Downstairs Maisonette not getting repairs done

greenhouse28

Hi all,

Looking for a bit of advice.

I live in an upstairs maisonette and the downstairs window lintels have failed, it's an eye-sore and I'm worried about the potential of movement for my property.

The woman that owns it does not live there anymore and the maisonette is empty.

She is aware of the problem and about 5 months ago text me to tell me to move anything I have away from the inside windows so that the builders could start the work the following day. No one turned up and then she ignored my calls and messages for another couple of months.

Then one day I received a text saying "I will chase up the work on the lintels" and I have not heard anything since, still dodging my calls and messages and it's been another 2 months now.

The management company cannot do anything about it as they do not collect a service charge, only ground rent. They have informed the freeholder but he does not seem interested.

Any ideas where I can go with this? I know she owns a company a few miles from me but I'm reluctant to just turn up and start making demands as I feel this will make things worse.

Thanks in advance!

Fire_Fox

Raise your concerns about the disrepair with the freeholder directly and/ or your home insurers. You likely do not have grounds to demand anything from the other leaseholder.

greenhouse28

Thanks for the reply! My insurance company are saying I cannot claim for this as it is the downstairs owners responsibility.

Fire_Fox

Not claim, raise your concerns/ report. Do you not have buildings insurance that covers the whole property?

greenhouse28

Yeah I've done that and they just said they'll keep it on record but "unfortunately you cannot make a claim for this as the damage is the responsibility of the downstairs owner". I would have thought it would have covered the whole building but apparently it only covers my half (upper half of the building).

stator

Normally the freeholder would take out buildings insurance for the whole building and the leaseholders would insure their contents separately. You would then pay the freeholder for the share of the insurance.


But a lintel replacement wouldn't be covered by insurance anyway, unless it was caused by an insured event.

greenhouse28

Ours are different, the Management Company just take a ground rent charge of £90 per year. Our Lease agreement then states buildings insurance and any maintenance/repairs are the responsibility of the owners.

My insurance company have advised i use a solicitor to try and force her to get it fixed but I'm guessing that would be expensive and take too long as the damage is getting worse by the week now.