Communal light off, landlords supply not been paid

AyrshireGirl

Hi

I've got a slightly complex problem. I bought a flat in a converted building 8 years old. There are two flats and the bottom unit is a shop. Each unit has a seperate electricity and gas meter. There is a fourth electricity meter in the close which powers 5 communal lights.

There was nothing in the deeds or purchase about factors fees etc so I assumed the developer, who has retained the bottom unit was paying for the communal lighting.

A week ago the communal lights all stopped working. My downstairs neighbour replaced all the bulbs and still nothing. Then he received a letter addressed to an unknown person but care of his and my flat number. Opened it and in it was a final demand for the landlords supply. So it seems the supply had been cut off.

We've both tried contacting the developer of the building but she is denying knowing the person the bill is addressed too, denying all knowledge of the landlords supply. Her tenant in the shop has also tried to contact her but she's getting no response.

Meantime we are stuck with no lighting and a two story spiral staircase to negotiate in pitch black.

What else can we do to get the supply reconnected?

AyrshireGirl

Thanks for your response. It's never been paid by any of the flat owners. Myself and the guy downstairs are the only people to have ever lived there since the property was redeveloped. Someone associated with the developer must have been paying the bill for the last 8 years because the amount outstanding is only £260.

Given the road hasn't been dug up anywhere in close proximity to our flats maybe the supply hasn't been cut and there's something else wrong.

Think your right anyway, an electrician will be a good starting point.

retiredin2011

Not only did it avoid the very expensive reconnection fee, but because the electricity is coming from an existing supply, there is no standing charge to pay.

And if you use LED bulbs even if left on 24 hours a day would probably cost about £5 a Year

WestonDave

I'd agree with the above - depending on how the lights sit in relation to the area you need lit, you and the other occupier may be best off just fitting one light each outside your flat from your wiring, set up on a light sensor and/or timer so its automatically on whenever its dark. A relatively low powered LED will give enough light to climb the stairs etc - you don't need to be able to do brain surgery out there, and cost pence to run.

However, bigger picture, if the building doesn't have what we in England have as a management company, you may have a problem if there is any major structural problem with the building. Lets say the roof starts leaking - who is going to fix that? A solicitor in England now would not normally advise a buyer to complete on a property without concrete arrangements for that sort of thing in place - your missing communal lights are potentially the indicator of a far bigger problem if its not possible to get a communal or developer fund going for structural type issues.