As a leaseholder, you are required to pay ground rent and service charges, as detailed in your lease agreement. The service charge is a payment towards the cost of providing services to you and your property. The service charge is calculated to ensure that you are charged a fair and reasonable proportion of the cost of providing each service.
If you currently live in a shared ownership or leasehold property, you can find lots of information below.
If you can't find what you are looking for, please get in touch.
Leaseholder, freeholder and shared owner service charges
As a shared owner you are required to pay rent for the part of the property still in our ownership, together with any service charges, as detailed in your lease agreement. The service charge is a payment towards the cost of providing services as prescribed under the terms of your lease. The service charge is calculated to ensure that you are charged a fair and reasonable proportion of the cost of providing each service.
As a freeholder you are required to pay service charges, as detailed in your transfer document. The service charge is a payment towards the cost of providing services as prescribed under the terms of your lease. The service charge is calculated to ensure that you are charged a fair and reasonable proportion of the cost of providing each service.
Calculating your service charges
Each year we set our service charges using estimated figures. These are based on what we expect the service to cost us. We will write to you in February each year to confirm your estimated service charge for the upcoming financial year.
The estimated service charges are due to be paid by you from April to March. At the end of each financial year, we will carry out a recalculation of the actual cost of providing each service to you.
When the recalculation is complete we will issue you with a certified annual service charge account. This shows how much you have been charged during the previous financial year, together with details of the actual cost of providing the services to you. This recalculation will produce a balancing figure, which will be added to your rent and service charge account. It should be noted that the balancing figure may show either an under or overcharge.
If you don’t agree with your service charge or feel that the charge is unreasonable please speak to our Leasehold and Contracts Team who will explain in more detail what the charge is for and try to address your concerns.
You can get independent advice at any time from LEASE - the Leasehold Advisory Service who are funded by the government to provide free legal advice to leaseholders and landlords.
If you still think your service charge is unreasonable or unfair you can appeal to the First Tier Tribunal of the Property Chamber who will hear your case and decide whether the charge you pay is fair or not.
You can apply to the First Tier Tribunal by clicking here. A link to application forms can be found on the Leasehold Advisory Service website.
Repairs, maintenance and sinking funds
Here you will find everything you need to know about repairing and maintaining your home from how to report repairs to personalising and decorating your home.
The specific details as to who is responsible for repairs to your home are contained in your lease or transfer agreement.
As these details will be different for different properties it is not possible to include this information here.
If you need any help finding out this information then please get in touch with us.
Access to my home for repairs and maintenance
If you live in a house it is unlikely that we will ever need access to it.
If you live in a flat then sometimes we may need access to your property to enable us to carry out repairs to the block.
Most lease agreements for flats allow the landlord entry in order to carry out urgent repairs that threaten the health and safety of others. We may inspect external repair requests without you being present.
We will always write to let you know when we are carrying out planned maintenance work. We will give you a month’s notice before the work starts and we will try to accommodate any special requirements or arrangements you have while the job is being done.
Some properties have the benefit of a sinking fund.
This is an amount of money that is kept in a separate account and is used to pay for planned repairs to the property, for example, replacing the roof and external painting, which are usually quite costly items.
A sinking fund is only in place where Progress Housing Group retains some repairing responsibilities for the property.
The sinking fund can be collected in two ways:
- For most properties, the sinking fund is collected via your monthly service charge
- For some schemes, the sinking fund is collected as a lump sum on the sale of the property.
Should you sell the property, the money held in the sinking fund transfers with the ownership of the property and is considered an asset of the property.
If you are unsure as to how your sinking fund is collected, the details are contained in your lease agreement, or you can contact us.
If we need to carry out repairs to your property, which will cost you £250 or more, we must conduct a consultation. This is referred to as a Section 20 consultation, and the process is set out in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
This process is in place to ensure you are appropriately informed of the requirements to carry out expensive repairs and maintenance works.
The process starts with works being identified. When it is established that the cost of the proposed work will require a contribution of £250 or more we will write to you to notify you of our intention to carry out work. This letter will detail the work to be carried out and will give you an opportunity to nominate a contractor to be invited to price for the work.
A nominated contractor does not need to be on Progress Housing Group’s list of approved contractors. However, they are required to meet the Group’s requirements for contractors and will be required to provide documentation to prove this is the case.
Under Section 20 of the consultation process, you have the right to make written observations following each stage. You also have the right to view all the documentation at our offices. The details will be provided in the letters we send you as part of the consultation process.
The Section 20 consultation process is quite in-depth. Should you require any further information regarding this matter, please get in touch with us.
Alternatively, you can find independent advice from the Leasehold Advisory Service.
Once the works have been completed, usually we will take the cost of the works from your reserve fund. If there are insufficient monies held in your reserve fund to cover the cost, the difference will be invoiced to you on a separate basis.
If you would like to carry out any improvements to your leasehold or shared ownership property you will usually need to write to us providing full details of the work you would like to carry out.
Once these have been considered the Leasehold and Contracts Team will respond confirming if permission is granted or denied.
If you live in a block of flats, we are not usually able to give permission to any improvements that will alter the structure of the building.
Please write to:
Leasehold and Contracts Team,
Sumner House,
21 King Street,
Leyland,
Lancashire,
PR25 2LW.
If you need any aids or adaptations to enable you to live in your home, your local social services may be able to assist you.
