Leasehold maisonette - who's responsible for what?

want2bmortgage3

I own the lease on a ground floor maisonette, which I am having problems with damp. While unnoccupied and with the heating low I re-decorated and everything seemed ok. Within a week of new tenants moving in the walls are wet in the corners top to bottom with paint peeling and I need to find out why.

I had a maintenance man look at it and he said there's £1200 repairs need doing to the roof and gutters for a start. He also couldn't see any sign of a damp proof course (black sheet) along the bottom of the building and suggested this might need looking into with a possible silicone injection which is very expensive.

There is no service charge, just a ground rent. The freeholder told me their responsibility is just for the land under the building, all they do is extend leases and collect ground rent. The lease defines (in a very confusing way without punctuation and with long words) that the ground floor has to maintain the foundations and the first floor maintains the roof, downpipes, gutters etc.

So what can I do.. Do I have to speak to the above flat directly and ask them to get the repairs done straight away? What if he has no money available? The problem needs fixing right away in my eyes as it is ruining my decoration and causing problems for the tenants. Any advice on this is much appreciated.

G_M

You need to read the lease carefully. If you don't undersatnd it, either quote it here for coment, or take it to a solicitor.

In most cases, the freeholder would be responsible for getting the required work done, but could pass on the cost to the leaseholders. In your case it sounds like the cost of roofing work would be paid by upstairs and the cost of damp proof cost would come to you.

Get help here: .lease-advice

In some cases (eg absent or ignorant or unhelpful freeholders) it is easier to reach agreement direct with the other leaseholder(s), esp if there are only 2 or 3 invlved, but to cover yourselves, write formally to the freeholder as well.

princeofpounds

Initially I would have thought the freeholder is having you on, but given what you say about the lease it may be one of the rarer cases where you have a residential repairing lease.

The fact that it seems to require unequal contributions from leaseholders is going to be a pain. Then there is the problem of anything that is not allocated explicitly by the lease

LEASE (lease-advice.org) is a govt funded advice service that may be able to help you with the basics.

If things are as you say then you will have to speak, and also write, to the leaseholder upstairs pointing him to the lease and asking for repairs. If he doesn't have the money, then you may be looking at funding it yourself and suing, (which may end up with a charge on his leasehold rather than any money being returned immediately) or involving your insurers.

But get advice, we can't tell you anything specific as it really does depend on your lease.