The main structure of the building is maintained by Valleys to Coast, and leaseholders will be responsible for paying a contribution as set out in the lease agreement.
The contribution towards these costs will be based on a percentage or an amount based on the floor area, number of bedrooms or split between the number of flats in the building. This includes, for example:
- Roof covering
- Chimneys
- Walls – external and structural/load bearing
- Windows (including window locks & furniture)
- Front & rear access doors from leasehold property opening to internal communal areas (including locks & door furniture)
- Soffits, gutters, downpipes and all other rainwater goods
- Any balcony which is part of the building (whether it is used by the leasehold property or not)
- Any external staircase which is part of the building (whether it is used by the leasehold property or not)
All costs for repairs will be included in your annual service charge statement. For more information about your service charge, click here.
Where there are shared or communal facilities, Valleys to Coast will maintain or complete a repair. Examples include:
- Drainage
- Shared plumbing
- Shared electrical services
- Communal heating or lighting
- Decoration or repair of communal or shared areas
- Doors to communal areas
The leaseholder is responsible for the following as per the lease agreement, normally within the boundaries of the leasehold property:
- Plaster to the walls and ceilings
- Floor surface – floorboards, tiles on concrete, etc
- Plumbing – supply from point of entry/exit of the property
- Electrics
- Any other service or utility solely serving the leasehold property
- Front & rear access doors to open external areas (including locks & door furniture)
- Internal doors (including door furniture)
- Kitchen
- Bathroom
- Internal decoration
- Central heating & hot water system
Outside the leasehold property:
- Any garden areas demised in the lease
- Any boundary walls or fencing clearly marked as belonging to the leaseholder in the lease
- Any pathway, driveway or steps marked as belonging to the leaseholder in the lease
We are responsible for external and communal maintenance, ranging from small-scale repairs like replacing a roof-tile or communal front door, to larger jobs such as external decoration or new communal flooring or roofs.
The term major works or “qualifying works” is the term used in the legislation which means works or maintenance that is required to be completed to a building and the costs is recoverable from the leaseholder under the terms of the lease.
The works that are identified by surveyors as necessary for maintaining the fabric of the building. Leaseholders cannot prevent the works from going ahead. This is because we have a legal responsibility under the terms of your lease to repair and maintain the building. But you can challenge the costs if you believe they are unreasonable.
If the work is needed urgently, for example repair to a badly leaking roof, Valleys to Coast may ask permission from the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) not to follow the Section 20 ZA consultation procedure so that the repairs can be done immediately.
Cheapest is not necessarily the best value for money and so to make sure we provide value for money, we have a comprehensive competitive tendering procedure for projects. We invite a number of carefully chosen contractors to bid for the work and appoint contractors based on considerations of price and quality.
For more information relating to Section 20 consultation, visit My Legals.
The Welsh Government has published guidance on how major works to blocks containing leasehold properties should be managed.