Communal Door Entry Not Working? Who's Responsible, Who Pays, Who Fixes It
By the DC Fire & Security engineering team — installing and maintaining fire and security systems since 2010. Updated July 2026.
Quick answer
The door entry system in a block of flats belongs to the freeholder, so repairs are the freeholder's responsibility — in practice arranged by the managing agent and paid through the service charge. Report the fault to your agent in writing. The handset inside your own flat may be yours to fix, depending on the lease. Repairs are routine call-out work; replacing a whole aged system triggers Section 20 consultation once any leaseholder's share passes £250.
Who owns the problem
Where flats in the block are rented out, the AST landlord also owes the tenant working entry as part of keeping installations in repair (Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, s.11) — which is why 'the freeholder is slow' doesn't fully shield a buy-to-let landlord whose tenant can't get in. Social housing residents have the extra route of the Housing Ombudsman, which has upheld exactly these complaints about intercoms left broken for months.
| Role | What's yours |
|---|---|
| Leaseholder / tenant | Reporting the fault, in writing, to the managing agent. The handset inside your flat — check the lease; demised fittings are often yours |
| Freeholder | The system itself: entrance panel, lock release, wiring, communal power. Repairing it is part of maintaining the common parts under the lease covenants |
| RMC / RTM company | Same duties as the freeholder where the block is resident-managed — the buck stops with the directors |
| Managing agent | Arranging the contractor and paying from the service charge account. The agent is the doer, not the owner of the duty |
Leaseholder playbook: getting it fixed
- Report it in writing to the managing agent — email, dated. Phone calls don't build the record
- Ask two questions: has a contractor been instructed, and by when is the repair expected
- No movement in a couple of weeks: copy in the RMC directors (they're leaseholders too and usually motivated), then use the agent's formal complaints process
- Social landlord: complaints process, then the Housing Ombudsman. Private block: persistent failure to repair can be challenged through the service-charge route at the First-tier Tribunal
- Meanwhile, insist on an interim answer if security is compromised — a broken lock release on a street door is not a wait-a-month fault
What repairs cost
Numbers agents can budget against — our standard retail rates, +VAT:
| Job | Price (+VAT) |
|---|---|
| Call-out and first hour's fault-finding | £100, then £50/hr |
| Replacement flat handset (audio) | £150–£280 fitted |
| Entrance panel replacement | £400–£900 depending on flat count |
| Lock release / maglock renewal on the entrance | £1,495–£1,595 for a full maglock upgrade |
| New audio system, 6–10 flat block | £2,000–£5,000 |
| New video system, 6–10 flat block | £4,000–£10,000 |
| Fob/proximity access added to the entrance | From £695 per door |
| Replacement fobs | £10–£30 each |
Section 20: when the whole system is due
Old wiring, obsolete handsets, a manufacturer long gone — at some point repair stops being economic. Replacement of the system counts as qualifying works: once the cost to any one leaseholder passes £250, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 Section 20 consultation applies — notice of intention, estimates, leaseholder observations, then the work. Skip it and recovery through the service charge caps at £250 a flat, which concentrates minds.
We make the consultation easy to run: a written condition report on the existing system, a like-for-like replacement spec and an upgrade option (video, fob access, app entry) priced separately, so the notice can put real choices in front of leaseholders instead of one number.
The fire safety angle nobody mentions
The communal entrance sits on the escape route, so its hardware is fire kit whether anyone thinks of it that way or not: locks must fail safe or open without a key from inside, and door closers on entry doors are part of the block's fire door duties under the 2022 regulations. A broken maglock that's been helpfully wedged open is simultaneously a security hole and a fire-door failure being recorded at the next quarterly check.
When we attend an entry fault we check the egress side as standard — it's the same door, and agents get one report covering both.
For managing agents and RMCs
- Planned maintenance contracts across a portfolio — one schedule, priority call-outs, parts stocked for your systems
- Takeovers of orphaned systems: Paxton, Comelit, Videx, 2N and the unbranded 1990s survivors — we identify, repair or adapt rather than defaulting to rip-out
- 24/7 emergency response for lock-outs and insecure entrances across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and North London
- Fob management done properly: issue logs, deletions on tenancy change, no more mystery fobs
- Section 20-ready replacement specs, with the block's CCTV and access control quoted on the same visit when wanted
Frequently Asked Questions
The intercom in my flat stopped working — who do I call?
The landlord or agent won't fix it — what next?
Is door entry covered by the service charge?
Only my handset is broken — do I pay?
How long should a repair take?
Can we upgrade from audio to video while we're at it?
Our system's manufacturer no longer exists — are we stuck?
Managing a block with a dead intercom?
We repair, maintain and replace door entry systems across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and North London — most makes, including orphaned systems nobody else will touch. Planned maintenance or one-off call-outs, with Section 20-ready specs when replacement is due.
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