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Service charge issues in leasehold flats

13

Comments

  • Jox
    Jox Posts: 1,652 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    edited 20 March 2017 at 5:04PM
    Resolved issue :)
  • Lord_Baltimore
    Lord_Baltimore Posts: 1,348 Forumite
    Jox wrote: »
    Thanks Lord Baltimore, it's comforting to see that someone understands me :)

    You're welcome; don't get mad, get even. And don't give up on Guest101 either, his sometimes acerbic style shouldn't put you off getting him onside as he would be a good ally :).
    Mornië utulië
  • Jox
    Jox Posts: 1,652 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    edited 20 March 2017 at 5:04PM
    Resolved issue :)
  • 3card
    3card Posts: 437 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    I am in the process of purchasing an leasehold apartment and our lease specifies that we are liable for 3.33% of the total service charge for the 'site' and i know there are 30 apartments in total so this should clear ours up.
    I would have thought it was standard practice for all leases to read similar to this one by stating the percentage

    Good luck with your problem and hope you sort it out

    Mick
  • Jox
    Jox Posts: 1,652 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    edited 20 March 2017 at 5:04PM
    Resolved issue :)
  • Hoploz
    Hoploz Posts: 3,888 Forumite
    Ah a vital piece of new information at post 26!

    Presumably the existing 42 flats all had their leases before the new level was added. That explains it.
  • Jox
    Jox Posts: 1,652 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    edited 20 March 2017 at 5:04PM
    Resolved issue :)
  • Jox
    Jox Posts: 1,652 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    edited 20 March 2017 at 5:04PM
    Resolved issue :)
  • Mokka
    Mokka Posts: 412 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Jox wrote: »
    Thank you, I guess it's not worth trying to get 5 years worth of contributions from the freeholder for all the electricity etc we have paid for, for the top flats :)

    Not if you want to sell it ASAP. The good news is that the service charge liability stays with the flat, so your new buyer could recover the money owed to you. The question is would a new buyer be interested? To get ready for legal fight straight after moving in?

    Your arrangement seems very fishy to me. You have the right to see all the info relating to the service charge, so for instance if your communal electricity bills have gone up after the new flats were added, then the freeholder is sponging off you. Service charges have to be reasonably incurred and getting his own flats serviced at the leaseholders' expense is not reasonable. But to prove this you need evidence that he is not paying his share.
  • Mokka
    Mokka Posts: 412 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Guest101 wrote: »
    But of course it will cost you, why should it be 'free'

    Because law says leaseholders are entitled to see the supporting documentation demonstrating the legitimacy and fairness of their service charge for free ( or a small fee to cover the cost of photocopying).
This discussion has been closed.
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