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Huge bill for leaseholders
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[Deleted User]
Posts: 738 Forumite
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.
I have just emailed to Hastings Council regarding the section 20. I don't feel we are liable for this as in our lease contract, the freeholder said that he would do all exterior repairs bbefore we became liable for charges and certainly within two years.
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 ?- The freeholder owns two floors of this building and has been renting out bedsits and flats.
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?
Sorry to ramble and repeat, but we have found buyers for our flat and seem to be facing either a huge bill or something which will lose us our sale.
Thanks for your help in advance
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.
I have just emailed to Hastings Council regarding the section 20. I don't feel we are liable for this as in our lease contract, the freeholder said that he would do all exterior repairs bbefore we became liable for charges and certainly within two years.
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 ?- The freeholder owns two floors of this building and has been renting out bedsits and flats.
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?
Sorry to ramble and repeat, but we have found buyers for our flat and seem to be facing either a huge bill or something which will lose us our sale.
Thanks for your help in advance
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