This page provides information about our obligations under Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
What is a Section 20 Consultation?
Under the terms of your lease or tenancy agreement, you must pay towards the cost of any services or work to the building your home is in or the estate it is on. You do this by paying a
service charge. We must consult you about any work and services that you must pay for before we do any of the following.
- Carry out work which will cost any one leaseholder more than £250. This includes repairs, maintenance and improvements to your building and estate.
- Enter into a long-term agreement (for more than 12 months) with outside contractors for work, supplies or services which will cost any one leaseholder more than £100 a year. Examples include cleaning, grounds maintenance and surveying.
- Carry out work under a long-term agreement where the work will cost any one leaseholder more than £250.
What is a Section 20 notice?
A Section 20 notice is a notice to tell you that we intend to carry out work or provide a service that leaseholders will have to pay towards. We must serve a S20 on any leaseholder who will be affected by the work or receive the service. We must also send a copy of the S20 notice to any registered tenants’ association (RTA) that is associated with the building your home is in or the estate it is on. We also send a notice to anyone else who pays a service charge, and who will be affected by work to be carried out.
The S20 will include information about what we plan to do. It will give you the opportunity to take part in the consultation process and comment on what is being planned.
How does a Section 20 consultation work?
We will write to everyone at three different stages of the process. As we need to meet legal obligations and to make sure that everyone receives the information, all leaseholders and tenants will receive a letter in hard copy. This is regardless of whether you may normally receive information via e-mail.
- First stage – a notice of intention to do the works. This will allow everyone 30 days to submit any comments
- Second stage – notification of proposals or estimates obtained by LJHA. This also allows everyone a period of 30 days to comment
- Third stage – notification of award of contract. This is only a 21 day period for any comments
Frequently Asked Questions can be found via this link.
