If you’d like to speak to an officer from the Homeownership Team you can contact us by:

• Telephone: 01962 848 400, please select option 6
• Email: homeownership@winchester.gov.uk 
• Post: You can write to us at - Homeownership Services, City Offices, Colebrook Street, Winchester, SO23 9LJ

 

• ‘My Homeownership Service’ – You can manage your service charge account, report block repairs, update your contact information and direct message the Homeownership Team online using our new online portal.  ‘My Homeownership Service’ is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To register please click here 

For Shared Ownership sales and staircasing enquiries please contact myhome@winchester.gov.uk  or visit Home ownership with Winchester City Council - Winchester City Council

To report any issues/concerns such as cleaning, ground maintenance, bulk waste removal, fire safety concerns or to suggest improvement works to your estate or communal area, please contact Neighbourhood Services on:   

• Telephone 01962 848 400
• Email: NServices@winchester.gov.uk
• Online www.winchester.gov.uk/report

To report repairs to the building structure, your block/estate or any communal area please contact:

Customer Services on 01962 848 400 (option 1) from 8:30am to 5:00pm, Monday to Thursday, Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

Out of hours on 01962 865 405 From 5.00pm to 8.30am, Monday to Thursday, Friday  4.30pm – 8.30am Monday (Weekends and Bank Holidays)

Homeownership Team on 01962 848 400 (opt 6) to report any building defects within the first year of the build (New build properties only)

Before reporting a repair to your property, please refer to your lease. Your lease sets out both the landlords and homeowners repair responsibilities and obligations. 

The lease is a formal contract between yourself (leaseholder) and Winchester City Council (Freeholder). It is a good idea to familiarise yourself with your lease as it contains important information on your rights and responsibilities.

If you have misplaced your lease you can get a copy from the conveyancer who completed the legal work when you bought your home. Alternatively, you can order one from the Land Registry. For more details, see the Land Registry website

You can also obtain information about your lease from the Leasehold Advisory Service, who are an independent advice service at the lease advice website

Leasehold (100% purchase)

If you have purchased a flat or maisonette from the council then you have purchased the leasehold interest and the council retains the freehold interest. As the freeholder the council owns the land on which the property is built.

Leasehold ownership of a flat is simply a long tenancy, the right to occupy and use the flat for a long period i.e. the ‘term’ of the lease. This will usually be for 99 or 125 years and the flat can be bought and sold during that term. The term is fixed at the beginning and decreases in length year by year.

Your lease will specify which parts of the property have been sold to you and any rights you may have acquired over the communal land.

Shared Ownership (Part rent part buy)

If you have purchased under the shared ownership scheme you will have purchased a share of the property and pay rent to the council on the part of the property retained by us.

In addition to your mortgage and rent costs you may also have to pay service charges for the upkeep and maintenance of the block and communal areas.

You can buy more shares in your home after you become the owner. This is known as ‘staircasing’. When you buy more shares, you’ll pay less rent. The amount of rent you pay will be based on the landlord’s share.

You can usually buy shares of 10% or more at any time. Some older leases only allow you to buy shares of 25% or more. Some newer leases will allow you to buy shares of 5% or more.

If you bought your home on or after 1 April 2021, you may also be able to buy shares of 1% each year for the first 15 years. Ask your landlord if this applies to you. You cannot buy shares of 2%, 3% or 4%.

Your obligations

Your obligations and responsibilities will be set out in your lease but you are generally responsible for:

• Paying a proportion of the council's reasonable costs of managing and maintaining the block and estate, and of the council fulfilling the lease requirements
• Paying the ground rent ( if applicable) and all other service charges, major works and improvement costs for which you are liable. (see ground rent and service charges section for more information)
• Repairs in your home and keeping your home in a good condition
• Obtaining the necessary consents from the landlord to carry out any structural alterations or improvements to your home
• Repaying any discount if you sell the property within the first five years of ownership from the date of the initial right to buy completion
• Informing the Homeownership Team if the property will be empty or unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days.

The council are responsible for:

• Repairing and maintaining the structure of the building (including the roof and guttering) and any communal areas
• Arranging internal and external cleaning, painting and decorating to any communal areas
• Planning and preparing major works following Section 20 consultation
• Providing buildings insurance
• Recovering ground rent & service charge costs
• Preparing budgets and management annual accounts
• Ensuring that the building meets strict health and safety regulations

Ground rent is usually payable on any leasehold property to the freeholder for the length of the lease. It is a payment that a leaseholder makes to the council to effectively “rent” the land on which your property sits. The amount of ground rent is stated in the lease agreement.

