FTB - breaches of lease - indemnity

ethank

I had wooden flooring in my attic flat. Never had anyone claim (although my neighbour said he could hear the tap of my work shoes clicking on the floor - always put them on outside after that!)

We also had an absent landlord and I had replaced the windows etc. I had been given an indemnity policy by my buyer. Everything was fine when I sold as I had all these policies.

Yolina

The lease for the flats in the development I'm in (we also have the freehold) clearly stipulates carpet, however over the years a number of flats have had wooden floor put in, mostly without permission. Our take on it is that it's an "at your own risks" thing so if it doesn't end up being a nuisance for the neighbours then there's no issue, however if people with wooden floors can't be bothered to be considerate then carpet must be reinstated - end of (and it has happened a few times)

AFAIK in he 15 years I've been here, there's never been any issues when people have sold/bought flats with wooden floors or other unauthorised alterations but it could well be that indemnity insurance was taken

G_M

I may have missed this - which floor are you on? Unless the groundfloor, it is the flat below you need to worry about regarding the wooden floor.

Go and speak to them! Always a good idea anyway to get an idea what your neighbours will be like. You can also ask how well the management company operates. They'll be more likely to be open about problems than the sellers!

And ask if they have problems with noise from upstairs.

I have friends who have been trying for ages to persuade their upstairs neighbors to use rugs or carpets cos they can hear every footstep. They are now reluctantly reaching the point of going down the legal route and enforcing the lease.

But if the people below say "we never hear a sound" that might put your mind at ease.

Yolina

G_M wrote: »

, it is the flat below you need to worry about regarding the wooden floor.

Noise does not just travel down - also goes sideways and up through the walls. I know of a flat here where the noise from people stomping about on the wooden floor could clearly be heard in the flat 2 floors up from it... Because there's the car park below their flat they thought it would all be fine - it wasn't and they ended up affecting 4 flats in all (1 next to them through a common wall, 2 partially above them, and the one 2 floors up). And how noise transfers also depends on how the wooden floor was installed in the first place

elsien

Another question for the OP.
You're looking at new builds and you like wooden floors. As most new build flats do seem to have the no wooden floors clause, if you walk away and continue to look at similar properties you're likely to keep hitting the same problems. So you need to either consider the indemnity insurance, go for a ground floor flat, or change your criteria.

mahoney1975

elsien wrote: »

Another question for the OP.
You're looking at new builds and you like wooden floors. As most new build flats do seem to have the no wooden floors clause, if you walk away and continue to look at similar properties you're likely to keep hitting the same problems. So you need to either consider the indemnity insurance, go for a ground floor flat, or change your criteria.

Hi, I never said I am looking for newly build. Unless you have a lot of money, newly build inside London is not an option for the common buyer.

mahoney1975

G_M wrote: »

I may have missed this - which floor are you on? Unless the groundfloor, it is the flat below you need to worry about regarding the wooden floor.

Go and speak to them! Always a good idea anyway to get an idea what your neighbours will be like. You can also ask how well the management company operates. They'll be more likely to be open about problems than the sellers!

And ask if they have problems with noise from upstairs.

I have friends who have been trying for ages to persuade their upstairs neighbors to use rugs or carpets cos they can hear every footstep. They are now reluctantly reaching the point of going down the legal route and enforcing the lease.

But if the people below say "we never hear a sound" that might put your mind at ease.

It is on the first floor. I didn't have the chance to speak to the neighbours although it is a good idea. The problem is that they might sell and I could end up getting into a legal battle with the "new neighbour from hell".

I noticed that most posters have focused on the flooring, which is a common problem, and even I wouldn't want to hear other people's footsteps or a child running up and down in the flat upstairs.

But the key issue remains the missing wall and some small layout alterations. I don't have a survey or an engineer's report from the seller, who has not consent anyway. It may be just fine structurally, but I decided not to take the risk. I understand it's common for people to take out an indemnity policy. But together with the money I have to fork out to update the place and the fact that resale may have difficulties, just sounds too much to worry about.

The seller has run out of time to respond to the reduction I have asked and I'm thinking to call it off.

Yolina

mahoney1975 wrote: »

But the key issue remains the missing wall and some small layout alterations. I don't have a survey or an engineer's report from the seller

Yeah the removed wall would be my main concern too in the absence of any relevant documentation. We haven't had (yet!) people take walls down here without going about it the right way (a few owners have bought the flat next to them and knocked them through into 1, or have "rearranged" their layout but that's not something that can really get sneaked through without anyone noticing :rotfl: )

Richard_Webster

How many people "share" the freehold? Has the seller made any approaches to find out if they will consent to the existing alterations?

If nobody has complained then there is some chance that a consent might be forthcoming.

mahoney1975

Richard_Webster wrote: »

How many people "share" the freehold? Has the seller made any approaches to find out if they will consent to the existing alterations?

If nobody has complained then there is some chance that a consent might be forthcoming.

There are 16 tenants who share the freehold as far as I know. What do you mean by forthcoming?

The seller's solicitor has taken about six weeks with these enquiries and some replies were wrong or incomplete. There is not indication that they seeked consent or in the process of seeking from the management company.

I have been tied by a very specific timeline which the seller knew from the beginning. I cannot imagine why they came forward so late with this, one day before the arranged exchange. This does not allow me any further time to obtain consent or negotiate.

My solicitor is not happy with the replies to the floor and layout. The only advice I received was to buy indemnity policy if I go ahead.