advice needed regarding leasehold property

neilsolaris

I’m just wondering if anyone could offer me some advice regarding a leasehold property that my boyfriend and I bought last year. The property is a converted house; we occupy the top flat, and the guy below rents from the owner of the ground floor flat.

Basically, we have to pay money to a management company each year, which goes towards ground rent and buildings insurance. Any maintenance to the property has to be organized and paid for by both us and the owner of the other flat.

My question is, when repairs to the exterior of the building are needed, should the owners of both flats be equally liable to the expense, whichever part of the building the defect is? Furthermore, if a defect to the exterior of our flat causes a leak to the ground floor flat, are we responsible for rectifying any damage that the dampness may have caused inside the other flat?

I’ll explain later the specific scenario if necessary, but for now I’ll try not to let this become too long-winded!

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

prudryden

I have a converted house with three flats. All exterior repairs are split in accordance with the percentage ownership of each flat as dictated by the leases. The percentage ownership is based on the size of each individual flat.
If your flat has a loft extension, you may be responsible for the roof solely depending on how your lease reads.

The building insurance will cover damage to both flats.

tomstickland

The freeholder is normally responsible for the exterior of the building and can charge the leaseholders to cover works.

neilsolaris

Thanks for your reply Prudryend.

I'll have to read the lease again, but I don't remember reading anything about splitting repairs in accordance with the percentage ownership of each flat.

What's happened in my case is that I've noticed dampness a while ago on the inside wall beneath one of the windows. It’s probably been like that since I’ve moved in, but I’ve arranged for someone to come round on Monday to sort the problem out. The most likely cause is rain water falling from the weed filled gutter above onto the window ledge, and finding its way through into the house somehow. It has also found its way down into the room below, which belongs to the downstairs tenant, and has caused mildew damage.

I’m sure that this dampness must have developed over quite a long period of time, but he’s only just thought to tell me, which I find slightly strange.

Anyhow, I had someone come round from the insurance company, and he told me that this was not covered by the insurance. In that case, is it up to me to pay to the repairs to the inside of the lower flat?

neilsolaris

It's an absolute nightmare contacting the freeholder. I've left him 4 messages on his mobile phone, and have also posting a letter to the office, asking him to phone me back. This is over 3 weeks ago, and still no reply. Any advice on how to proceed here would also be much appreciated.

prudryden

If the damage is coming from the exterior, then it would be reasonable for both flats to share the cost. The interior of the ground floor flat would probably be that owner's responsibility as you aren't the cause of the damage unless he can prove you knew about the problem and failed to take corrective action.

You should be able to get your window cleaner to throw his ladder up and have a look at the gutter. If you don't have a window cleaner, then get a polish builder to take a look. Mine would do it and clean out the gutter for £20. Then check the seals on the window ledge and replace the putty. Also, check that the mortering is sound in the brick work.

neilsolaris

Getting a polish builder to clean out the gutter seems like a great idea, but how do I find one?!

prudryden

In London, it isn't a problem. If not in London, I suppose I would ask around all my neighbours for recommendations. If nothing else, window cleaners are fairly good at these type jobs.

prudryden

Out of curiosity, did you find any reference in your lease to percentage of your flat to the whole house. If not, check your water bill for the rateable value and the same for the ground floor flat. If they are the same, then chances are, but not official, that the original conversion was designated as 50/50%. Are the council tax bands the same?

neilsolaris

I don't remember anything on the lease regarding a percentage of my flat to the whole house, but I'll have another read of it. I'll also check out the water and council tax bands and report back! Thanks for your advice.

neilsolaris

I have now checked my lease, and it appears that both my flat and the one below pay for maintenance and repairs in equal proportions.

Just so I’m clear, when it comes to urgent repairs, such as to the roof and window ledge in this instance, is the owner of the other flat legally obliged to agree upon the work being carried out asap?

The other problem is that he lives abroad, and I can only pass messages to him via his tenant at the moment. Can I insist that the tenant passes on his contact details to me, or is there some other way I can obtain them? I get the feeling that the tenant is reluctant to give me his details, I’m not sure why!

Also, is it reasonable, given that he lives abroad, that I organize all the necessary work and bill him for half for it?

Thanks!