Unlike a service charge, ground rent is not related to the provision of any services and must be paid on the due date specified in the lease. Ground rent is payable in advance on the 1^st April each year.

Ground rent isn't usually payable on Shared Ownership homes until you own 100%.

All leaseholders who are required to pay ground rent will be issued a formal ground rent demand notice each February. If you pay your service charges and ground rent by direct debit then your ground rent payment will be taken on the 1^st, 10^th or 20^th of April.

Ground rent anomalies

The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 came into force on 30 June 2022. The reform puts an end to ground rents for new qualifying long residential leasehold properties in England and Wales.

If you have purchased your property after 30^th June 2022 under the right to buy scheme or have extended your existing lease then you will only have to pay a “peppercorn rent” which means no ground rent at all.

If you have extended your lease informally by negotiating directly with the council, then you may still have to pay ground rent depending on what you agree.

In accordance with the terms of your lease you are required to pay a proportion of the landlord’s outgoings, expenses and other heads of expenditure, by way of service charge, towards the cost of maintaining the building. This includes but is not limited to: the roof, foundations, main external walls, external window frames, internal communal areas, stairs, hallways and lifts, car parks, footpaths leading to the building, grassed and planted areas. This is in addition to any ground rent, planned major works or estate/building improvement works.

Service charges may include but are not limited to:

• Communal responsive repairs
• Utilities (electricity/lighting of communal areas)
• Cleaning services
• Grounds maintenance
• Buildings insurance
• Estate Services
• Surface water charge (if applicable) 
• Equipment (Fire safety i.e. sprinklers, fire extinguishers, fire alarms etc)
• General Management/Administration
• Sinking fund (New Builds)

Service charges will vary from year to year depending on where you live, the type of property you have, and the conditions of your lease. Charges can go up or down in line with changes in costs but are required to be reasonable.

What does each service cover?

• Buildings insurance

The Council are responsible for insuring the building in which your flat is located. The charge for insurance is based on premium costs, which are payable as part of your annual service charge. 

Contents insurance which covers all of the furniture, carpets, white goods and personal belongings in a home is the responsibility of the person living in the property. It is not compulsory to purchase content insurance but it is advisable.

• Cleaning  

Depending on the services provided this may include window cleaning, internal and external cleaning and deep cleaning of communal areas.

• Estates Charges

This may include the servicing and inspection of communal fire alarm system, smoke detectors and fire equipment, fire safety checks fire alarm testing, footpaths, parking areas, monitoring communal areas, bulk waste clearance etc

Bulk Waste collection relates to rubbish that may have been dumped in your block or your estate and needs to be removed. If we establish the identity of the culprit who dumped the rubbish, we will endeavour to recharge them in full. If not the charge will be apportioned across the block/estate. The cost is rechargeable under the terms of your lease.

• Grounds Maintenance

Service charges will include the cost of grass cutting, and maintenance of planted areas of your block or estate and also any costs of maintaining any trees. The estimated costs for grounds maintenance have been based on the actual expenditure for the previous year. We adjust the charges when we know what works were carried out at the end of the financial year.

Management and Administration Charges

Management Fee

The management fee is part of the service charge payable to the landlord in return for managing the leasehold service. You are required by the terms of your lease, to pay for the costs of providing the services you receive.

Services include but are not limited to: day to day management of the homeownership service, staffing costs, printing costs, office overheads, complying with statutory legislation and issuing necessary notices to leaseholders. Dealing with general homeowners enquires, re-sales, lease extensions, alteration requests, specifications and tender documentation for service contracts, ground rent /service charge collection costs, monitoring and supervising service contracts.

Administration Fee

The cost for administration is payable under the terms of the lease and is a separate charge from the management fee. The administration fee covers the cost of preparing and distributing service charge budgets (estimates/actuals), accounting for service charges prior to examination by an independent accountant and providing information to auditors for the production of annual accounts.

Responsive Repairs

These are unplanned day-to-day repairs and maintenance to the communal areas/structure of the building of your block and estate. This heading will show on your estimated bill and will cover all types of responsive repairs as well as other costs, such as: emergency lighting inspections, electrical testing and repairs, lift maintenance, bulk waste removal from communal areas, service visits, life cycle repairs, dry riser testing, asbestos surveys etc. The amount charged will vary from block to block depending on what work has been carried out within the financial year.

Surface water charge (if applicable)  

Where water is stored at a location where a gravity feed is unavailable (like the basement), then a water pump is needed to get the water to each property. The charge is for the electricity to run the pump.

