Council own the freehold. Question about repairs.

AdrianC

barbiedoll wrote: »

Where did you hear that the council would "reimburse" your service charges if no repairs were made?

THIS.

Even if they do do this, this is a BAD thing. Unspent service charge should go into what's called a "sinking fund" - basically, a savings pot towards future repairs.

If you get your £30 handed back every month for a year, then there's a bill at the end of the year which would work out to £360 per flat, you have to find that £360. If the money had been put into a pot, you'd not have to find a penny. Now imagine it's a bill for £3,600 after ten years of getting your service charge handed back...

http://www.erimushousing.co.uk/lh_charges_sinking.php is how one HA explain it.

hostie

I don't know if you can set up a payment plan. When I was looking into buying mine (and worrying about excessive costs) I found that some people had gone bankrupt because of these things. Such cases are extremely rare (and therefore newsworthy). I think the best thing you can do is go and speak to your council office. Look at all the minutes of meetings they have had with previous leaseholders.
I took the risk and so far I'm glad I did as the cost has only been about £30 each time. However I am aware that if they decide to replace the roof for example, they are in no way obliged to choose the cheapest contractor, and most probably won't so the cost will be higher than if I was sharing with other private owners. However the plus side is that they do all this stuff for you.

Heisenberg87_2

hostie wrote: »

I don't know if you can set up a payment plan. When I was looking into buying mine (and worrying about excessive costs) I found that some people had gone bankrupt because of these things. Such cases are extremely rare (and therefore newsworthy). I think the best thing you can do is go and speak to your council office. Look at all the minutes of meetings they have had with previous leaseholders.
I took the risk and so far I'm glad I did as the cost has only been about £30 each time. However I am aware that if they decide to replace the roof for example, they are in no way obliged to choose the cheapest contractor, and most probably won't so the cost will be higher than if I was sharing with other private owners. However the plus side is that they do all this stuff for you.

Thanks. Me and my partner are not really in a position yet to buy a house and have a freehold. We just want to get on the property market and hopefully make a lilttle bit of profit off this flat. Do you know if windows that get put in before you arrive (a matte of weeks) get billed to you or the previous owners?

AdrianC

hostie wrote: »

However I am aware that if they decide to replace the roof for example, they are in no way obliged to choose the cheapest contractor, and most probably won't...

For major structural jobs like roofs, going by price alone is usually a great way of picking a muppet to do the job,

tea-bag

I have the same issue with my council over windows and other unnecessary work. My rental flat has double glazing but is not eco enough so they get a over priced approved contractors in to do the work and you have to pay. Because they own 9 flats out of the 12 they get 9 votes on the work being done. That's freehold for you.

Heisenberg87_2

tea-bag wrote: »

I have the same issue with my council over windows and other unnecessary work. My rental flat has double glazing but is not eco enough so they get a over priced approved contractors in to do the work and you have to pay. Because they own 9 flats out of the 12 they get 9 votes on the work being done. That's freehold for you.

This property would be me and one other. Do you think for certain repairs that both me and downstairs don't agree with we stand more chance of objecting?

AdrianC

tea-bag wrote: »

Because they own 9 flats out of the 12 they get 9 votes on the work being done. That's freehold for you.

You make it sound as if you think that unfair?

tea-bag

AdrianC wrote: »

You make it sound as if you think that unfair?

It is just a rigged vote

The council has 9 votes so if they fancy new flooring (like they have done There was nothing wrong with the old tiles from the 70's they where just brown tiles.) and we just get steamrollered. The rules are changing because of this it will soon be one owner one vote.

Marktheshark

The issue is when the "council" do any work it appears to costs about 3-4 X what it costs anybody else to have work done.
Almost like they ask for two invoices, one for them and one for you where you end up paying the lions share of the lot.

ethank

I would never buy a leasehold with a Council as a freeholder!