Payments and charges

Paying for Major Works

We recommend that you keep a savings account, perhaps through a credit union such as Rothersave or LASER, to allow you to save towards the cost of major works.

However, if repaying major works will cause you hardship we do offer a number of flexible repayment options which can help you to spread the cost.

You should be aware that saving in advance will not only allow you to accrue interest on the amount you save but is likely to cost you less overall because repaying over a longer term may mean that you pay back more than the original charge.

LASER Credit Union

Repayment options

There are a number of ways in which you can repay funds for major works.

Major works repayment options

Our flexible repayment options are designed to help leaseholders who may find it difficult to pay the costs of major works.

Our current repayment options are:

Pay in full, with a five percent discount available for prompt payment
12 month Direct Debit repayment plan
24 month Direct Debit repayment plan
A voluntary legal charge against your property.

Summary of options

Option 1: Pay your major works charges in full

To qualify for the five percent discount you need to:

Pay your service charges in full within 14 days of the service charge demand being issued. This includes all non-major works charges
Have no other service charge arrears outstanding

Option 2: 12-36 month Direct Debit repayment plan

If you already have a Direct Debit setup to pay your service charges you will receive this option by default. To quality you need to:

Have an active Direct Debit setup on your service charge account

If you want to set up a Direct Debit, please complete and return the form.

Direct Debit form

Option 3: 37+ month Direct Debit repayment plan

To qualify you need to:

Have paid your non-major works charges in full, or already have a Direct Debit setup to pay your service charges
Have no other service charge arrears outstanding (unless these are already subject to an agreed repayment plan)
Have major works charges of at least £1000
One-off payment reductions or payment holidays can be agreed
Live in the leasehold property as your sole home (evidence may be required)

Option 4: Longer term repayment secured by a legal property charge (voluntary property charge)

This option:

Is intended for cases of severe financial hardship
Includes an annual five percent interest charge (first year to be paid up-front)
Includes legal fees of £200 (to be paid up-front)
Leaseholders who rent out their property are not eligible for this option

To qualify you need to:

To request this payment option you must contact us within 30 days of your service charge demand being issued.

Undertake a means test to ensure your financial circumstances support the need for this longer term repayment option
Live in the leasehold property as your sole home (evidence may be required)

Update your Leasehold Details

It's important that the contact details we hold for you are complete and up-to-date. We would particularly like to be provided with your email address as we feel that the use of electronic communications wherever possible will help to keep service charges as low as possible.

Get involved with Leasehold Services

We are keen to involve leaseholders in the development of our services and we would like to know if you want to be included on our customer involvement database.