Repairs information for homeowners in England

If you own your home on a freehold basis, then you will be responsible for all repairs to your own property but we may be responsible for repairs to any communal facilities.

If you're one of our leasehold customers (which includes shared owners), your lease will state what repairs you are responsible for and what repairs (if any) we are responsible for. Any repairs we carry out will usually be paid for through your service charge.

You will usually be responsible for all repairs inside your home, including services that are exclusive to your home (like water, gas and electricity supplies and drains, even where these are situated outside of the property).  If you live in a house you will usually also be responsible for maintenance and repairs to the outside of the property.

Leaseholders are responsible for keeping any gas and electrical appliances within their own home in a safe condition and you should ensure that regular safety checks are carried out.  If your lease permits sub-letting, and you are a landlord yourself, you should ensure that you understand your obligations regarding the safety of your tenants.

We will usually be responsible for the maintenance of the structure of the building (in the case of apartment blocks) as well as any common parts of the building and/or the estate where your home is situated.  This might include lifts, communal gardens, un-adopted lighting or roads, pipe and drains serving more than one property etc. Under the terms of your lease you will be responsible for a proportion of the cost of communal repairs.

If the repair is our responsibility you can use our report a repair form for Homeowners. 

Emergency repairs:

If there is an immediate risk to your safety or health then:

Smell gas: Call the National Grid emergency line 0800 111 999

Power cut: Call your local electricity network operator. Energy Networks Association can tell you who this is

Other emergencies: Call us on 0345 141 4663

It’s important that communal areas are kept in good repair so occasionally we’ll need to repair, replace or redecorate communal areas and facilities of the building and/or the estate where you live. These are sometimes called “major works” and “cyclical redecorations”.

Yes, for any expenditure to which you will need to contribute £250 or more, we are required by law to follow a consultation process which is called ‘Section 20’. The consultation will mean that you have a stated period of time to comment on the work and, under some circumstances, you may nominate a contractor (provided they can meet our procurement requirements).

We are also required under Section 20 to consult you when appointing a contract under a Long Term Qualifying Agreement. These are agreements which exceed one year in length and to which leaseholders will contribute more than £100 per year.

Some repair costs may be covered by the regular service charge that you pay.

If your lease or legal contract allows us to collect a regular contribution from you to be added to a reserve fund (sometimes called a building, sinking or cyclical fund) then the cost of works will be charged to this fund. If the fund does not cover the cost of the planned work, or there is no fund, then you will be sent an invoice after the work is complete or asked to pay extra at the end of the financial year when you receive your summary statement of expenditure (usually in September, dependent upon the terms of your lease).

Professional fees are payable for the management of major works projects and you will be notified of the cost through the section 20 consultation process.

Find out more about professional and administration fees.

See below for your payment options:

Online using My Home Account

Cheque payable to Home Group Limited and send to Leasehold Team, One Strawberry Lane, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4BX

Direct Debit by calling 0345 141 4663 and choosing option 3

Debit or credit card by calling 0345 141 4663 and choosing option 3

BACS payments,  you can make a payment directly into the following account:

Home Group Limited

Sort code: 20-59-79

Account number: 63908208

Please ensure that you quote your customer reference number when making payments.

If you need advice on the terms of your lease, service charge or any other lease related issues, The Leasehold Advisory Service is an independent body funded by the government which provides free advice on the law affecting residential leasehold property in England and Wales. 

If you are planning a home improvement you must get written approval from us before you start.  

We do not mean freshening up your internal decoration with a lick of paint or new wallpaper. But you might be surprised what you do need approval for. So please check first, as it is part of your leasehold agreement. 

We want you to be able to make your home perfect, so we will give approval wherever possible. When it is not possible, we will let you know the reasons why.

Here are some examples of the sort of changes that need our approval. This is not the full list, so contact us to check if you need written approval.

• Installing a satellite dish or TV aerial 
• Installing new windows
• Installing an external structure attached to your property. Such as a conservatory, security blinds or an awning
• Replacing boiler and central heating system 
• Installing new electrical fittings e.g., storage radiators, extractor fans etc
• Changing the existing internal layout 
• Upgrading or re-fitting kitchen or bathroom installations
• Installing laminate or wooden flooring (with the required sound insulation)
• Installing or extending a garden patio
• Installing car charging points

Keeping our customers safe is our top priority. This means any changes you make must stick to current statutory regulations such as:

• Building and fire regulations 
• Certifications for gas or electrical work 

If you need planning permission, we will ask to see proof that it has been granted.

Sometimes we will need to contact other residents near you about your proposal.

Our surveyor will be in touch to arrange an inspection both before and after your work is complete. This is not always needed as it depends on your project.

You could be breaking your lease agreement. 

If this happens, we will first see if we can grant retrospective permission.

However, we might have to take legal proceedings against you to stop any further works or to make you reinstate any unacceptable alterations.

So, remember to get written permission before you start.

Download and complete the leasehold alteration application form. 
Then return it with all the relevant documents to our leasehold customer support team.

It can take eight weeks for us to process your application. 

There is a legal fee of £120 (£100 + VAT).

This is payable before we provide a formal permission letter.

We will not charge you if: 

1. Permission is not granted because your lease forbids the work, or there are reasonable grounds to do so. 
2. Home Group approval is not required under the terms of your lease. We would still send you a notification letter free of charge.