Utilities

This is the electricity costs for lighting communal areas, stairwells etc and is recoverable under the terms of your lease. This category does not include lighting for adopted public roads which run through estates as this cost is met from Council Tax.

How are my charges calculated?

Estimates

All homeowners who pay service charges will receive an estimate detailing how much their annual service charges will be for the coming financial year (1^st April to 31^st March). The estimate is a forecast of how much it will cost to provide the services during the year. Between January and March we will be calculating and preparing to send out the estimated service charge invoice for your property. You will receive your estimate by the 1^st of April each year.

For leaseholders, the total estimate amount will be applied to your service charge account as an annual charge. You can pay your service charges by 12 equal monthly instalments or in full, however please be aware that you must have a clear account by the 31^st March each year.

For shared owners, your lease requires you to pay your charges by direct debit. The estimate will be applied to your account as a monthly charge and the balance each month will be collected in advance.

If you have purchased your property part way through the financial year, we will apportion the annual service charge estimate to ensure you are only paying from the date of purchase.

Actuals

In September, we will send you the actual costs for services you received for the previous financial year. The actual statement will detail the difference between what was estimated and the actual costs. If we have spent less than we estimated, we will credit your account, or you can ask us to refund the overestimated amount. If we have spent more than we estimated the amount will be added to your service charge account as a debt and you will be required to clear the balance by the end of the financial year. If you pay by direct debit your payments will be adjusted accordingly and a revised payment schedule will be issued.

Ways to pay your service charges.

You can pay your annual service charge invoice by instalments (weekly/monthly/ quarterly), or you can pay in full. However, if you are not paying by direct debit and wish to pay by instalments using a different payment method, then please ensure you contact the Homeownership Team. We can then set up a formal repayment arrangement on your account, which will prevent any potential arrears recovery action being taken.

Ways in which you can pay your service charges include: 

• Direct Debit (monthly) – Our direct debit collection dates are 1^st, 10^th and 20^th of the month. Please use the link ^{(pdf, 242kb)} to complete a mandate, which you will need to return to the Homeownership Team. Once your direct debit has been processed, you will receive a notification letter confirming your payment amounts and chosen collection date.
• Homeownership Online Service - you will need your seven digit account number.
• Online - You can pay by debit card on Winchester City Council’s website at you will need your seven digit account number.
• Bank transfer – Please quote the Council’s bank account number 00000000 and sort code number 62-23-59. You will need your seven-digit account number.
• Automated telephone – Please call 01962 848 512 and select option 3. You will need your seven digit account number.

Having problems paying your service charges

If you are unable to pay your service charge invoice or have received a large major works bill, then please contact the Homeownership Services Team or by telephone 01962 848 400 (opt 6). immediately.

We will work with you to make an affordable arrangement to repay your charges. We may ask you to complete an income & expenditure form to assist us in setting a suitable repayment arrangement. You can also obtain free, independent, unbiased help from your local Citizens Advice Bureau. Alternatively you may wish to seek your own independent legal advice.

If you do not make service charge payments we may consider taking legal action against you.

The lease requires the Council to insure the building in which your flat is located. The council's homeowners building insurance policy is administered by the council on behalf of our insurers, Protector.

An insurance schedule is sent out to all our homeowners at the start of the financial year and provides the sum insured figure for your property and the premium value which is included in your annual service charges bill.

Please note that the Council’s buildings insurance policy does not cover damage to your personal belongings such as your furniture, internal fittings, flooring and white goods. You must arrange your own contents insurance/ landlord cover for your belongings and you should discuss this with a registered insurance broker.

You must inform the Council about any changes which could affect your insurance, to make sure that it remains valid, such as being away from the property for more than 30 consecutive days.

Making a building insurance claim

If you need to make a claim against the buildings insurance policy, please email the Homeownership Team

In your email you will need to provide us with the following information: 

• Your full name
• Leasehold address
• Contact information (email, mobile number, correspondence address etc)
• The nature of the claim such as the date the issue occurred, the nature of the damage, photographs, action taken to remedy/rectify the issue and any other relevant information.

We will then pass your request on to our insurance risk team who will then liaise with yourself and our insurer Protector. Claims are to be notified as soon as possible, with full details to be provided within 30 days of the claim (7 days in respect of riot or malicious damage) including supporting evidence in writing. The Police must be notified as soon as possible in the event of theft or malicious damage.”

You have the right to extend your lease under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (the 1993 Act).

The right is to add 90 years to what is left on the existing lease at a ‘peppercorn rent’. A peppercorn rent means that no ground rent is paid. For example, if the present lease had 70 years left to run, the new extended lease would be for 160 years.

