If we plan to spend over £250 per home on any one set of works to your block or estate, we have a legal duty to consult all leaseholders who will need to contribute. This is commonly known as section 20 consultation and this name is taken from the section of the original legislation.
These works are for large spending and are often programmed several years in advance. Examples of major works include:
- external decoration
- internal decoration of landings and corridors
- roof works
Please note that your lease states that during the first 10 years after the first lease is granted we as the landlord are responsible for the cost of the following types of repairs:
- the load bearing framework of the building
- the external fabric of the building
- all other structural parts of the building such as the roof, foundations, joists and external walls of the building; and/or
- the service media and machinery and plant within (but not exclusively serving) the premises and all parts of the building which are not the responsibility of the leaseholder under the lease or of any other leaseholder under a similar lease of other premises in the building
This means you will not be charged for any repairs that fall into this category for a ten year period after the first lease is granted.
We will also consult with you on any services we provide e.g. window cleaning, buildings insurance, where the cost of the service to you is likely to be more than £100 for the year and for a period longer than 12 months.
We must also send a copy of the section 20 notice to any registered tenants’ association (RTA) that is associated with the building your home is in or the estate it is on.
The section 20 notice will include information about what we plan to do and how much it is estimated to cost. It will give you the opportunity to take part in the consultation process and comment on what is being planned
How we will consult leaseholders
The section 20 consultation is only one part of the process that we use to discuss our plans with residents. The S20 process is a legal process.
The Leaseholder will get three separate notices under the S20 process, one at each of the following three stages:
- Pre-tender stage: before we invite contractors to tender for the work (that is, to give an estimated cost)
- Tender stage: after we have received the tenders (estimates)
- Award of contract stage: when we award the contract to the successful tender
The general procedures we must follow
a) Pre-tender stage
We must send you a section 20 notice before we invite contractors to tender. This first notice is known as a notice of intention. This notice must:
- describe the agreement, or tell you where and when you can see the information and get copies
- explain the reasons for entering into the long-term agreement/or work
- say why work under the agreement is needed
- invite you to make comments on the proposal in writing, and give the address where you should send them
- invite you to suggest (nominate) a contractor who we should try and get an estimate from
- give the date on which the consultation period ends and make it clear that we must receive your comments and any nominations before the end of the consultation period
The consultation period will always begin at least 30 days from the date of the notice. We will allow a few extra days between us posting the notice and you receiving it.
At this stage, we cannot give any idea of what the leaseholder will have to pay towards the work. We can only do this when we get the estimates from the contractors. We must carefully consider any comments and suggestions made within the consultation period. We will then invite contractors to tender for the work.
b) Tender stage
After we have received the tenders, we must prepare at least two proposals based on the estimates received. One of these must be from a contractor who is not connected with the council. We must also include the tender from any contractor nominated by a leaseholder or the RTA. Each proposal must:
- describe the work or services that are to be carried out under the agreement
- give the name and address of the contractor
- explain any connection between the contractor and the council
- where possible, give your estimated cost or any other relevant costs
- provide details of any arrangements for making changes to the terms of the agreement
- say how long the agreement will last
- provide a summary of any comments we received about the first notice (notice of intent) and our response to the comments
We must then send the leaseholder a second S20 notice. This is known as the notice of proposal. This notice must:
- include copies of at least two proposals, or say where and when you can see them and get copies
- invite you to make comments in writing on the proposals and give you an address to send your comments to
- give the date when the consultation period ends and make it clear that we must receive your comments by the end of the 30-day consultation period
As with the first notice, we must consider any comments leaseholders make within the consultation period which is 30 days
c) Award of contract stage
We only need to go through this stage if we awarded the contract to a contractor who did not offer the lowest price or if we did not award the contract to a contractor nominated by a leaseholder or RTA.
Generally, we will choose the lowest tender, but if we do not, the leaseholder will get a third S20 notice, known as an award of contract notice. This notice must:
- give our reason for awarding the contract to that contractor
- provide a summary of any comments we received about the second S20 notice and our response to the comments
Or, it will tell you where and when you can see the information and get copies.
Situations where full consultation won’t take place
- emergencies where works are required e.g. prevent an immediate structural collapse and we will inform you of this
- where “public notice is required” - these are contracts where the value involved will be of a level where certain procurement rules apply - in these cases, landlords must publish contract opportunities on the UK e-notification service called Find a Tender Service
A public notice is needed for work contracts as well as contracts for supplying goods or services with a value above certain limits.
Although we must ask for and consider tenants’ opinions and views, leaseholders do not have the right to nominate a contractor for these contracts.
Other forms of consultation
In addition to the statutory consultation we may also hold residents meetings, drop in sessions, door to door consultation to ensure leaseholders views are considered.
Paying for major works
You will receive an invoice after the works are complete.
When we carry out major works to the block or the estate where you live, your lease requires that you have to pay towards the cost. We recognise that it can be difficult for some leaseholders to meet the costs of major works bills. Therefore we offer a number of different options for leaseholders.
See our Major works repayment options page for details.
Estate improvements and Deeds of Variation
Sometimes we will carry out communal estate improvements.
Such works could be re-designing garden areas, installing cycle racks, renewal or relocation of sheds. These are funded by Oxford City Council and no contribution is required from leaseholders.
Prior to such works we will consult fully with all leaseholders whether resident or non-resident, and tenants.
It may be such works require a 'deed of variation' to your lease - so that changes are reflected in your lease e.g. your lease states that you have the right to use a particular shed and the plan in the lease shows this. As a result of an estate improvement that shed is re-located.
This is a standard document used to vary the terms of a lease (leasehold agreement), as agreed by the Council and leaseholder/s and sometimes other parties, such as lenders. This is important so that your lease and any plans contained within it reflects any such changes.
We will discuss this with you as part of any consultation prior to works being agreed, and we will pay for the costs as we started the change process.
