Leaseholders
Your lease is a legal agreement and defines the rights and obligations that you have as a leaseholder and that CDS (or your Co-op) has as freeholder. Where a block is fully sold to leaseholders all of the costs of managing and maintaining the block will usually be shared between the owners. CDS will commission, organise work and will recharge costs. What we are allowed to charge for will be set out in your lease.
Freeholders
Freeholders own their home outright but sometimes you will still make a contribution to the costs of maintaining your estate.
Shared Owners
If you are a shared owner you own a percentage of your home and CDS (or your Co-op) will own the balance. You will usually pay rent on the part that you do not own as well as service charges to cover the cost of maintenance and management. You can sometimes increase the share that you own through staircasing.
Shared Ownership Lease Extension Policy
Following a recent change in CDS Policy, leases on shared ownership properties can now be extended without staircasing. Previously, shared owners could only extend their leases after staircasing to 100 per cent ownership. It has now been agreed that leaseholders may extend their leases regardless of staircasing. This change helps them retain the market value of their property interest and reduces the risk of a property becoming un-mortgageable, since banks are often reluctant to lend on leases with less than 85 years remaining. For any enquiries regarding your lease and staircasing, please contact our Housing Services Manager, Temi.
Homeowner responsibilities
You will need to check the terms of your lease for the precise division of responsibility for organising repairs although most repairs are paid for by homeowners – even where organised by the freeholder.
Typically, you are responsible for any maintenance inside your home and we will be responsible for arranging repairs in the common parts and exeternal parts of the building.
CDS Repairs Policy
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At CDS, we’re committed to championing co-operative and community-led housing. Whether you need to report a repair, enquire about your housing, or learn more about how we can support your co-op, our friendly team is ready to assist.
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