As a leaseholder you may receive all or some of the services listed on this page. The services to buildings and estates we manage are carried out by staff we employ, contractors we appoint and manage; and staff and contractors appointed and managed by the Council.
Services we supply
| Caretaking | General building and estate repairs |
| Antisocial behaviour | Customer services |
| Resident involvement | Entry phones |
| Lifts | Technical services and repairs |
| Window cleaning (in shared areas) | Pest control |
| Communal heating (and hot water) | Electricity for communal (shared) lighting |
| Sweeping | Grounds maintenance |
| Leasehold Management | Bulk household waste removal |
Caretaking
We supply this service to the communal areas inside a building. It includes:
- reporting damage to shared areas;
- washing shared areas;
- replacing light bulbs and covers to lights in shared areas;
- making sure that public areas in buildings are safe;
- sweeping and cleaning lifts;
- dealing with blocked rubbish chutes where possible; and
- working with the antisocial behaviour team to tackle antisocial behaviour which affects the building and estate.
Working out the service charge for caretaking and cleaning
We multiply the average number of hours spent on a building over the course of a year by the cost to us per hour. This gives us the yearly cost of supplying the service to the block. The hourly cost includes wages, equipment, materials, supervision, uniforms, phones and so on, plus the other overhead costs of running the service. We then divide the cost equally between the total number of properties in the building benefiting from the service. So, the more work that the building needs from the caretaking service, the higher the cost to the building.
General building and estate repairs
This service is the day-to-day repairs and maintenance work we carry out to the structure and shared parts of your building and the estate. Although we carry out repairs with our own workforce, there are instances where we appoint specialist contractors to carry out the work. General building and estate repairs includes work to shared parts, for example:
- the roof
- shared doors
- main storage tanks
- drains and gutters, including jetting, rubbish chute clearance
- repairs to shared lighting
- estate roads and paths
Working out the service charge for building maintenance
We divide the cost of the work, plus the overheads of running the service, by the number of properties in the building or on the estate. In some cases the repair may only be relevant to one part of an estate, in which case we take this into account in the calculation.
Antisocial behaviour
All leaseholders on estates and in purpose built blocks contribute towards this service. We do not charge leaseholders in street properties (houses converted into flats) as these are dealt with on an individual basis. All leaseholders pay towards this service. The cost of the service is shared equally between all the properties that we manage excluding street properties.
Customer services
Leaseholders are able to use the facilities in our housing offices, including internet and access. Customer Services staff in these offices will be pleased to answer leaseholders enquiries taking advice from Home Ownership Services where needed. However, we recognise that in general, leaseholders make less use of this service than tenants and this is reflected in the service charge.
Resident Involvement
Leaseholders and tenants have the opportunity to take part in the various involvement activities that are provided by Lewisham Homes. The leaseholders service charge for resident involvement is based on the cost shared equally over all of the properties that we manage.
Leasehold Management
This is the service we provide to you through our leasehold caseworkers and other leasehold administration. The management charge includes a proportion of staff costs, the Service Charge Audit and Lewisham Homes’ overheads. This includes corporate tools that help us provide services, such as information technology systems, office accommodation, human resources, finance and accountancy.