To extend the lease you must either serve the council with a Section 42 notice in accordance with the Leasehold Reform Housing & Urban Development Act 1993 or you can negotiate informally with the council outside of the 1993 Act.

More detailed information on how to extend your lease, can be found on the Leasehold Advisory Service website.

Who can apply to extend their lease?

To be able to extend your lease, you must have owned your flat for at least two years. You then have the right to purchase a new lease for a term of 90 years on top of the number of years left on your existing lease. In some cases the City Council may put forward proposed changes to the wording of the existing lease, which we believe may improve the marketability of your property.

Steps to extending your lease

Before you start the procedure, you will need to:

• check you are eligible
• choose and instruct professional advisers (that is, a surveyor and a solicitor)
• assess the premium
• make sure you have the money you will need to complete the procedure
• gather the information you will need
• prepare the tenant’s notice and
• prepare for the subsequent procedures.

We strongly recommend you Instruct a conveyancer to deal with advising you on the process, completion of a Stamp Duty Land Tax Return, getting any lenders approval, and make the application to the Land Registry to register your new lease.

What will it cost?

The landlord is entitled to a premium (the price) for extending the lease, and this is based on a formula set out in the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. For a general estimate of the potential premium cost for the extension please click on this link

In addition to the premium you will also be required to pay the landlord`s reasonable legal and surveyor`s costs as well as your own legal costs and any administrational fees. Please contact the Homeownership Team for details of our current fees and charges for this service.

Major works or improvements are large renewal, repair and maintenance jobs that we do to our building that we can plan for in advance. This may include work to external brickwork, the roof, communal windows/doors, and internal/external decorations. These works are based on the results of our stock condition survey and our knowledge of the condition of the housing stock.

The council as a landlord has a legal responsibility to keep the structure, exterior and any communal areas in good repair. We have extensive programmes of maintenance and refurbishment works for all properties, which is delivered through our repairs and maintenance service and our planned and programmed works. These include a programme of renewal, repair, painting, Health and Safety, compliance and Fire Safety works to ensure we maintain the safety of the buildings and the structure and fabric of the housing stock.

Consulting you about major works and Improvements

Under Section 151 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (formally Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985) the council must consult homeowners before carrying out qualifying work or entering into a long-term agreement for providing services.

We are required to follow a formal consultation process if the cost of qualifying work to any homeowner is more than £250 or £100 if it is a long term agreement.

1. Pre-tender stage – a Notice of Intention to do the works.

We will send you the first stage notice, which will contain a description of the work in broad terms.

1. Tender stage – Notification of Estimates.

We will prepare at least two proposals (estimates) as to the services, goods, works etc. The notice will include a copy of each proposal and will specify a reasonable place and hours where the tender documentation can be inspected by the homeowner.

1. Award of contract stage – Notification of Award of contract if required.

This notice is only required where the contract has been awarded to a nominated contractor or the lowest tender.

How can you take part in the consultation?

You have the right to give us your views and comments on the plans during the consultation period. Each stage lasts for 30 days. The council must take note of any comments it receives and carefully consider the comments and suggestions about the work or the long-term agreement.

In some circumstances, you will have the right to suggest a person, firm or contractor who you would like to tender for the work or long-term agreement. This does not apply in those schedules where we have to give a public notice.

Once the works are completed and the contract has been finalised, you will have the opportunity to provide feedback on how the contract was managed and the standard of the works.

Major works contributions are invoiced separately from your annual service charge costs. If you have difficulties in paying the bill please contact the Homeownership Team to discuss your payment option. 

Sinking/Reserve Fund

Some of our shared ownership new build leases provide for the Council to collect sums in advance to create a reserve fund to ensure that sufficient money is available for future major works.

Contributions to the reserve fund are not usually repayable to the homeowner when the flat is sold. If there is insufficient money in the reserve fund to deal with major works the costs will be shared between owners in the proportions set out in the individual leases.

Right to buy leaseholders do not have a provision in the lease for the council to collect a reserve or sinking fund. Therefore leaseholders will be required to pay their full contribution towards the works either by instalments or in full, depending on the value of the works.

If I do not agree with my service charges do I have to pay them?

If there is an element of your service charge that you dispute, then you need to the Homeownership Team as soon as possible. You will need to complete this form (link), for the team to review but whilst we are investigating this, we ask that you continue to pay the rest of your service charges. We will write back to you with the findings of our investigation and if we uphold your dispute then the charge will be reduced or removed, as appropriate. If we do not uphold it then it will become due for payment.

