It's sometimes necessary to carry out major works to your building, or enter a new long- term agreement to make sure we can fulfil all our obligations in your lease (such as a new contract for cleaning and gardening).
Consultation or dispensation is required if works will cost any homeowner £250 or more, or if the agreement will last longer than 12 months and cost any homeowner more than £100 per year.
- The first stage is a Notice of Intention, which we' ll send to you by post and will give you a brief outline of the works that need doing, why the works are necessary, and whether you can nominate an alternative contractor to carry out the works. You' ll have 30 days from when you receive the notice to provide feedback.
- The second stage is a Notice of Estimates, which will include estimates for the work from at least two contractors, as well as a summary of any comments we have received from homeowners in response to the last notice. You' ll have a further 30 days to respond to this notice.
- The third stage is the Notice of reasons, and is not always necessary. You should only receive one if we have not chosen the cheapest contractor, or if we have been unable to take on a contractor suggested by a homeowner. This notice will fully explain why.
As per the terms of the applicable legislation, the above notices must be sent by post, so please ensure you inform us if your correspondence address changes.
Section 21- The notification of costs
Section 21obliges the landlord to provide a written summary of relevant costs (often referred to in NHG as the year-end accounts statement, final accounts, year-end expenditure summary) for any accounting period if requested by a resident or a recognized tenants?association with the consent of the resident.
In practice, NHG send these year-end statements to residents automatically. Where the service charge costs
relate to occupants of more than four dwellings, the summary must be certified by a qualified accountant.
Leasehold accounts for blocks of more than four dwellings must be audited by an external auditor.
Section 21b - Inclusion of Tenants Rights and Obligations
Under section 21B, every demand must be accompanied by a document entitled 'Service charges Summary of Tenants' Rights and Obligations'- you'll find these attached to the notification letters. If we fail to include this document, we cannot recover costs as per our policy or instigate the arrears policy until such time the notice is served in other words, residents can withhold payment.
Section 22 - The right to inspect supporting documents
Under section 22 (landlord and tenant act 1985) residents or secretary of a recognised residents association
have the right to inspect the accounts, receipts and other documents supporting the summary as a follow up to provide more detail on the section 21 summary.
Right to manage policy
The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 gives leaseholders (including shared owners) the right to
apply for the transfer of management functions from their landlord to a company that they have set up
themselves or appointed. This policy applies to leaseholders who live in a block where Notting Hill Genesis are the freeholders and wish to form a RTM company.
This policy does not apply where Notting Hill Genesis is not the superior landlord. Leaseholders should seek
their own advice when setting up a RTM company. Find out more on the Leasehold Advisory service website
here.
