Need advice on how to take legal action against my freeholder ( property management firm)

eddddy

You need to decide the legal basis for your complaint.

If you see your complaint as a noise nuisance, you could complain to the Council's Environmental Health department, who have the power to order to force your freeholder to deal with the nuisance.


If you see your complaint as a beach of lease by your freeholder (i.e. failure to maintain the gate), you might have to go to court to get an injunction for specific performance. (i.e. a court order telling them to deal with the gate). That's likely to be very expensive.

Ubaka

I contacted the council and they said they are pretty limited as it's a private residence. I still filled the noise complaints but it must have disappeared down a blackhole. The next was to get InTouch with the ombudsman and I have not submitted my case.

They are maintaining the gate but are not achieving a suitable level of operation. This is why I wasn't something that forces then to continue until it is operationally satisfactory. I have been in touch with an acoustician and obtained a quote to do a noise survey. This is very expensive but once this is done and any work is done to the gate the survey is void. I need to wait until IDM refuse to do anymore work which I suspect it's soon and then I may need to go down this route and build up my case that way.

SuperHan

Wait, so you own the freehold? Then why do you have a managing agent? Is this just for the communal areas? Do you pay the managing agent? What agreement do you have with them?

I have a leasehold so I have a lease agreement with a landlord. The landlord is responsible for making appropriate repairs (per the lease), but they employ a managing agent to do that for them.

I think first of all you need to identify whose responsibility it is to fix it, and the legality of what their obligation actually is before you go any further.

forgotmyname

Gate bangs when its closed, blame the users.

What can they do to prevent people slamming the gate? Fit a fully electric one? But who will pay for that and the maintencance costs for it?

Anna1912

I can appreciate it is a lot of noise coming in. Just wonder if it worth to check if there is weatherproof resin or something else you can put on the door to prevent it slamming?