General information for leaseholders

If you bought the property recently

If you bought the property from us part way through the year you will only have a charge from the date of your ownership to 31 March of that year. Your statement should show this. 

If you recently bought from another leaseholder, your solicitor may have held back some of the purchase money to cover part of the year before your ownership. Please contact your solicitor.

If you want to extend your lease

As a leaseholder you have a right to request an extension to your lease under the Leasehold Reform Urban and Housing Act 1993. There is a formal process with you as the owner serving notice on the council which, provided you qualify, will result in a new lease for a term of 90 years on top of the unexpired term of the lease at a peppercorn ground rent. 

Alternatively, subject to the council’s confirmation you could deal with your lease extension on an informal basis. Whether the lease extension is via the formal or informal route, the tenant is responsible for the council’s legal and surveyor’s costs. 

The first step is for you to instruct a solicitor as they should be able to respond to any legal queries you might have.

If you want to sell your property

You need to contact a solicitor. They will ask how much is left to pay for the year, any large works expected, and an idea of the next year’s service charge. 

Please let buyers know if there are any ongoing costs; for example, the double-glazed windows are still being paid for yearly, as they will need to take over any instalments where you left off, unless the solicitors agree otherwise.

Service charges

Service charges are billed to each leaseholder every year. This is your share of the cost towards us for any maintenance works, including:

• ground rent and cleaning
• routine repairs and general maintenance
• electrical changes for shared areas such as lighting and lifts
• heating
• administration charges
• major works such as roofing and structural repairs
• building insurance
• estimated annual repairs charges

You can pay an invoice directly to us and for any payment queries, you can see the back of the invoice.

If you want to pay by monthly instalments or Direct Debit email finance.help@canterbury.gov.uk or phone 01227 862 293.

About the Advance Payments Fund (APF)

Under the APF you can make advance contributions to any major works being carried out. After the works have been completed you can pay the remaining amount yearly. Currently you can spread the cost by making contributions over a number of years. A full breakdown of contributions is included.

You can find out more information about the planned maintenance programme, which explains how we plan for repairs on homes, including timescales.

Maintenance information for council leaseholders

Your responsibilities

As a leaseholder you are generally responsible for all repairs inside your property such as ceilings, floors and windows. We are responsible for the outside of the block, the main structure and communal areas both inside and outside.

You can find out more about what repairs you are responsible for.

What the property insurance covers

As your landlord, we are responsible for insuring the building. This covers incidents such as fires, storms, floods, and malicious damage to the building. We cannot cover your personal belongings so you need to get your own insurance to cover these.

You can see full details of your leaseholder responsibilities which details what repairs you need to do and what we are responsible for.

Who to report repairs to

You need to report any grounds maintenance issue to Canenco or call 07718 045 985.

For repairs, maintenance and cleaning of communal areas, you need to report these to Cardo or call 01227 202 321. You are responsible for internal items. 

You need to report any general enquiries about your bill, and any planned major works such as windows and roof replacements, to homeownership@canterbury.gov.uk.