Fellow leaseholders have gone missing

specialhat

I live in a leasehold building containing four flats. The leaseholders have the Right to Manage, ie the freeholder does not manage the maintenance of the property. Instead, the four leaseholders form a management company and maintain the property ourselves.

We are responsible for maintaining the communal areas only.

The leaseholder of the basement flat appears to have abandoned the property. I know they were letting it out through the Housing Association, and the property was being managed by an agent. However since the summer, their garden has become overgrown, covered in litter, and now their drains are so blocked with litter I can see the area outside their front door is flooded. I can't imagine anyone is living in there now. (It has just occurred to me that the occupant could be in trouble!)

Please note that none of these are communal areas. However, the fact that it is so run down affects everyone, as it attracts vermin and the flooding obviously poses a risk to the building itself.

The basement flat leaseholders have not responded to any emails since June and I have no other contact details for them.

My next step is to contact their managing agent, but this feels like going over their heads.

Obviously if the freeholder sees their property like this he will not be pleased.

What would you advise please?

SmashedAvacado

you could ask the landlord to enforce the covenants in the lease in respect of keeping the property in good repair etc of the basement property - as tenants you would have to pay the landlord's costs of the landlord doing this to the extent that such costs were not recoverable from that tenant.

xylophone

I know they were letting it out through the Housing Association, and the property was being managed by an agent. However since the summer, their garden has become overgrown, covered in litter, and now their drains are so blocked with litter I can see the area outside their front door is flooded

I'd contact the agent/housing association.

specialhat

SmashedAvacado wrote: »

you could ask the landlord to enforce the covenants in the lease in respect of keeping the property in good repair etc of the basement property - as tenants you would have to pay the landlord's costs of the landlord doing this to the extent that such costs were not recoverable from that tenant.

Thanks! But why would the other leaseholders have to pay? This area is not our property, only the basement flat's.

specialhat

xylophone wrote: »

I'd contact the agent/housing association.

This was my thinking too.

SmashedAvacado

specialhat wrote: »

Thanks! But why would the other leaseholders have to pay? This area is not our property, only the basement flat's.

as typically this is the way it works - if you ask the landlord to enforce the covenants against another owner, then to the extent that the landlord is not able to recover from that owner, they would look to you to pay. it is your interest that is presumably being impacted.

specialhat

SmashedAvacado wrote: »

as typically this is the way it works - if you ask the landlord to enforce the covenants against another owner, then to the extent that the landlord is not able to recover from that owner, they would look to you to pay. it is your interest that is presumably being impacted.

I still don't understand why this would be the case - sorry if I'm being thick. I thought I just owned my flat - I wouldn't have thought I have a financial responsibility towards any of the other properties.

specialhat

specialhat wrote: »

I still don't understand why this would be the case - sorry if I'm being thick. I thought I just owned my flat - I wouldn't have thought I have a financial responsibility towards any of the other properties.

I've just looked it up and you are right! Well, I definitely won't be contacting the landlord in that case. He will probably notice the flooding himself at some point.

specialhat

I have spoken to the ground floor tenants who have seen a woman down there recently. I am very worried she is not OK if she is living like that.

HampshireH

By!specialhat19th Nov 18, 6:35 PM

I have spoken to the ground floor tenants who have seen a woman down there recently. I am very worried she is not OK if she is living like that.

Perhaps knock the door and see if she is ok if you have concerns

G_M

Approach the freeholder.
Approach the managing agents
Write to the leaseholder's address at the Land registry
Knock on the door (at various times of day)
Put a letter through the door
Approach social services
Approach the police


Depending on what you want to achieve and why, and how concerned you are for yourself, the building as a whole, the occupant, then do one or more of the above