Ex-council flat - buying concerns

saajan_12

AlexMac wrote: »

You say it's a small block, which is good (no lifts or the extreme costs associated with tower blocks which I wouldn't touch)
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But even so, these of mine tend to incur one-off maintenance costs of £4-5k every 5-10 years; for external and communal aread decorations, replacemnt windows, balcont repairs, etc.
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I pay £600 -£900 per year for this for each flat, so overall, I anticipate £1.5-2k p.a averaged out over a ten year period for stuff like this and bigger periodic repairs.

Many insightful points from AlexMac, but the numbers do seem high to me. I pay ~£1000-1200 per year total in service charges covering major and minor works and
- 13 floor block complete with 3 lifts
- swimming pool & gym maintenance
- wages for 24/7 porters
- London zone 2 flat so higher cost of tradespeople
- includes sinking fund (can't remember the balance but it has covered all major/minor works to date)

Granted this is for a larger block so the costs are divided between many leaseholders, but thought I'd mention to balance out.. larger blocks aren't always super expensive as you might expect.

da_rule

unimaginativeusername wrote: »

Quick question - can you confirm if you as the leaseholder foot a proportion of the bill for works carried out on the other flats that yours may not need doing? For example, new windows, re-wiring, new internal flooring, etc.? It seems a bum system where leaseholders have to pay for works that don't affect them, but I think from what I've read this is the case?

You should really only be paying for works that benefit your property or the entire building. A freeholder would be unlikely to redecorate a leaseholders property. Although if the lease has a clause that says that the property must be kept in a good condition they could, in theory, carry out the works in default if the leaseholder does not. But you would expect the cost to be recovered from the offending leaseholder.

Obviously decorating communal areas will be for the benefit of the building so will be passed on via service charges.

Windows are an interesting one. There is an argument that it is for the benefit of the entire building to ensure that every property is weather tight. It is unlikely that a single window would be replaced. They would tend to be replaced during a specific project. However, if a window was damaged (for example, during a break in), then you could expect that the cost would be covered by the insurance (which you normally pay for via the service charge anyway). If a window just suffered a failure then it would come down to whether or not the window was benefiting the building or just the one property.

Wiring is kind of the same issue. It would be unusual for a single flat to be re-wired, it would normally be part of a building wide project. Again, there is a clear argument that a safe electrical system benefits the whole building.

da_rule

Also, in relation to your lack of service charge, it may just be that the service charge is only payable if demanded and none has been demanded as the Council has not yet done any work. Also, depending on the value of the block, the Council may self-insure so not actually have an 'insurance bill' as such.

In relation to asking about planned works, you are unlikely to get a binding answer. It will probably be caveated with "at this time", meaning that, on that specific day there are no planned works. That doesn't stop them from deciding a day later that actually they do want to do works. Not all Council's appear to have long term maintenance plans/schedules.