
carry out both planned programmes and major works. We are committed
to consulting with you at all stages of major work projects.
When work is planned for your property you will be sent a Section
20 notice detailing the proposed works.
Cost can vary greatly from one block to another and can be quite
high in some cases. The following are examples:
- It can cost in the region of £200,000 to replace two lifts in a
multi-story block.
- Replacing a roof to a low rise block could cost £60,000.
The price you will pay for your proportion of
these charges is based on rateable value (rv). Each property
has its own rateable value. For example flat 1 in a block of
90 flats has the block rateable value of 1062 and a unit rateable
value of 177. Using the figures above you could expect to pay
£9,999 towards replacing the roof (Cost divided by block rv and
multiplied by unit rv).
The above figures are estimates and are only quoted here as
examples. Actual costs vary according to the work involved, the
size and condition of your block and the rate of inflation in the
building industry.
To make sure we provide value for money, we have a competitive
tendering procedure for projects. We invite a number of carefully
chosen contractors to bid for the work, and, as long as the price
is reasonable, the lowest bid normally wins the contract.
Is there a limit to costs? This depends
on when you bought your flat and what the conditions of sale were
at the time. Some leaseholders may not have to pay for certain
work, while charges for other leaseholders may also be limited to a
certain amount. This will only happen in certain circumstances
where the government has introduced protection schemes.
You will be billed for any major works within
your Year End Service Charges. These are billed in arrears
for the previous accounting year.