Homeowners

As a homeowner, you’re responsible for any internal maintenance and repairs.

If you live in a house

You may be responsible for the exterior of your building.

If you live in a flat

We are responsible for the exterior of your building and communal areas.

When a new property is built, most issues or ‘snags’ are covered under a warranty, and are the responsibility of the building contractor. During the warranty period, snags will be addressed for free.

We provide buildings insurance for the majority of our homes. This cost is included in your service charge.

Most residents need to contribute towards the cost of maintaining, repairing and improving their building or estate in the form of a regular service charge. This is outlined in the terms of your agreement with us.

If you are a homeowner and pay us a service charge, we are legally obliged to let know of any major works that are being carried out and ask for your opinion about them before doing anything. This is in accordance with the Section 20 consultation process.

The easiest way to pay your service charge is online.

You are responsible for paying your:

• Council Tax
• Utility bills
• TV licence (if you need it)
• Contents insurance (if you want it)
• Service charge (if applicable)
• Mortgage payments (if applicable)

You may need to pay us an administration fee if you want to do something to your home – for example, making home improvements or remortgaging.

If you are having difficulty making payments, don’t ignore the issue – we’re here to help.

You need to let us know if you want to sell your home but after that, as a homeowner, you’re free to manage the sale as you wish. That includes marketing your home, choosing an estate agent and arranging viewings.

Mortgage lenders often need independent certification that the external walls (cladding) meet the Government’s safety guidance. This certification is called EWS1.

Information about EWS1 forms
Request an EWS1 form

All leases have an expiry date – you’ll find it near the top of the document. If you don’t have a copy of your lease, your conveyancer should have one, or you can get one from HM Land Registry.

To extend your lease, there’s a legal process to follow. Your solicitor will need to serve us a legal notice (Section 42) with some key information, including the proposed cost of your new lease. We will respond to this notice within 2 months. You’ll need to cover both your costs and ours.

If we accept the proposal, the acting solicitors will draft the new lease. Once the new lease has been agreed by your solicitors and ours, a date will be set for the completion of the extension and the new lease will then be registered at HM Land Registry by your solicitors. Contact us if you have any questions.

We don’t offer equity loans anymore. If you already have one, find out how to repay it.

There are some changes that you can make to your property without asking us and some that need our permission.

Most homeowners can sublet their homes, but you will need to let us know first.

Where applicable, you will also have to ask your mortgage provider for permission. Plus, it’s important to get independent advice on becoming a landlord and understand what’s involved. After all, doing this means you’ll suddenly have extra responsibilities, such as making sure your tenants are behaving. There are certain obligations too, like arranging landlord insurance.