This section of our website contains information for our leaseholders.
Your lease is a formal contract between you and us. It tells you about the rights and obligations you have as a leaseholder and rights and obligations we have as a landlord.
We always advise you to ask your solicitor to examine your lease contract carefully and explain all the terms and conditions to you so that you understand them and are happy to proceed before you sign any documents.
As a leaseholder you have purchased the right to live in the home for the term of the lease. If you are the first person to buy the property, the lease will usually be for 125 years. If you have taken over the lease from somebody else, then you will have taken over the number of years remaining on the lease at that time.
In many cases, we will retain the Freehold to the property. You will be the ‘Leaseholder’ and we will be the ‘Freeholder’.
Both you (the leaseholder) and we (the freeholder) will have certain obligations and responsibilities to fulfill. You will be required to make payment for all services we provide.
Key Points:
Freeholder (Us)
We are responsible for carrying out maintenance to the fabric of the building, and will undertake repairs and maintenance of the common parts such as staircases in blocks of flats, communal gardens and car parks.
As a leaseholder, however, it is important that you are aware that you are responsible for paying towards the cost of any repairs or maintenance that we carry out.
Day-to-day repairs of common parts will be charged back to you via a service charge.
Major works, such as the replacement of windows, will be charged to you as a one off ‘rechargeable repair’ following a consultation period. You will responsible for paying a proportion of the costs, according to your lease.
Leaseholder (You)
Once you have bought your home you will be responsible for all of the internal repairs.
You will be consulted before any major works are undertaken, and you will also have the opportunity to nominate a contractor and to see any estimates we provide. We will also tell you our reasons for appointing our chosen contractor.
Services
Freeholder (Trust)
We will provide certain services, such as, gardening or window cleaning – these will be specified in your Right to Buy Offer Notice (RB11) and an appropriate charge will be made. Accounts will be provided to you each year so that you can see how much these services have cost us to provide.
Leaseholder (You)
You will be required to make service charge payments in a timely manner or in full.
Accounts
Freeholder (Trust)
We will send you a quarterly statement which provides a summary of the money you have paid to us.
We will also provide you with annual accounts showing the income and expenditure for your scheme or block, and how the charge has been calculated.
Leaseholder (You)
You will make service charge payments when they become due. If you are unable to make a payment, you must inform us and make an agreement to bring your account up to date.
If you are experiencing financial difficulty which prevents you from paying your service or repair charges, we offer a debt advice service. If you would like to speak to a member of our team please contact Amber Cairns on 0151 510 5033, we may be able to help you.
Charges
Freeholder (Trust)
Your service charges may go up or down. We will always provide written notification of any changes due and will provide at least one month’s notice before implementing any change.
Service charges are due, and will be debited on a monthly basis.
Rechargeable repairs will be debited to your account after the notice period has expired.
Leaseholder (You)
You are responsible for making sure the correct amount is paid, following any changes to the amount due.
You should also make sure that any rechargeable repairs made are paid in full, over a reasonable period agreed with us.