Emergency repairs to communal property - Troublesome neighbour

Brduk

We are located on the top floor of flats with three other owners, the bottom three sections of the block are owned by two different people, one owning a shop, the other owning one shop and one office. A landlord owns the other two residential flats in the block. Four owners, six flats in the block.

We have a situation with storm damage to the roof our our property which has resulted in water leaking into our kitchen above the boiler and electrical sockets. We are unable to use the boiler and electrical sockets in the kitchen as a result. We feel this is reasonable grounds to be considered an emergency.

The landlord of the residential flats and the owner of the shop and office are in agreement, however the other shop owner is being awkward (probably because we asked them not to leave cigarette ends all over the section of communal back garden that we paid to have decked out of our own pocket). They have objected saying that we should get quotes first, however due to recent widespread storm damage to properties in the area, all local companies are doing emergency repairs only, quotes will not be able to be provided for another month, if not longer.

The roof is in need of wider general maintenance, but we will be going ahead with the emergency repair. We want to make sure that we do everything legally correct and do not offer our neighbours the opportunity to sneek out of paying for the repair.

I'm thinking of righting a letter of notice of intent to the neighbours to back up the conversations that we have had to date. Any advice on handling this would be appreciated.

TIA

BitterAndTwisted

I wouldn't be righting any letters at the moment, if ever. Who is the freeholder of the property? You mention owners, it's unusual to have four owners but entirely possible. Are you an owner/occupier or a tenant?

I'm sure I've heard about this fag-butts scenario before.....

G_M

You need to identify the owner of the Freehold of the whole building, an/or th Management Company that looks after it.

They should arrange emergency repairs.

Do you have details of the building insurance policy?

Ultimately, if ongoing damage is being caused, you should just get work done and argue the money afterwards.

Brduk

We own the top floor flat, have a mortgage etc. There are three small businesses located on the ground floor level, these will be owned either by the individuals mentioned or their companies. The two other residential flats are owned by an individual who rents them to tenants. It is the owner/proprietor of one of the businesses that is being problematic.

Haven't mentioned the fag-ends on here before, but the guy has been a PIA ever since we put up a small note asking them to bin them.

Brduk

Everyone in the building owns their flat/section. There is no one entity which owns the structure.

None of them will agree to employ a property management company, or a factor (as they are called in Scotland) as they feel that they are too expensive. Therefore, any time there is a need for communal repairs they have to be arranged amongst ourselves.

The insurance route is probably not worth even considering. Over the years (prior to us being there) the repairs to the roof have been carried out by local people on a cash basis, so the insurance company would probably use this as a reason for not covering any damages. Additionally, even if they did accept responsibility, I would expect our insurance to only cover our share of the responsibility to the roof, 1/6th, which probably wont be much over the excess on the policy.

G_M wrote: »

You need to identify the owner of the Freehold of the whole building, an/or th Management Company that looks after it.

They should arrange emergency repairs.

Do you have details of the building insurance policy?

Ultimately, if ongoing damage is being caused, you should just get work done and argue the money afterwards.

princeofpounds

Everyone in the building owns their flat/section. There is no one entity which owns the structure.

None of them will agree to employ a property management company, or a factor (as they are called in Scotland)

Are you actually in Scotland? This is a pretty relevant fact.

The non-existence of a freeholder would be very unusual in England (although not impossible).

BitterAndTwisted

I wouldn't be wasting any more time on this online, to be frank. Get yourselves down to a legal professional's office first thing tomorrow morning. In E&W one can acquire some form of legal enforcement if necessary but things in Scottishland are a mystery to me.

Brduk

princeofpounds wrote: »

Are you actually in Scotland? This is a pretty relevant fact.

Yes

Bitter&Twisted wrote:

I wouldn't be wasting any more time on this online, to be frank. Get yourselves down to a legal professional's office first thing tomorrow morning. In E&W one can acquire some form of legal enforcement if necessary but things in Scottishland are a mystery to me.

Not really sure if it's worth the hassle, lets say the repair costs £600, one sixth of that is £100, how much legal advice would you get for £100? Very little I'd presume...

If I can write up a notice of intent myself/with assistance then i'd probably be happy with that. If there is anything else I should consider i'd be open to suggestions.

BitterAndTwisted

If, as you say, the roof is in need of general maintenance adn has been for some time and that they've had cowboys patching it up badly it could mean a whole new roof. That could be a bill of ten grand or more not £600!

Brduk

Yes, there will at some time in the near future be a need to have wider remedial work done to the roof. This has been quoted for at around £3.5k but the recent storm damage has changed that, meaning there will probably be more general works required. There are some disagreements on how to address this, but it's another issue entirely.

We are making a distinction between the general repair requirements and the current emergency repair requirements. This emergency repair will simply cover the water that is immediately entering the kitchen.

We are hoping that having a reputable company doing this repair will soften attitudes from other owners who have had cowboys do the work in the past. That might change when they send us the bill though, lol.

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If, as you say, the roof is in need of general maintenance adn has been for some time and that they've had cowboys patching it up badly it could mean a whole new roof. That could be a bill of ten grand or more not £600!

BitterAndTwisted

You are the people with the real incentive to get this done, ether repaired or replaced as you're the only ones with water coming into your home and unable to use the boiler and electrical sockets in the kitchen. Have you been onto your own buildings insurers about the damage? Still, there would be no point in making a claim or having a loss -adjuster round until the roof has been fixed properly once and for all. I'd be minded to get some quotes in and/or instruct a builder myself and just be done with it. Argue the toss about who's going to pay for what after the fact. After the rain has stopped coming in, the heating's on and being able to use the kitchen in safety.