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Home > My home > Shared owners

Shared owners 

If you part-own a Cottsway house or flat, then you are responsible for the general repair and maintenance of everything inside your home once your property is older than 12 months. Find out below about service charges, buying more shares in your home and what to do if you want to sell your shares.

For full details of your repair obligations please see the terms of your lease. 

If you live in a brand new home, the developer will be liable for any defects for the first 12 months after the property was built. For more information see: New-build homes

In most circumstances, once your home is older than 12 months you will be responsible for:

Houses

Flats

Maisonettes

Houses

  • All internal and external repairs
  • Gas safety checks. It is recommended that your gas appliances are checked every 12 months by a gas safe registered engineer.
  • Any land mentioned in the lease.

Flats

Any land mentioned in the lease and everything inside the home, including:

  • Window glazing (but not the frame).
  • Ceilings (but not the joists or beams or concrete floors)
  • Plaster and other surfaces to all floors, walls and ceilings in your property
  • Entrance door and frame to the property and any other external doors and frames (within the property).
  • Plumbing, electrical services and wiring within and servicing solely your property.
  • All fixtures and fittings in the property (this usually includes window handles and locks).
  • All internal decoration.
  • Gas safety checks.

We are responsible for the repair and maintenance of the external parts and communal services. You are responsible for payment of a proportion of the cost. Please refer to your lease agreement for more details about your obligation.  

Maisonettes

Responsibility for repairs to maisonettes depends on the design and layout of the building – check your lease for details.

Service charges

Some of our homes, often those with a communal area or other shared spaces, have a service charge. This covers things like cleaning, grounds maintenance, grass cutting, repairs, lifts and other running expenses.

You will have been told when you moved in if you have a service charge linked to your home, and you can also find details on your rent statement and in your lease. You are responsible for paying the full amount of service charges applicable to your home, no matter what property share you own. 

For more information see: Service charges

Buildings insurance

We arrange buildings insurance for shared owners and you then pay the cost of this to us. The cost depends on the size of your property and you will receive a bill for this every year in April.

We do not arrange contents insurance, but we recommend that you take out cover to protect the belongings inside your home.

Buying more shares or selling your share

You can buy more shares in your property from us when you can afford it - this is known as staircasing. The greater the share you buy, the less rent you pay.

  • Shares can be purchased in phases as small as 10 per cent.
  • Each time you buy you will have to use a solicitor, pay legal fees and a valuation will need be completed.
  • If you staircase to 100 per cent of the property’s value, you become the outright owner and you will no longer need to pay rent. 

There are some cases where staircasing is restricted to 80 per cent.

If you are already a Cottsway shared owner, and you would like more information about staircasing: Contact us

If you want to sell your share:

  • Contact us to arrange a valuation. This must be carried out by a RICS accredited chartered surveyor.
  • We will then advertise your home for eight weeks (unless your lease states otherwise).
  • Applicants will be asked to complete an affordability questionnaire and, if they are successful, they will be provided with your contact details to arrange a viewing.
  • If after eight weeks we cannot find a purchaser, we can continue to market your property for you, but you can also find a buyer yourself or use an estate agent. We will still need to approve the purchaser.
  • Administration charges apply.

For more information: Contact us

Other useful information

Report a communal issue

Anti-social behaviour

Condensation, damp and mould

Make a payment

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