Wiltshire Council Housing Leaseholders Handbook

When you buy a flat, you are buying only part of a larger building. The council, as the owner of the block, keep responsibility for maintaining all shared parts and for services such as heating, lighting, cleaning (in some blocks) and so on. We are entitled to a contribution towards the cost of managing and maintaining the block. This kind of ownership is called "leasehold".

The lease is a contract between you and Wiltshire Council. It sets out details about:

• The meaning of various terms used in the lease.
• Your responsibilities and rights.
• Our responsibilities and rights.
• Details the arrangements for service charges.

The lease is a legal document and can be difficult to understand. Before you bought your flat, your solicitor should have explained your lease in full so you understood both your responsibilities and our responsibilities.

Common terms used in the lease

The information below gives an explanation of some of the legal terms that are used in the lease.

The tenant - refers to the person who owns the flat or maisonette (also referred to as the leaseholder or lessee).

We - refers to Wiltshire Council. The building - if the flat or maisonette you bought is in a particular building, the building is named. You will have to contribute to cleaning and repairs needed to the building identified in your lease.

The flat - refers to the address of the property you live in.

The demised premises - the shell of the flat or maisonette that you have bought and for which you have responsibility. This includes:

• the floor surface, including floor boards
•  the ceiling and floor plaster or plaster-board
•  the wall plaster or plaster-board
•  Internal walls
•  window glass.

Section 125 - This is the Right to Buy offer notice that you received for your flat under Section 125 of the Housing Act 1985 and it:

• tells you the purchase price and how it was arrived at
• gives an estimate of the service charge you may expect to pay during the first five years of the lease being granted
•  explains the rights you have under the Housing Act.

Communal (shared) areas - These are the shared parts of the block, house and estate outside the flat or maisonette you have bought which we do not let to any one person. We are responsible for repairing and maintaining these areas. You will have to contribute towards the cost of cleaning, maintenance, repair and improvements. Examples include:

•  shared staircases or corridors
•  the foundations of the building
• outside walls or walls dividing your flat from another
•  the roof.

Financial year - our financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March. Service charges become due on 1 April each year, but are usually billed in July / August when our accounts have been closed and audited.

Repaying discounts (new leases purchased under the Right to Buy Scheme)

You do not have to repay the discount if you are remortgaging the flat. If you have become the leaseholder either through an inheritance or divorce settlement this is termed an „exempt disposal‟ and no discount is repayable.

You will have to repay the discount if you sell your home within the first five years of the lease being granted.

The amount repayable will be based on the value of your home at the time of resale. For example, if the discount you received when you purchased under the Right to Buy scheme was 40% of the dwellings value at that time, the amount you will have to repay will be based on 40% of your homes current value.

During the first year, 100% of this amount will have to be repaid to us. This percentage will drop by 20% for each complete year that has passed since the date you completed your Right to Buy purchase.

Your responsibilities - What you must do

Your exact responsibilities depend on what is shown in your lease. However, your general responsibilities are to:

•  pay a service charge, which will be a percentage of our costs of managing and maintaining the block
• pay the ground rent, insurance and all other charges for which you are liable
•  keep your home in good repair and condition
•  use your home only as a single private flat for residential use
•  avoid annoying your neighbours or causing an inconvenience
•  not to carry out any structural alterations or improvements to your home without our written permission beforehand
•  repay the required amount of discount if you sell the property within five years of the lease being granted
• get our prior written permission to keep a dog, cat or other animal in the flat
•  get our written permission to put up an outside aerial or other television or radio-receiving apparatus
•  make sure that you do not bring bottled petroleum gas (for example, Calor gas cylinders) or any other potentially explosive material into your flat or maisonette or anywhere in the building or estate.

Your rights

You have the right, along with any other person going to or from your home, to:

•  use any part of the estate or block that provides access to or away from your home
•  have access to a water and electricity supply for your flat or maisonette
•  live peacefully without suffering any nuisance, assault or harassment from your neighbours.

Dealing with nuisance and harassment

If you have suffered nuisance behaviour, or have been the victim of harassment, you should let the housing management team know as soon as possible so that we can take action against residents who cause nuisance or harass others. If you have been harassed, you should also tell the police.