We aim to write to you with an outcome within 28 days of you raising the dispute.  If we do not uphold your dispute and you are unhappy with this decision you can apply to the First Tier Tribunal-Property Chamber (Residential Property) or a County Court for a judgement on this. You may wish to seek independent legal advice in this respect.

How do I get a breakdown of my service charges?

The estimated invoice and actual statement will provide you with a breakdown of the services you receive and the cost for each of these services. However, if you require a further breakdown such as details of the annual block repairs carried out, the cleaning schedule for your block etc then you will need to complete this form (link) and return it to the Homeownership Team. We aim to provide you with the required information within 28 days, from the date we receive the form.

You can also obtain a list of repairs carried out to your block on the “My Homeownership Service” online portal. ‘My Homeownership Service’ is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To register please click here 

Why should I pay for bulk rubbish to be collected?

It is a legitimate charge for your block or estate and is recoverable under the lease. This is not the removal of rubbish from your bins that the council collect weekly and is paid for within your council tax. This is rubbish that has been discarded in your block or on your estate and needs to be removed. If we establish the identity of the culprit who discarded the rubbish, we will endeavour to recharge them in full. If not the charge will be apportioned across the block/estate.

Do I have a seperate major works account?

Yes. If you have had major works carried out to your block or estate then this means that your main service charges and major works costs are accounted for on separate accounts.

If you pay your main service charges by direct debit and want to pay your major works invoice by the same method then you will need to complete a separate mandate. This is because your major works account has a slightly different account number from your main account. You can download a mandate from the following link.

Can I sublet my flat?

If you are own a shared ownership property, you are not allowed to sub-let your flat under the terms of your lease.

If you are a leaseholder you may be able to sublet your property but must obtain written consent from the council.  It is worth bearing in mind that your home insurer and any mortgage company will usually stipulate that you must inform them of your sub-letting. 

If you sub-let your property, you will be required to provide us with a  correspondence address and keep us up to date with any changes to your contact information. You remain responsible for ensuring any service charges, ground rent, major works and improvement costs are paid each year. Your tenants must not cause any nuisance to their neighbours, if they do we will take action against you for breach of your lease. Additionally, your tenants must abide by the other terms of your lease.

Short term lets such as Airbnb are not allowed under the terms of the lease.  

Can I keep pets?

Under the terms of the lease, you are required to obtain the landlords written consent to keep pets in your property. However, you may keep small pets, such as small caged birds, animals or fish, without requiring our permission.

If you wish to keep a pet you will need to complete and return our “Application for pets ^{(pdf, 124kb)}” form.  Please be aware that if you are seeking permission for a cat and live in a flat, which has communal areas, we will not provide consent for you to have a cat flap in your front door. This is a requirement under current fire safety regulations as a cat flap may interfere with the fire rating of the door. 

We reserve the right to revoke permission to keep pets should any domestic pet cause a nuisance to other neighours or residents.

Can I make alterations to my property?

Under the terms of your lease, you need written permission from the  Council to carry out alterations and improvements affecting the internal or external structure of your property. 

These are the main types of work for which you will have to obtain our permission:

• Any addition or alteration to the structure of your flat
• Any alteration to the outside of your flat including a new vent for your boiler or a satellite dish
• Removal of any internal walls
• Replacement of external doors and windows
• Alterations relating to the plumbing, gas and electricity resulting in changes to internal supply pipes and circuits

If you carry out any alterations without obtaining the relevant permission you will be in breach of your lease and we may require you to reinstate the property to its original condition, at your cost.  A retrospective application does not guarantee approval.

This permission is separate from, and in addition to, any other necessary permissions such as Planning permission and Building Control.

It is in your best interest to discuss any home improvement plans with us before committing to the works, especially as solicitors will ask about landlord consents for any alterations you've done when you sell your leasehold property.

Can I replace my exisiting windows?

No. If you wish to replace your windows you can apply to the council to vary your lease, however, every leaseholder in the block must agree to vary the lease for this to happen.

If windows are changed without permission then we could ask you to remove them if they do not conform to the appropriate standard and you would be charged for replacements.  Please note that if we replace the windows in your block as part of our repairs programme, you will still be required to pay a proportion of the block window costs.

Can I replace my esisting front door?

Yes. Under the terms of the lease, the leaseholder owns the flat entrance door and is responsible for its maintenance and repair.

If you wish to replace your front door, you must obtain consent from the Homeownership Team and obtain Building Regulations approval from our Building Control department. 

It is the responsibility of you as the leaseholder to ensure the correct door is fitted for the type of property you own in accordance with the building regulations.