Sole Leaseholder in Housing Association Block

redzhell

Hi all,

Can't sleep so might as well post this...

I am currently a leaseholder in a block of 4 flats. The block is owned by the local housing association and the others living in this block are all tenants on benefits.

The housing association has recently sent a letter advising that the front and back doors to the block will be replaced and the cost will be just under £2,500 per leaseholder. This figure seems quite high although I must admit I've never had a quote to get doors replaced before.

Their offices aren't open until Monday so an email has been sent to query the following but I will of course follow this up with a phone call next week:


- Confirm overall cost of the planned works as assuming that the total was divided by 4 then the cost would have been approx £10,000.

- How is this separate to the monthly service charge when the contract advised this also includes planned maintenance.


Does anyone know if being the only leaseholder in this block puts me at a disadvantage as this could mean I bear the majority of the cost? I assume that the others will not have to fork out this amount as they are tenants.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Norman_Castle

You're not the only leaseholder. The housing association has three of the leases. You should pay your share of the cost. In your case 1/4. The remaining 3/4 will be paid by the other leaseholder/s, the housing association, which they will recoup from the other residents through rental income.

You could query the cost and how necessary this work is and ask about or suggest alternatives, ie repair to the current doors.

moneyistooshorttomention

....and yes....£5,000 per door sounds like one heck of a lot.

In your position - I'd be investigating whether leaseholders have the legal right to propose firms they have chosen for the job instead of it automatically being a firm of the HA's choosing.

Are these doors something very specialist or something? When I had an exterior door changed last it cost me more in the region of £700 - not £5,000.

MyOnlyPost

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Are these doors something very specialist or something? When I had an exterior door changed last it cost me more in the region of £700 - not £5,000.

If these are the entry doors to the block I would imagine they are more akin to the double security doors with keypad lock you see on blocks of flats, but I don't know.

I have no idea what they might cost

davidmcn

Norman_Castle wrote: »

You're not the only leaseholder. The housing association has three of the leases.

Assuming the housing association is the freeholder, it isn't going to have leases with itself, it simply bears the share of the cost which it can't pass on to leaseholders.

eddddy

redzhell wrote: »

The housing association has recently sent a letter advising that the front and back doors to the block will be replaced and the cost will be just under £2,500 per leaseholder.

Was this letter a section 20 consultation notice? (Or warning of a future section 20 consultation?)

If your contribution to the cost of works is more than £250, the HA should follow the s20 process.
See: http://www.lease-advice.org/article/major-works-and-consultation-under-section-20-of-the-landlord-tenant-act-1985-a-brief-guide-to-your-rights/

If it is an initial s20 notice, you have 30 days to make comments, which your freeholder must 'take into account'.

There are lots of considerations like...
- Are the new doors maintenance or improvements?
- Does your lease allow the freeholder to charge you for improvements?


Some of the considerations are discussed here:
http://www.servicechargedisputeguide.info/i-think-the-councils-planned-major-works-are-unnecessary-what-are-my-legal-rights/

moneyistooshorttomention

MyOnlyPost wrote: »

If these are the entry doors to the block I would imagine they are more akin to the double security doors with keypad lock you see on blocks of flats, but I don't know.

I have no idea what they might cost

Quite possibly. In which case I'd be googling for what firms locally do a job like that - to check for myself what the cost is.

EDIT: Perhaps you could take details of the doors concerned and put up a thread on the "Is this quote fair?" sub-forum on the "In my house" forum? Someone somewhere will be fitting doors like this for a living - and hopefully they'll be able to see it and will come back with what the price really is supposed to be. Even £2,000 per door would be a sight better than £5,000 per door.