section 20 large bill for roof

[Deleted User]

We bought a flat leasehold 3 years ago in Hastings. The freeholder owned the rest of the building which is arranged over five floors. Ours is the basement - a one bedroomed flat with seperate entrance and back garden. The freeholder has since sold one other flat. When we purchased our flat, there were three bedsits on the ground floor, two on the floor above and then two other flats. Some had tenants.

The terms of our lease state that the leaseholder had external works to complete on the building and until they were done, we would not incur maintenance, service charges or ground rent.

In the time we have owned the lease of the basement flat, he has not completed this work.

The exterior of the building looks in poor repair and Hastings Council are now forcing the freeholder to make repairs. Now the freeholder is demanding money from us - supposedly to repair the roof. He says this will cost £44,000 and that we have to pay a quarter of this.

He wrote to us - presenting 3 estimates, but we contested our responsibility to meet any of these demands. He has since decided to go with the estimate above, but now says that he will not go ahead with the work until he has funds from the leaseholders.

We have several questions:

1.This work was due to be done before we took up our lease and this exterior work he admitted responsibility for by stating that he would complete the exterior work. Does that mean we don't have to pay?

2.If we did have to contribute - the building, which is conversion, is split into bedsits and flats, should the cost be divided by the number of seperate residencies, whether they are occupied or not?

3. When we bought the lease, for example, there were three bedsits on the ground floor. the freeholder owns that floor and has made the three bedsits into one flat. Should the fact that he has altered all affect the way that any repair bill is divided?

Doozergirl

1. Did the freeholder sell you the flat? Do you or your conveyancing solicitor have confirmation of this promise? Ordinarily, you would be responsible for your share of the work.

2. Yes.

3. I would imagine it would make a difference, but I should think he will have to produce Planning Permission to do the work.

You will need to write back to the Freeholder as you are entitled to do, to stop any work taking place before you sort this mess out. I'd firstly dispute the work on the grounds of reasonableness of cost. £44,000 is waaaaaaaaay off for a roof, even with replacement joists etc.

I think you should get in touch with the Leasehold Advisory Service on Monday. The website is https://www.lease-advice.org Telephone number 0845 345 1993

[Deleted User]

1. Did the freeholder sell you the flat?

YES

Do you or your conveyancing solicitor have confirmation of this promise?

YES

Thanks so much. It takes time to become familiar with all the implications around these issues. We spoke to neighbour(from the building next door) who also says that £44.000 is way off and further that the roof tiles - being replacemant and concrete - did not need replacing. I think that the freeholder is either trying to cover the cost of work that he agreed to do before commencement of our financial responsibility. And /or trying not only to cover his share of the bill but to make a backhand profit. Being such a tall early victorian building, spread over four floors(including original dorma windowed top floor) PLUS basement - the costs of scaffold would be significant. Whilst we were making our basement flat habitable, we had to get him to pay for stuff he should have done to drains, downpipes and isolating the water supply from the rest of the building from which at that point he ahd sold no other flats. He since sold one other and we are trying to contact the leaseholder to get his view on the situation in case we need to make a united front.

I wonder if the freeholder is desperate for cash and if worse came to worse, we made a cash offer. This is a scary amount of money for me - I'm very worried.
Thanks so much for support and advice.