Shared ownership and disrepair: who is responsible for repairs?

Shared ownership is a mix of buying and renting. You buy a share of a home. You pay rent on the rest to a housing association. Who fixes repairs depends on whether you count as a tenant or an owner. The answer also changes with the size of the share you own. This article explains who must do repairs in shared ownership. It also tells you what to do if things go wrong.

How does shared ownership work?

With shared ownership:

• You buy a percentage of the home (often between 25% and 75%) from a housing association
• You pay a lower rent on the rest, which the housing association still owns
• You hold the home under a long lease (usually 99 or 125 years)
• You may be able to buy more shares over time (this is called staircasing) up to 100%

You hold a long lease. So your link with the housing association is more like a leaseholder than a tenant. This matters for who does repairs.

Who is responsible for repairs in shared ownership?

The answer depends on the share you own and what your lease says.

In most shared ownership leases, you (the person living there) must do repairs and upkeep inside the home. This is just like a private homeowner. The housing association still looks after:

• The structure and outside of the building
• Shared parts and shared areas (in blocks of flats)
• Big structural faults

This is different from a normal rented home. There, the landlord (section 11, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985) looks after the structure and the fittings. Section 11 applies to leases of less than seven years. Most shared ownership leases run for 99 or 125 years. So section 11 does not apply in the same way.

Your lease document is the key. Read it with care. It tells you which repairs are your job and what the housing association must look after.

Structural defects: housing association responsibility

Even under a long lease, the housing association still has to fix structural faults in the building. For example:

• A roof that fails and lets water in
• A failed damp proof course
• The building moving or sinking
• Faults in outside walls that let in penetrating damp
• Shared systems failing (shared heating, the lift, shared drains)

Is a structural fault causing problems in your home? Report it to the housing association in writing. Keep copies. The housing association must carry out the structural repairs that are needed.

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 applies to all tenancies. This includes long leases for shared ownership. So your shared ownership home must be fit to live in at the start and all the way through. The housing association cannot let a home that is unfit. It must keep it fit.

Fitness is checked using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) hazards. Bad damp and mould, cold, the risk of the building falling down, and other hazards can make a home unfit. This is true even if the fault is the housing association's job to repair under the lease.

What if the housing association fails to carry out structural repairs?

The housing association may be responsible for a repair under your lease but does not do it. If so:

1. Report it in writing with full details and photos
2. Chase it up if you hear nothing back
3. Make a formal complaint to the housing association, and follow their complaints steps
4. If it is still not sorted, take it to the Housing Ombudsman
5. If a structural fault is causing serious harm, get legal advice about a claim under the Homes Act or for breaking the repair promise in the lease

Can I claim compensation as a shared owner?

Yes, in some cases. The housing association may have broken its repair promise under your lease. Or the home may be unfit to live in under the Homes Act. If so, you may have a claim for:

• Money for the time the home was unfit or in breach
• The cost of putting right damage caused by the fault
• Money for harm to your health, where this applies

But shared ownership disrepair claims are harder than normal tenancy disrepair claims. This is because of the long-lease set-up. Get housing legal advice on this.

New-build defects

Many shared ownership homes are new builds. New-build homes can develop faults in the first two years (the developer's liability period). Was your shared ownership home newly built? If so, report any faults to the developer within the liability period. The NHBC Buildmark warranty (or one like it) may also cover structural faults for 10 years.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

We focus on normal rented homes. If you are in shared ownership and have structural disrepair that the housing association has not dealt with, call us for a claim check. We refer suitable matters to an SRA-regulated panel solicitor, who advises on the right way forward.

Call us on 0800 030 4669. No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Sources

• Section 11, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) guidance (GOV.UK)