Major works

From time to time it will be necessary for us to undertake major works to improve or repair the communal and structural parts of your building. These will usually be planned one off works.

Leaseholder consultation

When the Council carries out major works to your building or estate you may be required to contribute to the costs, in accordance with the terms of your lease. If your estimated contribution, as a leaseholder, is over £250, we’ll consult you before we decide to carry out major works.

We’ll send you a Section 20 notice of intention, which will provide you with a description of the proposed works (in general terms), the reason for the works, and an estimate of what you will be charged. There will then be a 30 day period for you to send us feedback in the form of written observations (if you wish to do so).

It will be the responsibility of the Council, as your landlord, to make the final decision on the proposed works. However, when making the decision we must ‘have regard’ to any written observations received from leaseholders. The email address to send observations within the 30 day consultation period is: s20enquiries@hackney.gov.uk

For more information see section 20 consultation explained.

Florrie’s law

‘Florrie’s Law’ is the informal name for legislation passed in 2014, namely The Social Landlords Mandatory Reductions of Service Charges (England) Directions 2014.

The purpose of the legislation is to limit the amount that councils and housing associations can charge homeowners in the London area for major works, repairs, or maintenance on their home, block or estate to £15,000 over a five year period.

The legislation is not retrospective and only applies when the work is fully or partly funded by the government.

The majority of major works we carry out are fully funded by the rent we collect. This means it’s unlikely that this legislation will apply to the majority of works carried out by us.

Examples of major works

• window renewal
• roof renewal, repair or replacement, including recovering
• rewiring of landlord’s electrical supply
• major structural repairs to the block
• concrete repairs
• lift renewal
• major lift repairs
• door entry installation
• installation of independent heating systems
• environmental improvement schemes
• installation of CCTV systems
• fire safety
• replacement water tanks, including relining
• external painting and repairs

Pay for major works

Pay for major works

If you have problems paying major works bills, you can spread the payment using our payment plans or you can apply for a loan. Find details in the document below.

See major works payment options

Payment options

Resident leaseholders

The following payment options are available to leaseholders who reside in the property as their sole or principal place of residence:

Other options

Non-resident leaseholders

The following payment options are available to leaseholders who are subletting, or otherwise do not reside in the property as their sole or principal place of residence.

Changes of residence

If you have previously informed us that you do not reside in the property as your principal place of residence and this is no longer the case, then please contact our leasehold services team for further advice.

They can be reached at 0208 356 2299 or service.charges@hackney.gov.uk.