Our offer

Details of our offer when you become a homeowner

When you become a homeowner

We will: 

  • give you a Welcome Pack when you move in. 
  • ensure our website provides you with useful information about being a homeowner.  

Service Charges

We will: 

  • give you clear information concerning your service charges and your rights, and responsibilities as a homeowner. 
  • provide you with audited accounts for your service charges each year (unless you live in a building with four or less dwellings). Our accounts will clearly explain the elements that make up your service charge. 
  • if the increase in your annual service charge is higher than expected, we will tell you why this has happened. 
  • upon request, provide you with copies of the invoices and accounts which make up your annual service charges, six months after the year end or within one month of your request, whichever is later. We can send you these documents electronically or you may come into our offices to inspect. 
  • offer you a wide range of payment methods for paying your service charges (and rent, if applicable). 
  • provide money and welfare benefit advice as well as guidance on service charge arrears. 
  • suggest where you can obtain help and advice from outside organisations, if we are unable to assist. 

Consultation and involvement

We will: 

  • consult you before any major changes are made to services that affect you. 
  • formally consult with you (carry out Section 20 Consultation) before carrying out any repair/renewal works that require you to contribute more than £250 or when we are proposing to enter into a long-term agreement of more than 12 months and where the cost is likely to exceed more than £100 per homeowner per annum. 
  • ask for your feedback on our regular estate walkabouts. 
  • listen to what you have to say about our services and respond to any problems, queries or dissatisfaction you may have. 
  • involve you in the decisions we make, listen to your suggestions, and report back on the changes we have made to our services as a result. 
  • always try and give you some choice when we are doing any improvement or redecoration works to your building. 
  • inform you of the different ways you can get involved in making decisions that will affect the management of your building or estate. 

When things go wrong

We will: 

  • listen to what you have to say and learn from your complaint and other feedback. 
  • investigate all complaints fairly and in line with our complaints procedure, keeping you informed at all stages of the process. Where possible, we will aim to find a resolution to your complaint within 10 working days. 
  • aim to respond to and resolve any service charge dispute you may have within 12 weeks.  
  • apply a credit adjustment to your account within 10 working days of making our decision, when we accept that there has been an error made to your service charges, or correct your account within a month if the adjustment applies to more than one property/building. 

Neighbourhood management

We will: 

  • make sure we involve residents when we inspect our estates. 
  • ask for your views and take them into consideration before making any changes to our cleaning or grounds maintenance contracts. 

When your building is owned by a private freeholder 

We will: 

  • work closely with the freeholder or managing agent, to ensure that all repairs and services are carried out in line with the head lease and our management agreement. 
  • forward any queries you have which need to be answered by the freeholder or management agent within 24 hours if urgent or within three working days if not urgent. 
  • scrutinise all our management agents’ accounts budgets, as well as actual demands, to make sure the costs are reasonable, have been billed within the statutory time limits and are for quality services received. 
  • provide you with the address of the freeholder or managing agent should you wish to inspect their invoices. 
  • take robust action where we have cause for concern about any of our managing agents.