What are communal repairs?

In simple terms, communal repairs are those repairs carried out to those areas of your building or estate which you share access rights to in common with other residents.

These may vary from lease to lease, as not all properties are built the same, and some may have different management restrictions, but inspection of the plans associated with your lease or transfer document will show you which areas are communal for your property.

These plans generally show the boundary lines of your building and/or estate, and show some areas shaded, coloured or cross-hatched on the plans, with others showing no infill at all. As a general rule the shaded, coloured or cross-hatched areas are the communal areas to which the different schedules of the lease agreement give you access.

Communal repairs can also be classified as those that the TMO must carry out for the landlord, to the buildings and outside areas but not within individual flats. The lease agreement also allows you to be charged for a share of the costs of maintaining and managing these areas.

Examples of the sort of works of repairs that may be carried out for external areas include footpath or pavement repairs, gardens, boundary fences and walls, and security or entrance gates, etc. Inside the buildings the areas that are shared with other residents and are communal can include hallways, landings, stairs, etc. The outside structure of the building in which your property is located can be considered as being communal,as the lease agreement states that you must pay a share of the costs of maintaining it.

Maintenance of the buildings and estates where general lighting is provided, other than street lighting, can also be classed as communal repairs. For instance front entrances to buildings, communal gardens and pathways and boundary fences. They also restoring lost lighting and fixing broken glass panels in communal areas

Diagramatic examples can be downloaded [PDF]

Your lease plans will also show you the extent of the demise of your property, which generally means the boundaries of the outside walls, floors and ceilings of your property.

Each flat has its separate demise, be it a sold or tenanted property, and any works within those walls are considered the responsibility of the leaseholder or freeholder for a sold property, or of the landlord for a tenanted property. These are therefore not communal areas, and any repairs carried out in these areas are not rechargeable to leaseholders.

As a leaseholder it is generally your responsibility to carry out repairs to the premises demised to you. However, there are exceptions to this rule. If your heating is provided through a communal heating and hot water system, it is the landlord’s responsibility to carry out repairs to it. You should not, therefore, repair or add any radiators to the communal (or district as it is sometimes known) heating system. An entryphone serving your property is also communal and is the landlord’s responsibility.

The lease agreement and transfer documents also refer to drainage systems and cabling and pipeworks to services such as the mains electricity or gas supply, that run under the external areas, as well as similar systems running through the buildings themselves. Again, these are communal as long as they serve more than just your property. A general rule to take is that the point where each service separates towards your property alone marks the boundary between a communal system and one serving individual properties, and so communal repairs and those you must carry out yourself.

If you are not sure if a repair that is required is communal or not, please contact your Leasehold Management Officer (or Housing Officer if your property is within the Lancaster West Estate Management Board area), or the TMO Customer Service Centre (CSC) staff.