Sellers hid large maintenance costs

[Deleted User]

As Stator says, you can ask for a reduction, but also have a plan in mind in case they say no - whether you really couldn't manage to pay the maintainance costs and would have to pull out.

Obviously the first bit of information you need is the exact cost, but also try and find out whether there is any scope to make a payment plan over a year or two. If the freeholder is a local authority, this information would be standard across all their properties and available online or by phoning.

always_sunny

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

But that's the point - I managed to put it off for over 10 years - because I was the one "in charge" of that. So - it wasnt an immediate expense. Also I was trying not to have to cover the cost on my own. I might have got married (ie only had to pay half the cost), I might have become unemployed (ie not had to pay any of the cost).

The part in bold completely made no sense at all. Especially the first bit.
i.e. - lets buy a FH house with the need for a new roof and then "the plan" is to get hitched and palm off half the cost to the other half! Or even, palm it off to tax payers?

I hope it had central heating already :rotfl:

Slinky

I can't see how becoming unemployed would have stopped you having to pay to have the roof repaired either.........

AlexMac

It's all been said, really; assuming you are basing the £4k on facts gathered by the solicitor from the freeholder, there is little you can do other than renegotiate on purchase price (maybe ask for more off, but work out your bottom line; e.g. I'd be willing to split the sum 50-50 so get a £2k cut), swallow the whole sum in a few months' time, or walk away.

Arguably the vendor should have known and should have declared, and if not, was being dim disingenuous or dishonourable, but as the English system depends on your solicitor asking Qs, you could say they or their agent were lying by omission, which isn't actually actionable!

I now always ask about service charges and any pending repairs when buying a flat... and get very suspicious if the replies are fudged. On occasions I've walked away rather than commit to legal costs to find out, having been burned many years ago by a vendor who failed to divulge information about statutory notices of repairs which they'd received. When our solicitor got them from the freeholder, the vendor refused to negotiate. Abortive legal ffes were £700.

So on our last purchase (in a 6-flat converted block) we asked and were pleasantly surprised. The vendor and agent were on the ball...

... declaring that the roof had just been replaced but already paid in full, that full external decs were planned at a likely cost of £4-5k but that half of this was already covered by a sinking fund, so only a likely £200 top-up per flat.

Prior to this, for a leasehold flat which was subject to a Council freehold, I rang in and chatted to the Council Housing Estates Officer and maintenance surveyors... who didn't give a definitive or binding answer on the record, but who gave me enough clues about plans to reassure me to proceed via solicitors.

So caveat emptor; do your homework!

Having said all that, £4k isn't really a surprise; in my past experience of owning half a dozen flats, (including one ex-Council BTL for 20 years), you can expect a bill for £4-5k every 7-10 years for major items like external decs, windows or roof repairs; which seems fair. And if there's a sinking fund that often softens the blow.

Good luck in deciding your options

moneyistooshorttomention

Slinky wrote: »

I can't see how becoming unemployed would have stopped you having to pay to have the roof repaired either.........

Grant to someone in work for roof replacement = nothing
Grant to unemployed person for roof replacement = 100%

That was how it was then.

bouicca21

Surely it is standard practice for your solicitor to ask - and get - a rough figure for maintenance/repairs that have been identified but are not yet done? Until then your £4000 is just a number which may or may not be relevant, and it still isn't clear whether you think that is per flat or to be divided between all leaseholders. Stop panicking and get the facts.

I think I'm right that unless the freeholder is the local council, then major works costing over £250 per flat need a section 20 consultation.

Alderbank

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Grant to someone in work for roof replacement = nothing
Grant to unemployed person for roof replacement = 100%

That was how it was then.

Not exactly. I assume you are talking about renovation grants for owner-occupiers? The grant pays 100% of the cost of a new roof (up to a max of £20,000) to applicants on a low wage. This would include most unemployed but also include many employed applicants as well.

Here is an example of how it works http://www.hackney.gov.uk/renovation-grants

50% if you get married? Because it is a means tested grant there could be a case where a single applicant earned above the threshold but when they got married the new household income would qualify for a partial grant. Brings new meaning to carrying your bride over the threshold

Since the squeeze on their finances, some Councils are not presently offering renovation grants