After Sales

Important reminders

• Give people you know and organisations you deal with your new address
• Ask Royal Mail to redirect your post from your old address to your new address
• Make sure you have cancelled all services in your old home including direct debits
• Take meter reading for gas and electricity and water (if you have a water meter) in both your new and old homes
• Contact the local authority to inform them you have moved in and arrange for your council tax payments

Repairs and Servicing

You are responsible for the internal repairs to your home and the safety of gas and electric fittings. You should organise for frequent servicing – at least once a year- of central heating boilers and systems, gas fires etc by qualified professionals.

For all leasehold properties - If you fail to repair items such as water leaks or running overflows that have a detrimental effect on the structure of the building, we have the right to enter your property and carry out the repairs ourselves. You will be recharged for any expenditure we incur in the process.

Emergencies

• Water leaks – If you discover a water leak or burst pipe you should turn your water of straight away at the mains stopcock. This is usually found under the kitchen sink or if you are in an apartment you may find this in the communal hallway. It is advisable to label the stopcock for your property for easy access in an emergency.

• Gas Leaks - If you smell gas you should turn your supply off at the main gas tap which is located next to the gas meter. Make sure you call Transco immediately, the number should be on your bill or call the operator. Do not use any electrical items including light switches until the leak has been fixed.

• Electricity – If you experience an electrical fault you should switch off your mains supply found next to your fuse box. Contact an experienced electrician to repair the fault. Should your supply fail completely contact your electricity provider.

Condensation

Condensation occurs when water vapour in the air condenses and forms water droplets on cold surfaces. To prevent damage from condensation to your home, it is advisable to take the following precautions:

• Keep air vents in your home open
• Wipe windows down in the morning where water may have collected overnight
• Keep rooms warm in cold weather
• Open your windows or leave the ‘trickle vent’ open to allow fresh air to circulate

Your responsibilities

Your lease / contract will outline all your responsibilities.

These usually include:

• Paying rent (for Newbuild Homebuy & Social Homebuy sales) service charges and ground rent on time;
• Maintaining and repairing all internal parts of your property including fixtures and fittings;
• Requesting permission from Sentinel before carrying out any structural changes or improvements;
• Obtaining written permission to keep a pet or fit a satellite dish
• Being considerate of neighbours and not disturbing them or causing a nuisance;
• Repaying the share / discount / equity loan on the price of your property when you sell;

If you live in a house you are responsible for all repairs and maintenance to the house

When you arrange work we suggest that:

• You give clear instructions to your contractor and get them to give you a written quote
• Get two or more quotes for expensive work
• Use contractors that are recommended by friends and/or are recognised by an appropriate trade body
• For extensive work consider employing a surveyor to specify the work and to select and supervise the contractor

Sentinel’s responsibilities

We are usually responsible for;

• Maintaining and repairing the communal and external areas of apartments;
• Insuring the building - this does not include your belongings and we strongly recommend you take out your own home contents insurance.
• Keeping accounts of our service charges which pay for repairs, maintenance and buildings insurance and giving you an annual statement of these accounts.
• Consulting you about any contract that will last for more than 12 months, which will be reflected in your service charge as a charge of more than £100 per year.
• Not to unjustly refuse permission for any improvements or alterations you want to make to your home.

These vary according to the property and the details of your purchase.

We collect service charges from you to pay for the services we provide.

For most houses (as opposed to apartments) our charge is likely to cover just the buildings insurance and a management fee.

For all apartments, and for some houses on estates, we provide a larger range of services. We set a service charge ‘budget’ for the apartment block or estate, estimating how much will be needed to cover costs in the next financial year and calculate your annual charge from the budget. After the end of the year we’ll prepare a service charge ‘Year End Account’ that shows the actual cost.

