Useful Info for Homeowners
Your home is important to you, and Cowley RMO and Lambeth Home Ownership Department provide a range of services to you as one of our Homeowners.
The pages below contain all the information you need about your homes.
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Repairs for Leaseholders
Leaseholders are responsible for repairs in their homes. However, you can still make use of our repairs service by please contact the Cowley Office on 020 7926 0690 and ask to speak to the Repairs & Maintenance Manager.
What Repairs Am I Responsible For?
Leaseholders are responsible for maintaining the inside of their property. This includes:
- Floor surfaces, including floorboards
- Ceilings and plasterboard
- Plaster or plasterboard to the walls
- Window frame repairs – Glass in the windows and fittings not included
- All doors and frames inside the flat, including the front and back doors
- Pipes, wires and cables that service your property only
- Decorations inside the property
- All fixtures and fittings inside the property, including plumbing, sinks, bath and toilet
- Electrical and gas appliances
What Repairs Are Lambeth Council Responsible For?
- Repairs to structure, including your Roof
- Repairs to the outside of your property and common areas
- Blockages to waste pipes external to your property
- Burst or leaking pipes external to your property
How Do I Request a Repair?
- By telephone – Please contact The reairs Team on 0207 926 0690
- In-person – Please come into the estate housing office at 147 Brixton Road, SW9 6LZ
- By email at XDHSCowley1@lambeth.gov.uk – Please remember to include your contact details
About Service Charges
Service charges are collected to cover the running cost of the block in which your property is situated, as well as common areas of the estate.
These costs include:
- Leasehold Management
- Estate Cleaning
- Estate Lighting
- Ground Maintenance
- Block Pest control
- General Maintenance
- Building Insurance
How to pay your service charge
You can pay your day-to-day service charges annually or monthly.
Your day-to-day service charge payments are due on the following days:
- 1 April if you choose to pay annually
- the first day of each month if you choose to pay monthly.
Pay online
Pay your service charge using our online form, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Text to find out your balance
You can now find out your balance by texting BAL and your invoice number to 07800 006116
Your mobile number must be held against your property record in order to use the text service.
Pay by Standing Order
To make regular automatic payments directly from your bank account, you can set up a standing order using the details below. If you’d like us to set this up for you, speak to Dorothy at 0207 926 8646 or Esther at 0207 926 9708 or visit us at the office for a standing order mandate form.
Details for Setting up a Standing Order
London Borough of Lambeth
NatWest Bank
Account Number – 00000000
Sort Code – 57-64-69
Please quote your rent/service charge payment reference so the payment is credited into your account.
Pay Over the Phone
You can pay your rent by credit or debit card by calling Housing Services Manager Enitan Ogun on 0207 926 5895 or Housing Officer Sufait Ogun on 07551 155965
You will need your rent payment card.
How is My Service Charge Calculated
Each year, Lambeth Council’s Homeownership sets the service charges for all homeowners based on carefully calculated estimates of what the costs will be.
At the end of the year, the costs are checked, and Homeownership sends out a statement of the actual accounts to all homeowners; because the service charges are estimated at the start of the year, this can sometimes mean that homeowners have been overcharged or undercharged.
We will always let homeowners know as soon as possible about any variation in the service charges and will notify you of our plan to rectify the problem. If there is a shortfall in the money we have received, we may send out an additional invoice or carry the amount over to the following year’s charges – depending on the amount of the shortfall.
If the service charge was too high at the start of the year and there is money left over, Homeownership would normally use that money to reduce the service charges for the following year.
What if I’m Not Happy with My Service
We recognise that from time to time, things do go wrong. Leaseholders and Freeholders are encouraged to use our complaint procedure, which can be found in this handbook.
If, however, you wish not to use our procedure, you may contact-
- Lambeth’s Complaint Unit on 0207 926 3497 or complaints@lambeth.gov.uk
- Lambeth’s Home Ownership Services on 0207 926 6700 or HMHomeownership@lambeth.gov.uk
- Leasehold Advice Centre on 01483 889 922 or help@LeaseholdAdviceCentre.co.uk
- The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) is an independent advisory body funded by Central Government. It provides free advice on the law affecting residential leasehold properties. Visit their website for more information.