Our rights and responsibilities

Our rights as the landlord

Managing and maintaining your property

We have the right to make decisions about how we:

• manage your block;

• repair and maintain the structure and shared areas of the block; and

• make improvements to the block.

We will consult you if we plan to make changes to how we manage your block or carry out repairs and improvements.

Service charges

We have the right and a legal duty to make charges for:

• ground rent;

• management costs such as staff;

• repairing and maintaining shared areas; and

• making improvements to the block.

The right to enter you property

We have the right to enter your property to carry out repairs if there is a danger to other residents (for example, if a fault in your property is causing damage to other properties in the block.

Appointing a managing agent

We may appoint a managing agent to manage and maintain the building for us. If we do this, we will make the agent aware of your wishes and needs.We would instruct the agent who would also be aware of the leaseholders' wishes and requirements.

Forfeiture

Forfeiture means us ending the lease and taking possession of the property because you have not met the conditions of the lease. In this case, you would not receive any compensation, so you would lose any equity left in the property even after you paid back any debt.

Our responsibilities as landlord

Repairs

We are responsible for keeping the structure and shared areas of the block in good condition.

Consultation

• We have to consult you about any repairs to your block that are likely to cost each leaseholder more than £250 (including VAT). These repairs are called ‘qualifying works’ and can include day-to-day repairs as well as major improvements.

• We will also consult you about any long-term service contracts where your share of the cost is likely to be more than £100 (including VAT) each year. These contracts are called ‘qualifying long-term agreements’ and the contract will be for at least 12 months.

• In both cases, we have to get at least two estimates for the work and give you 60 days to comment on the proposed work and the estimates before we start. However, in emergencies (such as damage to the roof caused by the wind), we would carry out the work without giving you 60 days to comment

Service charges

We have a legal duty to collect your share of the costs to manage and maintain your block. If we did not do this, tenants would pay for your share in their rent and that breaks financial regulations. (See section four – ‘Service charges’.)

Insurance

As a condition of the lease, we must take out enough insurance for the building and the shared parts and charge you the premium as part of the yearly service charge. This policy does not cover your belongings, although we also have a household contents policy that we encourage you to take out.