Charges usually cover:

• The cost of insuring the building; we insure the structure of your home, this does not cover the contents of your property. You will need to arrange that yourself.
• Communal internal and external lighting; we pay for the running costs of lighting in all communal areas of apartment blocks.
• Repairs to communal areas of apartment blocks; you will contribute to the cost of repairs carried out to shared or communal areas only.
• Cleaning communal areas of apartment blocks; internal communal areas will be cleaned on a regular basis.
• Maintaining door entry systems of apartment blocks;
• Gardening services; communal areas will be maintained by appointed contractors on a regular basis
• Administration and management fees; this covers our management service to you, dealing with any questions you have.
• Fire alarm systems and fire fighting equipment, where present;
• Audit fees. We are legally required to ensure our service charge accounts are independently audited. This is done by an accountant or solicitor who charges for this service.

Year End Accounts

Once a year between May and September, we calculate the service charge payments you have made, compare these to the actual costs of providing the services, and send you a breakdown of costs compared to payments for your block or estate.

Usually, if we have spent less than the estimated budget we’ll refund you your share of the surplus and if we have spent more than the budget we will collect an additional charge from you to cover your share of the deficit. If actual spending is close to the budget figure we may carry forward a small surplus or deficit.

The accounts provide a summary of income and spending. You have a right to inspect invoices and other documents that support the accounts. Contact us if you want to inspect invoices and we’ll make arrangements.

How Service Charges are calculated

In February of each year we will write to you telling you how much we will charge for the 12 month period starting in April. This estimate is based on actual costs from last year (or an estimate if the block or estate is new), inflation and quotations from contractors.

The proportion of the overall charge that you pay is set out in your lease /contract. For example if you live in a building comprising nine apartments where cleaning to the communal areas is provided, the cost of the cleaning service would be divided between all the apartments, so you would pay 1/9th of the total calculated cost.

Reserve Funds and Replacement Reserves

Most leases / contracts allow for Sentinel to collect ‘reserve fund’ monies. All occupants in a block of apartments will contribute towards a reserve fund, the aim of this is to build up a fund to cover any unplanned or expensive works such as major repairs, equipment replacement and cyclical decorations to communal areas. When work is needed this fund is used to assist towards the cost. We will tell you each year how much money has accrued in the fund including any interest added.

Money paid into this fund will not be refunded when the property is sold but the benefit of the fund will be passed on to the new leaseholder.

Service Charge Consultation

It is your right to be consulted on how we manage the communal areas; we will always consult you regarding cyclical redecoration, major works and day to day services. In addition under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, we are obliged to consult leaseholders paying a variable service charge on two ‘qualifying’ areas of cost:

• qualifying long term agreements
• qualifying works

Qualifying Long Term Agreements

This is an agreement or contract for a term of more than 12 months. These can include cleaning and gardening contracts, contracts for lift or door entry/entry phone system maintenance, insurances etc.

Sentinel will consult where the contribution of any one leaseholder exceeds £100 in the accounting period of one year. Where residents pay proportional payments, for example there are different charges for one and two bedroom flats, we will consult with all residents if one or more residents is required to pay over £100 (including VAT). If there is a recognised Residents Association, we will also consult them.

Qualifying Works

This applies to repair, maintenance, cyclical decoration or improvement works on a building or any other relevant premises.

Sentinel will consult with you if the contribution of any one leaseholder exceeds £250. Where there are proportional payments between residents, we will consult with all residents if one or more residents is required to pay £250. If there is a recognised Residents Association, we will also consult them.

Payments to Sentinel

You will be responsible for paying ground rent and service charges (if applicable) for your property from the date you complete the purchase of your home. Most leases / sales contracts provide for payments to be made monthly (in advance) by Direct Debit. It is your responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient funds in your account to cover DD payments and that payments are made on time.

Your home is at risk if you do not keep up payments

If you are a shared owner you pay rent on the share of the property Sentinel retains. You are required to pay in monthly instalments, you have a choice of 4 dates on which to pay this. The 1st, 8th, 15th or 22nd of the month. Sentinel prefers you to pay by Direct Debit, although there are several ways to pay.

