Strange repair argmt on leasehold flat

flat21

Hi, thank for any help.

I've had an offer on a flat accepted. It's the top one of 3 in a terrace where the leaseholders run the management co. and own a share of the freehold.

The vendor (top flat) told me that the structural repairs are shared 1/3 each as they arise.

The chap in the ground floor flat (who runs the management co.) tells me that that's broadly true, but any structural areas which soley affect my flat are my responsibility. He gave examples such as:
Roof: shared between all three.
Brickwork: shared between all three
Pointing of brickwork: paid by the flat in way of the pointing
Roof soffits/facias: paid for by the top flat only (ie not part of roof)

Has anyone come across an arrangement such as this? Also, coincidentally, the parts of the outside that fall between the two people's description of the responsibilities are those which need work doing.

Any advice / comments gratefully received.

g_attrill

Doesn't sound right, the soffits/fascia are an integral part of the roof design and if they fail then the roof structure is vulnerable to damp/birds/pests, which is an issue affecting the whole building.

Trollfever

All these issues should be covered in the lease from the freeholder.

G_M

Read the lease.

flat21

Thanks,

My soliciter has the lease and after 2 weeks of leaving messages I now discover she's had a reaction to the anasthetic whilst having her wisdom teeth out so has not done anything.

Anyway, just trying to get things moving with the vendor by assuming the worst (ie a vaguely worded lease). Would it be practical to insist on a deed of variation to the lease (to set out details of everyone's responsibilities) before proceding?

Fire_Fox

So downstairs needs to stump up for a damp course and replastering? What does the middle flat pay for? Let me guess .... the guy you spoke to lives in the middle?

Richard_Webster

First you need to get your solicitor to tell you what the lease does actually say.

Second you need to realise that regardless of legal ins and outs, where you have a building with 3 flats, in reality it is all about getting on with the others. If you are told by your solicitor that the lease says such and such about who maintains what and you tell the others they may simply disagree with what you say and however much you quote legal stuff at them they could just sit there refusing to believe you. It does happen.

So a very important factor when buying a flat in a small "block" especially where it is a shared freehold, is getting on with the other lessees. If one of them is perverse and difficult, having the law on your side is only a help if you are prepared to pay a lot of money to go to court about it. When you come to sell, the whole sorry history then gets dragged out again and your buyer may be put off by the prospect of having at least one unreasonable neighbour and co-freeholder.

So the advice now is to find out the legal position, and assuming they are wrong in some respect, go and talk to the other lessees. They may see sense when you show them a letter from your solicitor explaining the position. If they don't then you have to rethink whether you want to get involved.