Please Help! Previous leaseholder fault

faisalpak

Hi, need some urgent help please.

I bought a flat from a previous leaseholder in July 2007, who originally bought it from the council. The flat is on the top floor of the block.

Today I received a letter from council, saying the downlights installed in the kitchen are against the health and safety of the entire building and that we must have accessed the loft to install, acccess to which is not allowed to any tenant/leaseholder.

Now the thing is, we never installed those lights. They have been there since day 1. So it must be the previous leaseholder who installed it, and I never thought they could be safety hazard anyways!

I am now being given 14 days to take them out and fill the holes in the ceiling, otherwise I am being threatened that they will inform the borough solicitors for beach of the lease agreement!!

I am in total distress and confused on what to do and how to respond.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

keystone

First question is Is it a breach of the lease agreement? Have you checked?

Are the council still the freeholder?

and that we must have accessed the loft to install,

Ask to see the CCTV footage which proves this wild speculation.

How did they find out?

If the solicitor who did the conveyance for you is still around I'd consult them.

Cheers

macman

As the leaseholder, you are still responsible for righting the fault, whether you originally caused it or not.
Whether you have any civil remedy against the vendor is another matter, but I very much doubt it. As stated above, consult your solicitor.
The reason is presumably the potentially increased fire risk-any fire or smoke starting in your flat will spread more easily through the holes into the roof void.