The below information is only for those that have bought homes built through the 2021-2026 Homes England funding programme.
If you're unsure whether you're on a new model shared ownership lease, please check your lease or speak with your Homeownership Officer.
The new model shared ownership lease gives you £500 per year to use towards the cost of general repairs. You’re still responsible for getting these repairs done to your home but you’re able to make a claim for up to £500 towards the cost of your repairs.
You can also carry over any balance remaining up to a maximum of £500 per year.
It also means that the landlord is responsible for external and structural repairs for the first 10 years of the lease
Important note: these repairs will be covered by the developer during your defects period, usually 12 months after the build is completed.
Other differences to the new model shared ownership lease let you:
- Staircase in 1% tranches for the first 15 years of the lease
- Staircase in 5% increments (it was previously 10%)
- Buy a minimum stake of just 10% (previously 25%)
- Have a term of at least 990 years on the new lease
You’re responsible for general repairs to your home however, you are entitled to a £500 per year allowance towards those costs. You can see what you can use your allowance against by clicking here.
This is not intended to cover all costs or improvements that you will face as a Homeowner – but can include any insurance excess in respect of a warranty.
To make a claim for the cost of your repairs you must get pre-approval from us before you get the work done. We will only consider retrospective claims where work has been done in an emergency.
An emergency is something that causes an immediate health, safety or security risk to you or anyone else. An emergency is also something that is causing substantial damage to your home.
Examples of emergencies are:
- An external door which won't lock
- An uncontainable water leak
- Having no power
- Exposed electrical wires, or water coming into contact with sockets or wiring
Before making a claim, please check to see if there are any warranties and/or guarantees in place for the component you are looking to make a claim against, and that all routine servicing and maintenance has been completed as appropriate.
Click here to see items covered under the £500 guarantee (please note, servicing is not included).
You can fill out the form at the bottom of this page to register your claim for approval.
Once we receive your claim via the online form we’ll check through all the information given to us. We may need to ask you for more information to review your claim.
Once we’ve approved or declined your claim internally, we’ll confirm this decision with you and ask for your bank details. We aim to review all claims within 5 working days (this being from the date all applicable evidence is provided).
If your claim is approved, please be aware that it may take up to 28 days for payment of the same. Unless you’re in arrears and we may apply the credit for your repair to your rent account, rather than make the payment directly to you. We’ll let you know when we process your claim if we’re going to do it this way.
Yes, it is possible that your claim could be refused and below are some common reasons why:
- The repair is not covered by the scheme. The allowance only applies to services and heating, other elements would not be covered by the allowance but could still be covered by guarantees or warranties from the developer.
- The repair is not going to be completed by a company registered with Trustmark
- The component has not been routinely serviced/maintained with evidence to support this.
- The repair has been caused deliberately through an act or omission.
- Information requested (to process the claim) has not been provided.
Register a claim
We aim to review all claims within 5 working days (this being from the date all applicable evidence is provided).
Using the form below you can register your claim for approval. You must include: a photograph of the repair, a report with details of the issue, a quote from a Trustmark registered professional to complete the work and your payment details.
We’ll confirm that the work has been approved within 7 working days. Once we’ve confirmed you can go ahead and get the work done.
Once the work has been completed you can use the form below to provide evidence of the completed repair and receipts to recover your costs (up to £500 each year).
If you need to get work done to your home in an emergency, you can also make a claim for the costs you’ve incurred using this process.
If you have any difficulties obtaining a quote from a Trustmark registered professional please contact homeownership@midlandheart.org.uk or call us on 0345 60 20 540 and ask to speak to your Homeownership Officer.
To request a repair or make a claim please complete the form below. Before we process a claim, we will still need to verify ourselves that you're eligible to make a claim.
Retrospective claims
If you are looking to make a retrospective claim for an emergency repair (this is defined as something that causes an immediate health, safety or security risk to you or anyone else. Or is causing substantial damage to your home) you will need to provide the following details about the completed work:
- Name and contact details of tradesperson/company.
- A copy of an itemised VAT invoice.
- Photographs of the completed work.
- Certification / warrantee of works (e.g. an electrical signoff) – if applicable.
Checking your fund balance and repairs status
If you are unsure of what repairs have been made to date and what remains on your balance, please email homeownership@midlandheart.org.uk and we can send you the latest information.
