Neighbour wants to do repairs!

skinto_1

Hi Folks,

Looking for a bit advice. I live in a block of four flats and we have no factor or arrangement in place for works to the communal areas.

One of the neighbours has recently purchased the flat above them and now owns the two flats, and obviously see this as their home for the future.

Myself and the owner of the other flat were first time buyers and will probably not be here much beyond the next couple of years, and as such do not want to invest any unneccesry cash that we will not get back when we come to sell.

The building is over 100 years old and as such has the usual wear and tear and small movement cracks you would expect, the problem is, the neighbour who owns the two flats in the building wants to patch up every small crack, repaint the back of the building, renew the roof and carry out works to the garden at the same time they are converting their two flats into one big one.

They have not actually spoke to me yet, however i have heard from the other neighbour that they have told them that these work WILL be getting done and the cost will HAVE to be shared between as all.

Has anyone had any expierance of this or any advice, my intial thoughts are that only ESSENTIAAL repairs would HAVE to be carried out and cosmetic repairs, which i think these are, do not have to be done unless everyone agrees?

There is nothing specific in the deeds to clarify, as i said me and the other flat owner do not want to spend any money on anything that is not essential and was just wondering where we stood, and in terms of work being carried out, how would it be defined if this is essential? would a structural engineer be required to define this?

Sorry for the long post but any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

tizerbelle

If there is definitely nothing in the deeds relating to maintenance of communal areas then you need to read up on the Tenements Act 2004 and in particular the Tenement Management Scheme

aboard_epsilon

if he's doing it himself ..then it will be small price to pay ..and may make your property gain value

if he's paying someone else ..then that could end up costing you more money then you are going to get back .

best work it out ..if it shared out between the lot of you and ..even though it costs a lot ..but you end up gaining after you sell ..then all is good ..after all ..the roof above his head is also the roof above yours ..

but if not ..i for one would be against it

all the best.markj

Welsh_Totster

Oh and dont forget, if you do end up having to pay out then you have 1/4 of the bill, neighbour has 1/4 of the bill and the ones upstairs who have instigated it all will need to pay 1/2 of the bill as they own 2 flats.

DVardysShadow

skinto_1 wrote: »

Hi Folks,

Looking for a bit advice. I live in a block of four flats and we have no factor or arrangement in place for works to the communal areas.

...

Sorry for the long post but any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

I suggest you a post a new thread on the Housing, Selling Renting and Buying forum, as the matter is legal rather than technical.

If you are in Scotland, make it clear.

And most importantly, make it clear on this thread and your new one that you are crossposting. I suggest you edit your original post on this thread.

budgetdiyer

Who owns the freehold of the building?

Do all flats own a share?

If so the owner of the two flats will need permission from the freeholder to carry out any internal structural works or major alterations (ie join the two flats).

The external works should be split 4 ways, however major works cannot be done with consultation between all 3 parties