Doing your own gardening, cleaning or repairs at your block

Residents can sometimes do their own gardening, cleaning or small jobs at a block, and it can keep the service charge down. The landlord or management company stays responsible for safety and insurance, though, so it has to be agreed properly first.

Why people ask

The idea comes up most often in smaller blocks, especially where the leaseholders run the building themselves through a Residents’ Management Company (RMC) or a Right to Manage (RTM) company. The attractions are real.

• Residents know the building and care about how it looks.
• A volunteer may not want paying, which reduces costs.
• A volunteer can be flexible and do what is needed when it is needed.

What has to be sorted out first

• Permission. The shared areas belong to the landlord, which may be the RMC or RTM company. The freeholder or the directors need to agree to the arrangement.
• A risk assessment. Write down the task, the hazards and how they will be controlled. If there is ever an accident or a dispute, that record matters.
• Insurance. The building’s policy will not normally cover a volunteer who is hurt, or who injures someone else or damages something. Ask the insurer before work starts. Extra cover can usually be added, or the volunteer can show their own.
• Equipment. Whoever supplies tools is responsible for making sure they are safe, maintained and suitable. Electrical equipment needs regular inspection and testing, and ladders need regular checks.
• Cleaning products. Check the labels for hazardous substances and store products safely.
• Training. Anyone given equipment to use must be shown how to use it safely.

Volunteer, employee or contractor?

The landlord needs to be clear about the person’s status, whether or not they are paid. If something goes wrong, the law will ask the question anyway.

• Unpaid volunteer. Health and safety law does not generally place duties on a volunteer, but everyone still owes a duty of care to others, and a claim for negligence is possible if someone is hurt.
• Employee. If the person is paid regularly, they may be an employee. That brings a contract, tax and National Insurance, sick pay and employers’ liability insurance.
• Contractor. A self-employed contractor sends invoices and carries their own insurance. They take more responsibility for their own safety, but if the landlord or agent sees work being done unsafely, they must step in.

The downsides

• Neighbours may disagree about the standard of the work, and that can sour relationships.
• It is awkward to criticise a neighbour, and worse to have to tell them to stop.
• There is no cover when the volunteer is ill or away.
• Enthusiasm often fades after the first few months.
• Equipment bought for a volunteer may sit unused if they step down.
• If the arrangement ends and a contractor has to be brought in, the service charge can jump.

Jobs to leave to professionals

In our view, some work should never be done by volunteers. That includes anything involving electrics, gas, fire safety equipment, lifts, roofs or other work at height, and anything that could disturb asbestos.

How Butlin can help

Using resident volunteers can work well in a small block, as long as the responsibilities are understood. If the directors of a development we manage want residents to take on some tasks, we will help them set it up properly. Where a contractor is the better answer, Butlin Property Services has its own cleaning and grounds maintenance team, which reports directly to our office.

Further reading

• HSE guidance on health and safety for volunteers

This article is general guidance based on the law in England in October 2026. It is not legal advice. Your lease or transfer deed always comes first, so check it, and take professional advice on anything in dispute. The TPI advice note attached to this article was last revised in August 2017. You will find more answers in our FAQs.