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Section 20 consultations
PrintWe are legally obliged to consult you before we carry out certain works or services for which you will have to pay under the terms of your lease or tenancy agreement.
It’s the consultation process we are legally required to follow before we carry out works or services, above a certain value, for which you will have to pay under the terms of your lease or tenancy agreement. Section 20s were introduced as part of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, with current legislation in place since 2003.
The process gives you an opportunity to share your views on our plans to carry out certain works on your building or estate.
In some cases, you will be able to suggest a contractor who you think could complete the work at a competitive price.
We’ll consult you in two situations:
- before we carry out one-off works that will cost more than £250 per household
- before we award contracts lasting more than 12 months that are likely to cost households at least £100 per year.
These might include repairs, redecoration or improvements to your building or estate, as well as contracts for grounds maintenance, lift servicing or communal cleaning.
We’ll send out a series of formal notices, as set out by law. Residents have 30 days to respond in writing at each stage. We won’t award a contract or start any work until the consultation has finished.
In general, there are three stages to the consultation at 30-day intervals:
Stage 1: We write to you with an overview of the work we are planning. You have 30 days to send back any comments on the proposed work and, in some cases, you can nominate a contractor.
Stage 2: We send you information about the quotes we have received from the tendering process. Based on this, we’ll also give you an estimate of how much the contract is likely to cost you. You then have a further 30 days to give feedback on any information we have sent you.
Stage 3: If we aren’t choosing the cheapest quote or if we aren’t selecting a contractor nominated by a resident, we’ll write to you with an explanation. At this stage, we can begin the work and costs will be included in your subsequent service charges.
You can suggest a contractor to carry out the work wherever we don’t have to give public notice.
We’ll write to you to confirm receipt of your nomination, which will be considered alongside any others we receive.
You cannot nominate a contractor when we have to give public notice. This is when the likely cost of the contract is above a certain value and so has to be advertised on the Government’s Find a Tender website.
If you aren’t consulted over qualifying works, the amount you can be charged is capped at £250 for one-off works and £100 for long-term contracts.
In some situations, we may not have to consult. If emergency work is needed without delay, for instance, we can apply to the first-tier tribunal (Property Chamber) to proceed without consulting first with leaseholders. In such cases, we would have to comply with any conditions the tribunal imposed.
The Leasehold Advisory Service is a government-funded service that provides independent advice for residential leaseholders.
Energy dispensation
You will likely be aware that energy prices have increased significantly over the last few years and are set to continue to rise in the fluctuating energy market. As the energy we provide to tenants and leaseholders is for communal areas, it is unfortunately not covered by the domestic price cap set by Ofgem and therefore must be sourced commercially.
In order to achieve the best value for money, and therefore the best possible price for energy, Riverside are required to make quick decisions regarding the purchase of energy – the price of which can change significantly over a short period of time. This prevents us from applying the usual consultation mechanism (Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985) which can take 3 months to complete.
We have applied to the First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber (Residential Property) for dispensation from the consultation requirements contained in Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This is in relation to the qualifying long-term agreement proposed for the procurement of the supply of gas and electricity to tenants and leaseholders.
The outcome of this application will be shared below once determined by the First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber (Residential Property).