fixing common parts, leaseholder issues.

albmoney

I have been given consent by the freeholder of my flat to organize the fixing of the roof and common parts of the building. The main issue is the roof which needs replacing and the guttering which is causing damp through the front walls.

I organized a builder to carry out the work and wrote letters to the occupiers and the leasehold owner of the flat downstairs informing them of the work, and the cost and that I needed access to downstairs garden to put the scaffolding up.

The owner was annoyed and said it was too expensive and that she hadn't been properly consulted with 3 written quotes etc... I said ok, lets talk about it.

It turns out the owner owns a construction company and she wants me to quote and have her firm do the work and we split the bill. She's indicating that unless her firm does the work she wont co-operate (i.e. give me access to the ground floor flat to put up the scaffolding) and I probably wont get half the money for the work.

I dont trust her or her "company" so I am reluctant to let her do the work and cancel the builder I have. For someone who owns a building firm she has left the property in tatters and doesnt seem to have spent more than a few pennies on repairs. Whatever work I have seen that she has had done looks terrible. And I just found out she has owned the property for 20 yrs so there is really no excuse.

I feel like the only way out is to concede that she will not be paying 50% of the costs for the roof etc... I do not feel I have much power unless I go through the process of involving the freeholder who is really not bothered either.

I feel a bit stuck now. Does anyone have any suggestions?

eddddy

The situation sounds a bit messy.

If you want the other leaseholder(s) to pay you a share of the cost of repairs, you have to get their agreement (preferably in advance and in writing). If they decline, there is nothing you can do. You have no legal right to recover costs from the other leaseholder(s).

The 'formal' way of getting the repairs done is to get a court order forcing the freeholder to do them. The freeholder will have a legal right to recover costs from leaseholders. (Assuming that the leases are not faulty.)

So I guess you have 3 options:

1. Come to a voluntary agreement with the other leaseholder(s) on who does the work and how the costs are split.

2. Get a court order forcing the freeholder to do the repairs.

3. Arrange the repairs yourself, avoid putting scaffolding in the other leaseholder's garden, and expect to pay all the costs yourself (assuming you have the freeholder's permission to do this).


Options 1 and 3 have additional risks - you could be liable if things go wrong. e.g. If the builder you employ damages the roof, the freeholder could sue you for damages. You could sue the builder in turn, but if he goes bust; does a runner; has no money etc, that may not help.

albmoney

Thanks for your response.

I had a look at the lease last night (I assume mine and her leases are the same) and it explicitly states that she should give me access to her property to carry out repairs (my rear windows also need repairing).

It also explicitly states she is liable for any repair work to common parts and that by the very fact the place is in such a state, she is in breach of her lease.

I have sent her a letter pointing these things out and a copy of the lease. I have said that my builder will match whatever her lowest quote is. Hopefully she will respond.

Otherwise I have no choice but to get the freeholder involved and force her to be reasonable. I'm sure he will bill all legal costs to her which could be quite expensive.

eddddy

albmoney wrote: »

It also explicitly states she is liable for any repair work to common parts...

Yes... but her lease is a contract between her and the freeholder. Which is why the freeholder can 'force' her to pay for repairs, amd 'force' her to give you access to her garden etc.

But you have no contract with her so you have no powers whatsoever.

(And it's an unusual lease if it says the leaseholder is responsible for repairs to common parts. Normally that's the freeholder's responsibility - and he recovers the cost from the leaseholders.)

albmoney wrote: »

Otherwise I have no choice but to get the freeholder involved and force her to be reasonable. I'm sure he will bill all legal costs to her which could be quite expensive.

...only if it says he can in the lease. It may well be that the freeholder's legal expenses will be apportioned across all leaseholders. So you could end up paying a chunk of them.

sooz

Stop.

Do nothing unless you want to pay for it all yourself.

Go to https://www.lease-advice.org and learn about section 20

Your freeholder should be the one doing this, but since he appears to have given you the go ahead to do his job, you must follow procedure. Otherwise, you will have to pay for all the work yourself.