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Section 20 – Explained

By law, landlords must consult before carrying out certain works or entering into a long-term agreement with a contractor/supplier.
This guide gives a summary of the regulations we must follow when we consult you about work or services which you have to pay for, either as part of your service charge or as a one-off invoice.

Why must we consult with you?

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 variable service charge see About Service Charges – Great Places for more information about service charges. Under section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (amended by section 151 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002), we must consult you we must consult you if the works or services trigger section 20 values.

What must we consult you about?

We must consult you before we do any of the following:

  • Carry out qualifying works which will cost any one leaseholder/tenant more than £250.
  • Enter into a qualifying long-term agreement (for more than 12 months) with outside contractors for work,supplies or services which will cost any one leaseholder/tenant more than £100 per year.
  • Carry out works under an existing long-term agreement where the work will cost any one leaseholder more than £250.

How will we consult with you?

For public notice contracts you will get two separate notices:

What Why When
1st Notice – Notice of Intention To provide details of the services we wish to procure and why. Before we invite contractors to tender for the work or service (known as the tender process).Following completion of the tender process.
2nd Notice – Notice of Proposals To provide details of estimates from the contractor who we propose to award the contract to. Following completion of the tender process.

What is Public Notice?

Government procurement rules require that opportunities to bid for contracts over a certain value must be published via the ‘Find a Tender Service’. In this scenario, you will not have the right to suggest a contractor. This will be made clear in the Notice.