Myra Harvey, of Ember Road, Salcombe, writes: As the houses at Alston Gate are being marketed, I wish to alert potential share owners to the drawbacks of sharing with Devon & Cornwall Housing . DCH has share ownership sewn up in its favour. It administers the 30-plus houses on the Ember Road estate, which were built seven years ago and are a mixture of rented, shared-ownership, leasehold and freehold properties. There is a mixture of houses and flats. We bought a 40 per cent share in a two-bedroom flat more than six years ago. Unfortunately we were not advised properly by our solicitor and walked into a lovely property that is proving to be something of a mixed blessing. When we purchased we did not understand that we were on a 'full-repairing lease'. This was a general problem, as none of our neighbours had been advised about their leases. This means DCH charges us for everything that is done to our property or communal areas. An example of the implications of our lease is that DCH has a six-year rotation of ­decorating its properties. Last year we had an invoice for more than a £1,000 each for the external redecoration of our flats, which consisted of clearing gutters, power-washing the walls and repainting the woodwork and railings. It was a copy of tenders for the work and was presented as an immediate demand, even though the work wasn't done until early spring this year. This was when we got some legal advice. When we protested and questioned this bill, DCH agreed to take the money from our sinking fund, which is an extra charge on our rent, after the work was completed. We are dreading the next round of decorating as it will also involve repainting the walls, no doubt at great expense. If you have a house you may do your own repairs at your expense. So despite paying rent on the share owned by DCH, share owners get nothing for it, and this applies to houses on this estate. If you decide to sell, DCH nominate the surveyors who value your property, and you pick up the bill. Also, it gets to market your property for a length of time before you can put it up for sale yourself or use an estate agent. We are not allowed to make any alteration to our property without ­permission. DCH applies service charges for communal services. Since it took over from Tor Homes it has never been able to get our service charges correct. Visiting, emailing, phoning and writing to DCH's posh offices makes no difference to this ­situation as we are ignored. So be careful – get good legal advice and make sure you are clear about the deal you are obtaining from DCH.