• Allpay - If you currently pay at a post office or at our offices, you can use the Allpay card. As well as using a post office, you can now make payments at any outlet displaying the PayPoint or PAYzone symbol.
• Direct Debit – click on the link to find out more.
• Standing Orders - This can be set-up on a monthly basis, but can take at least 14 days to credit your account for Basingstoke tenants and 7 days for Hart tenants.
• Cash - Former tenants of Hart Housing Association can still pay by cash at Sentinel’s Fleet office. Sentinel’s Basingstoke office does not accept cash.
• Cheques - Please make cheques payable to Sentinel Housing Association' and post them or hand them to our reception at either the Basingstoke office or the Fleet office. Please write your address or property reference number on the back of the cheque. Receipts will not normally be issued for cheque payments.

If you have trouble paying

• Talk to us first – Contact your Leasehold Officer if you are having financial difficulties.
• Get Advice – Our staff may be able to offer help and advice or refer you to a specialist depending on your circumstances.
• Do not ignore any letters or documents we send you.
• Deal with debt early – the longer it is left to build up the harder it is to sort out in the long run.

Initial Action

We will write to you if you miss a monthly rent or service charge payment. We will ask you to make immediate payment of the amount owing. You must tell us straight away if you think we are wrong and your payments are up to date.

Further Action

If you fail to respond to our initial letter we will write to you and tell you what we intend to do if you fail to pay the rent and/or service charges due.

If we get no response to this letter we will take further action. Our options include:

Contacting your mortgage lender and asking them to pay on your behalf. If your mortgage lender makes payment they will add an equivalent amount to your outstanding mortgage. The mortgage lender may also add administration charges.

An application under the small claims procedure in the County Court. We will ask the court to add our legal and administration costs to any payment order.

An application to forfeit your lease in the County Court. If our action is successful the Court will forfeit your Lease and you will have to leave your home.

Maintenance V repair

When referring to maintenance and repair for communal areas, we use maintenance to mean work to maintain a building, for example a decoration programme for communal areas. We use repair to mean putting right something that is faulty, for example fixing a broken light in a communal area.

Please note:

• If you live in a house you are totally responsible for all repairs and maintenance to your home.
• If you live in an apartment Sentinel has responsibility for arranging maintenance and repairs for the communal areas and external structure of the building, but you are individually responsible for the internal area of your apartment.

Occasionally other organisations will be responsible for repairs and maintenance. For example:

• The builder is responsible for some defects on new property for a period of either one or two years (depending on the contract)
• The buildings insurance policy may cover the cost of some repairs
• We provide NHBC or Zurich guarantees for all new properties we sell. The guarantee covers the main structure and is time limited, usually ten years form the date of construction.

Repairs that are Sentinel’s responsibility

For apartment blocks Sentinel is usually responsible for arranging repairs and maintenance to the structure and common parts of the building. Our responsibilities may include things such as roofs, shared pathways, entry phones etc. Your service charge fee will pay for these items.

If you live in an apartment you are responsible for repairs to things inside the apartment - this includes all pipes and electrical wiring that serve just your apartment. The lease for your apartment will set out who is responsible for repairs in detail.

If your house is on an estate, Sentinel may have responsibility for arranging the repair and maintenance of communal facilities such as bin store areas.

Reporting communal area / estate repairs

Call us to report a repair. We will arrange for one of our contractors to carry out the repair. We will need your name and address, details of the repair and your contact telephone numbers.

We set target times for different repair categories:

• Emergency – Disrepair that causes danger to health or safety – 24 hours
• Urgent – disrepair that materially affects the way you can use your home – 5 Working days
• Routine – all other repairs – 20 working days

For emergency repairs we may carry out a temporary repair initially to ‘make safe the property’ and return to complete a permanent repair at a later date.