We have an anti-social behaviour team to help tackle anti-social behaviour with the police. Your housing management team will be able to refer your case, if you agree, to the anti-social behaviour team for investigation and action.

We want to work with residents to improve the quality of life for everyone. We ask you to be a good neighbour. If someone reports nuisance we will consider what action to take, such as the following:

•  Mediation - using skilled mediators to help people who disagree to sort out their differences without having to go to court.
•  Injunction - an order made by the court which orders the person whose behaviour is causing a nuisance to stop. We, or anyone who is suffering nuisance, can ask for an injunction.
•  Possession order - an order made by the court giving us possession of the property. This means we can evict tenants causing a nuisance.
• Forfeiture order - an order made by the court ordering the leaseholder of a property to return that property to us.

More information and a copy of our anti-social behaviour policy can be found on the council website at www.wiltshire.gov.uk.

Alternatively, please contact our housing management team on Tel: 03004560117 for further advice.

Our responsibilities - What we must do?

Our obligations include:

•  keeping the structure of the buildings, and the outside and shared areas of the building in good repair and condition
•  repairing any structural faults which develop
•  making good any damage to the building (including your flat but not your personal possessions) caused by any peril that it is the usual practice to insure against e.g. storm, flood, fire, etc.
•  maintaining, as far as possible, the services you receive as a secure tenant.

Our rights

This depends on the lease. However, if we give you reasonable notice, in general we will have the right to:

•  enter your home to carry out work to the structure, the outside and shared parts of the block
•  extend or carry out alterations or improvements to the block or estate
•  close, divert or alter any roads, footways or gardens on the estate.

Sub-letting

There are generally no restrictions in the lease preventing you from subletting your property. You must make sure that we have your current address and contact phone number in case of emergencies.

You should consider the following:

•  You need a formal tenancy agreement between you and the tenant. Normally this will involve an assured shorthold tenancy as set out in Section 20 of the Housing Act 1988.
•  Your lender (whether it is us, a building society or a bank) will have restrictions on sub-letting if you have a mortgage. So, you should get permission from them before you sub-let.
•  Sub-letting should not result in overcrowding and must meet our standards for houses in multiple occupation.
•  If the income from sub-letting exceeds a certain amount, then you may also be liable to pay income tax.

Sub-letting and anti-social behaviour

We take anti-social behaviour very seriously and will take action against those who cause any disturbance. As the lessee you are responsible for the behaviour of your tenants and their visitors. You must make sure your tenants do not cause a nuisance or disturbance in the flat, in the building or on the estate and surrounding area.

Nuisance or disturbance includes harassing other residents or visitors to the area. If your tenants or their visitors behave in this way, you will be breaking the terms of your lease conditions and we will take the appropriate action against you as the legal owner of the property. This may include legal action to get an injunction (a court order preventing you from doing something) against you as the leaseholder or forfeiture proceedings which may mean you risk losing your home.

Examples of unacceptable behaviour that could cause us to take action against you include:

•  loud and continuous noise from the flat caused by music, parties
•  shouting, DIY, slamming doors and barking dogs
•  noisy activity in shared areas
•  dumping rubbish
•  vandalism and graffiti
•  drunken behaviour
•  actual violence or threats of violence
•  abusive language or behaviour
•  damaging property.

If your tenant causes any problems for other residents or our staff, we will contact you and tell you to stop your tenant causing the problem. If you don‟t speak to your tenant, or if your tenant ignores you and continues causing a problem, we may charge you for the time our staff spend dealing with your tenant and sorting out these problems. We may even take legal action against you.

Remember, the lease agreement you have is between you and Wiltshire Council.

Lodging

There are generally no restrictions in the lease preventing you from taking in a lodger. As with sub-letting, taking in a lodger should not result in overcrowding and must meet our standards for houses in multiple occupation.

Renting out a room may also affect your contents insurance. Most insurers will put up premiums, but it's still important to inform them if you want to be sure that your belongings are protected. If you don't tell them, the insurance may not be valid.

If the income from letting a room exceeds a certain amount, then you may also be liable to pay income tax.

You will be the lodger‟s landlord, and will have the responsibilities of a landlord.