If you live in a leasehold or shared ownership property, any physical changes to the property would have to be agreed with ourselves before any work is carried out. If this is the case, you should contact the Leasehold and Contracts Team with written details of the required adaptation and a copy of the occupational therapist’s report.
Please write to:
Leasehold and Contracts Team,
Sumner House,
21 King Street,
Leyland,
Lancashire,
PR25 2LW.
We will not be responsible for the work or costs connected to providing any aids and adaptations to your property.
Eligible internal home repairs
Bathroom
Toilet
- Cistern constantly flowing
- Cistern needs to be re-fixed to the wall
- Cistern not filling with water
- Cistern not flushing
- Cistern cracked
- Cistern overflowing
- Toilet bowl is cracked
- Toilet bowl is cracked and leaking
- Toilet needs to be re-fixed to the floor
- Push button or handle broken.
Bath
- Pipes are leaking
- Tap is broken
- Tap is dripping
- Tap is loose
- Plughole grill is broken.
Wash hand basin
- Fixing to the wall is loose or broken
- Pipe is leaking
- Plughole is cracked
- Tap is leaking
- Hand basin is cracked.
Shower
- Water is leaking out of the shower
- Shower screen is broken
- Shower tray is cracked or broken
- Plughole grill is broken
- No cold water
- No hot water
- No water at all.
Kitchen
Sink unit
- Sink unit is broken or damaged.
Taps and waste pipes
- Tap is faulty
- Sink waste pipe, or tap is leaking
- Tap is loose
- Plughole grill is broken.
Electric
- Socket or switch is not working
- Socket or switch is broken or loose
- No power in socket or switch.
Lighting
- Faulty light attached to my home
- Light fitting is loose
- Light fitting is broken
- Pull cord is broken or loose.
Heating
Gas boiler
- Boiler is loose on the wall
- Boiler is faulty
- Gas or water pipework to the boiler is leaking
- Gas or water pipework to the boiler is loose.
Electric heating
- Electric heater is loose
- Electric heater is faulty or not working.
Heating controls
- Room thermostat, programmer or timer, is faulty
- Room thermostat, programmer or timer, is broken.
Radiators
- Radiator is loose
- Radiator is leaking
- Radiator valve is leaking or faulty.
Pipework
- Supply pipe or wastewater pipe is leaking or burst.
Selling, letting and buying further shares in your home
If you are thinking of selling, letting or buying further shares in your home then please consult our frequently asked questions below.
If you own a share in a shared ownership property, you will be able to buy further shares in the property, up to a maximum level, as detailed in your lease. This is known as staircasing.
Your shared ownership lease will give you the details of the maximum amount of the property you will be able to purchase. It will also tell you how many shares can be purchased at any one time.
As with any property purchase, this is a legal process, and we advise you to get independent legal advice to assist you.
Selling a shared ownership property
If you intend to sell your share of a shared ownership property, your shared ownership lease will include details of the process.
In most shared ownership properties, you must notify us in writing of your intention to sell the property. This will allow us a period to advise you of any potential purchasers we may hold on our waiting list.
As with any property sale, this is a legal process, and we would advise you to get independent legal advice to assist you through the process.
Selling a leasehold or freehold flat
If you intend to sell your leasehold flat please contact the Leasehold and Contracts Team to let them know.
It would be really helpful if you could confirm the details of your solicitor. As part of the sale process, either your solicitors or the solicitors of your purchaser will need to contact us to obtain information about the property.
If you are selling your leasehold flat within five years of purchasing it under the Right to Buy scheme, you may have to repay some of the discount you received when you bought the property. The details of this requirement can be found in your lease agreement.
As with any property sale, this is a legal process, and we advise you to get independent legal advice to assist you through the process.
The details as to whether a property can be sublet or not will be contained in your lease agreement.
If your lease does allow the property to be sublet, there is usually a requirement to either notify or get written permission from ourselves.
Should you be able to sublet the property you will still be responsible for the property under the terms of your lease agreement and our relationship will remain with you, as the leaseholder and not your tenant.
We would need you to provide us with details of your new address, phone number and email address so we are able to contact you.
We would also need you to provide a copy of the tenancy agreement you intend to use.
Right to Manage and right to enfranchise
If you live in a leasehold flat then Right to Manage and right to enfranchise may allow you to buy the freehold for the property.
Taking over the management responsibilities for the property
The Right to Manage was introduced by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.
It allows leaseholders within a block of flats to take over the management responsibilities for the property from the landlord. It transfers the responsibilities and decision-making from the landlord to a Right to Manage Company created by the leaseholders.
The Right to Manage can only be exercised by leaseholders of flats. It does not extend to houses.
The following criteria must be met for you to do this:
- At least two-thirds of the flats must be let to qualifying tenants
- The property can be part commercial. However, the non-residential part must not exceed 25% of the total floor space
- The Right to Manage does not apply where the premises fall within the Resident Landlord Exemption
- The Right to Manage can only be exercised by a Right to Manage Company
- The Right to Manage Company must have a sufficient number of qualifying tenants
- The minimum requirement for the number of qualifying tenants must equal at least half the total number of flats in the building.
As this is a legal process, we advise you to get independent legal advice.
Before you can do this, the block of flats you live in must meet specific criteria. These are:
- At least two-thirds of the residents in the block must be leaseholders
- At least 50% of the residents must be willing to take part in the action
- At lease 75% of dwellings must be residential
- If only two flats are in the block, both residents must be leaseholders.
As this is a legal process, we advise you to get independent legal advice.
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