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Article: Leaseholder services

Services for leaseholdersWhat is a leaseholder? 

When you purchase a flat, you buy a lease from the council which gives you the right to occupation and use of the property for an agreed period of time.  At the end of the lease period the dwelling will revert back to the council unless the lease is renewed or extended.   This type of ownership is called leasehold.  
 
Council flats are usually sold on a 125 year lease.  The lease is a legal contract between you ‘the leaseholder’ and the council ‘the landlord.  It contains details of the property, including a map showing your property, the block it is in, the estate where the block is located, and any garden or other amenities included in the sale.  The lease explains your rights and obligations, as well as those of the Council.

Ownership consists of everything within the property including the floorboards, plastering to the walls and ceilings and all items that serve the property alone.  The Council continues to own the block, including the exterior structure of the flat.

Thinking of buying or selling a leasehold flat? 

If you are considering buying your Council-owned flat, please ensure that your solicitor explains the details of the lease clearly. Although we will be pleased to answer any queries we would always advise you to ensure that you seek professional, independent advice before you go ahead with the purchase either on the open market or through the 'Right to Buy'. Please note there are certain qualifying criteria for the Right to Buy scheme.

Lease request

If you are a leaseholder of a property where we still own the freehold, we can provide you with a copy of your lease.  There is a fee of £25 for this service.

You can ask for copies in person, over the phone, in writing or by completing the lease request form.  We will only release copies of leases to the leaseholder or to their representative if we have signed authorisation from the leaseholder. 

What are service charges? Leaseholder photo

Service charges are the costs incurred for the day-to-day repair, maintenance and management of the building of which the leasehold property forms part. If you are a leaseholder the council, as landlord, is obliged to provide you with certain services and to charge you for those services.  These are called routine service charges.  In addition, from time to time you will be charged for your share of the cost of any major works to your block or estate (if relevant).    Both leaseholders and tenants will pay for services and works.  Leaseholders receive this in the form of an annual service charge bill.  However, tenants contribute to these costs through their weekly rent charge.

As we are not able to determine in advance the actual amount of money that will be spent on services in each financial year, Leaseholders will receive bills by the 1st October each year.  Under the terms of your lease you must pay your service charge bill within 14 days of receiving the invoice.

What is ground rent? 

You must pay ground rent to the Council as it owns the land the building stands on. The amount of ground rent payable is £10 annually.

Do I need insurance?

It is a condition of the lease that we arrange the buildings insurance on behalf of the landlord.  The lease places an obligation on the landlord to ensure the Block is adequately covered against loss or damage by fire lightening and explosion.  This insurance is provided to all leaseholders under a block policy.  You should check your individual lease to see whether there is a corresponding obligation on the leaseholder to pay a fair proportion of the insurance. 

The landlord’s insurance policy does NOT cover the contents in your home.  You are strongly advised to arrange a separate insurance policy to cover your own contents.

Methods of payment available 

Payment can be made by Direct Debit, telephone, internet or using a swipe card that can be used at any Post Office. These cards can be ordered through your local Barnsley Connects office or by contacting the Leasehold Team.

Visit the web payment section.

If you are in receipt of benefits, the Benefits Agency may be able to provide you with some assistance in paying your service charges. Please visit the Department for Work and Pensions website for further information.

Are you having financial difficulties?

Mortgage Arrears?

You should tell your mortgage lender and get advice about alternative ways of reducing your mortgage payments. If you have a mortgage protection policy ask the provider for help in making a claim against the policy.

Contact your local Jobcentreplus to see if you qualify for any benefits. You may be able to get help with the interest payments on your mortgage.If you have been unsuccessful in the past  please be aware there have been some recent changes in the benfits allowances and you may now qualify.

A mortgage resscue scheme has now been approved by Barnsley Council enabling leaseholders at rick of losing their property to remain in their home.  Please follow the Mortgage Rescue Scheme for further information.

Service Charge and Ground Rent arrears?

If you are in receipt of benefits, the Benefits Agency may be able to provide you with some assistance in paying your service charges and ground rent. Please follow the link to the DWP website for further information.

Other Debts?

For advice please contact:

Remember good advice is free advice.

Repairs and Maintenance

You can report a repair to the communal areas of your flats to the repairs hotline. They will report the works and arrange to have any faults remedied. You must remember you are liable to pay your share of any repairs carried out on your block.

Council  Responsibility

  • All communal areas, shared doors and shared lighting.
  • Staircases to flats and lifts.
  • Shared gardens, garden paths, drying areas and shared rubbish areas.
  • Structural walls and foundations.
  • Chimneys, roofs and guttering.
  • Window frames and external doors and frames.
  • Door entry systems (where fitted).
  • Service pipes and drains within the boundary of the property.
  • Fire alarms and firefighting equipment.
  • Shared TV aerial.

Leaseholder Responsibility

  • Floorboards, Internal plaster to walls and ceilings.
  • Internal decoration including carpets and paintwork.
  • Any water tanks serving the property alone.
  • Sanitary fixtures and fittings.
  • Internal plaster to walls and ceilings.
  • Glass to windows.
  • Plumbing and wiring inside the home.

Please note this list does not cover everything please refer to your lease or contact our Leasehold Team if you require further information and advice

For futher information visit the Repairs section.

Major Works 

Occasionally more substantial work will need to be done on your block, such as painting, major roof repairs, a full window replacement scheme, etc.  This kind of work is planned in advance. We will advise you before any such work is started, and ask you for your views.

Leasehold Service Standards

In addition to the handbook we have also established a number of Leasehold Service Standards. These are set out below: 

  • We will tell you how we work out service charges, the various ways you can pay and give you advice and help if you fall behind with payments.
  • We will consult you if we are planning any major works and if we are planning to change the service. 
  • We will keep communal areas clean tidy and well maintained. 
  • We will give you the opportunity to benefit from improvements at a fair price. 
  • We will make sure that while we are doing work that it’s a quality job with minimum disruption. 
  • Hold an annual leaseholders event.
  • Offer face to face interviews to leaseholders upon receipt of service charge actual accounts (or block meetings when requested by leaseholders) to ensure the actual accounts are understood and any questions answered.
  • We will send you Open House once a year.

Getting Involved

At Berneslai Homes we believe that the best way of improving our service is to work closely with our customers. We encourage our leaseholders to play an active role in the running of the communal areas of their block and their estates. This means listening to and acting on what they have to say about the service we offer.  Visit our Get Involved section for further information.

Contact Details 

Leasehold Team
Head Office, Gateway Plaza, Barnsley, S70 9FZ.

Tel: 01226 772706
Fax:01226 775439
leaseholdteam@berneslaihomes.co.uk

Visit our performance section which contains our Rents and Leaseholder performance and Leaseholder Satisfaction results. 

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