Further Info

- For Property Owners

As a Leasehold Property or a Freehold Property Owner that is responsible for a shared space and communal area, we understand the challenges that you face in ensuring the adequate upkeep of your communal building and grounds for yourself and your tenants

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Property Owners

As a Leasehold Property or a Freehold Property Owner that is responsible for a shared space and communal area, we understand the challenges that you face in ensuring the adequate upkeep of your communal building and grounds for yourselves and your tenants. We pride ourselves on putting property owners first, and as your Managing Agents we will always be there for you.

Some helpful information

If you smell gas, call 0800 111 999

If you have a power cut, first check with your neighbours to see if it is just affecting your flat or others. If it is not just your flat either call 0800 6783 105 or following this link: https://powercuts.westernpower.co.uk/tweets to the Western Power website and type in your postcode for updates.

If you have no TV signal; check with your neighbours; is it just in your flat (if so call a local TV engineer or your TV provider), if other flats are affected in the same way, call us.

The guides on this page will be of use to you, whether you live in your property or rent it out.

Fire Safety

For information on fire safety and your legal duties as a leaseholder, please visit our Fire Safety General page on this website.

Interested in using our services?

Make an Enquiry

Sales & Transfers

We understand that selling your property can be an incredibly stressful time; at Alpha Housing Services we have set procedures in place to ensure that, from our side, the sale of your property completes as efficiently as possible.

Once a sale has been agreed we will receive a set of questions from your Solicitors, as raised by the Buyers Solicitors; these are known as Managing Agent or Solicitor Enquiries (LPE1). Each set of Solicitors’ enquiries are unique and we answer all enquiries on an individual basis rather than providing a standard ‘sellers pack’ in order to ensure your sale proceeds as smoothly as possible.

Some examples of typical information requested from us include the following:

Up-to-date copy of Buildings Insurance Schedule and Policy Wording
Last three years’ Statutory and Service Charge accounts
Copy of Service Charge Estimate for the current financial year relating to the Building
Tenant Statement of Account for the property
Details of any Reserve / Sinking Fund
Details of any planned major works (i.e. internal and external repairs and redecorations)
To whom the Notice of Transfer and / or Charge is to be served upon following completion and details of any registration fee payable
Whether the Buyer will be required to enter into a Deed of Covenant and if so, details of any registration fee payable
Whether the Seller holds a Share in any Management Company / Freehold Reversion and if so, how this is to be transferred to the Buyer upon completion
Latest Fire Risk Assessment for the Building and confirmation that the recommendations noted therein have been fully complied with
Asbestos Survey for the Building including details of any remedial works undertaken if the Building was found to contain Asbestos Containing Materials (“ACM’s”).

There is a standard charge for providing comprehensive replies to enquiries. Upon receipt of cleared funds from either youself or via your Solicitors, we will endeavour to provide full replies directly to your Solicitors within 3 working days. Should there be any follow up enquiries raised by the Buyers Solicitors arising from our initial replies to enquiries, we will endeavour to answer these in full within 2 working days and at no extra charge.

Useful Guides

Being a responsible property owner, please see the following guides for help and advice:

Letting Your Property

If you are considering sub-letting your property we would strongly advise that you review the terms of your Lease to check what requirements you are obliged to follow. Most Leases will contain mechanisms to regulate and control sub-letting and as with many Leases, the following terms and conditions may apply:

Not to sub-let only part of the Flat as distinguished from its entirety
Not to sub-let the whole of the Flat to a Housing Association or Local Authority or any other body whose objects include the provision of housing accommodation
During the last seven years of the term of the Lease not to sub-let without previous consent in writing of the Landlord
Within one month of any Tenancy Agreement being entered into, to provide a copy of the Tenancy Agreement to the Landlord and / or the Management Company together with any registration fee payable as specified under the Lease.

It is also important that any prospective sub-tenants enter into a Deed of Covenant promising to abide by the key covenants and regulations of the Lease or ensure that their performance of these covenants and regulations are written into any Tenancy Agreement – failure to do so could be detrimental to you and leave you liable if there is any issue regarding a breach of Lease by your sub-tenants. Every situation is different and if you are unsure what you are required to do to fulfil your obligations as Landlord under the terms of the Lease, please contact us. We will be happy to advise you of your obligations to ensure that you follow the covenants of your Lease.

Paying Your Service Charge

The frequency of payment of your service charge will be set out in your Lease. This will typically be monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or an annual payment. We are obliged to collect your service charge at the same times as indicated in the lease.

We can accept payment by a variety of means:

Standing orders
BACS payments
Cheque

Listed Buildings

‘Listed buildings’ account for about 2% of properties in England and Wales and the vast majority of these are old buildings – for example, most buildings built before 1840 are listed. These are buildings listed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.

A summary of the three categories of listing is:

Grade I – buildings of exceptional merit comprising around 2.5% of listed buildings
Grade II* – buildings of particular importance comprising about 5.5% of listed buildings
Grade II – buildings of special interest comprising about 92% of listed buildings

If you wish to make any modification to a listed building, you will need to apply to the relevant local planning authority to obtain Listed Building Consent. Control of listed buildings falls under the remit of local planning authorities and the Department for Communities and Local Government. Undertaking unauthorised work to a listed building is a criminal offence and the owner can be forced to undo any work undertaken at their own expense.

A number of the blocks we manage consist of listed property or properties and we understand the regulations in place locally to manage such properties.