Generally, you are responsible for any repairs inside your home, including routine repairs and replacing boilers, cookers, fridges and the other fixtures and fittings of the property. You are also responsible for any pipes, cables and so on which serve only your home.
Leaseholders are not responsible for repairs to the structure of the building, and to areas of the block or estate. The cost of these communal repairs will be included in your service charge.
If you live in a home we own and manage, we will instruct repairs to the structure of the building and the shared areas of your building or estate. However, this service is not available to leaseholders living in properties that we do not own, for these we request that the responsible landlord or their managing agent undertake the repair.
Maintaining your home & the common areas
Your home
After being granted a lease, you’ll acquire full responsibility to maintain and repair the interior of your property including any fixtures and fittings. This also applies for shared ownership leaseholders.
If any fixtures or fittings are damaged or a room such as the bathroom or kitchen requires renovation, this is the responsibility of the leaseholder to fund and undertake.
This can include replacing items such as:
- boilers
- cookers and other kitchen appliances
- floor coverings
- plumbing and electrics
- pipes, cables, drainage and so on serving your home
It is important that any homeowner maintains and repairs their property to retain the value of their asset and to avoid the possibility of disrepair causing damage to a neighbouring property. Failure to maintain the property is also a breach of the lease.
If necessary, we might require access to the property for inspection and where we have to make good any disrepair, we would bill the leaseholder the costs. It is therefore important that you maintain your property and that you contact us as soon as possible if you are struggling to do so.
Common areas and buildings
The landlord will generally have the responsibility to maintain and repair those parts of the estate or block which are not demised to leaseholders. These would likely include the structure of the building, the roof and any internal or external common areas. Where NHG is the landlord, we would deliver these duties but there are instances where the responsibility is held by a third party.
Where NHG is the landlord, we will carry out cyclical redecoration or repair of our assets either at the frequency defined by the leases we have granted or as required. We might undertake a stock condition survey to determine the life expectancy of the assets to plan and budget for future works.
Though NHG will maintain and repair the communal areas, if these are damaged by leaseholders or their guests then we will recover the costs of any repair from those responsible. Where damage is caused by an insured peril, we seek to recover any costs from our insurance provider by making a claim.