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Freehold with no service charges
Scout1983
Posts: 1 Newbie
I’m thinking about buying a top floor flat that has a share of the freehold, along with the other two flats.
I’ve been told that none of the owners pay any service charges etc and so there’s no sinking fund. The building clearly needs some maintenance but apparently one of the owners of the 1st floor flat has been difficult in allowing work to be undertaken in the past.
The owner of the ground floor would like to start paying into a pot to carry out maintenance. Is there a way of forcing the other owner to contribute without litigation?
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Comments
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To give you the strictest possible answer: there is NEVER a way of forcing someone to do something without litigation, if they really want to be intransigent.
The critical thing here is: what do your leases say? Unless the lease is terrible, it will almost certainly say that they have to contribute in a certain proportion to building upkeep, so as long as you follow correct process for agreeing the works, you'll very likely be able to demand their share of the costs after incurring them, and take them to court if they don't pay. However, you'll only be able to get them to contribute to a sinking fund if the lease has provision for that.0 -
The ideal solution is that the 3 of you voluntarily agree amongst yourselves to pay for the maintenance.
I'm not sure that having a sinking fund is that helpful in your circumstances - it means extra admin, extra responsibilities, and extra legal duties. And...- What do you do when the 1st floor flat owner refuses to contribute to the sinking fund?
- Who decides what to spend the sinking fund on? Do 1, 2 or 3 people have to agree before the money can be spent? And if the 1st floor flat owner disagrees with the spending (i.e. they think the spending isn't reasonable), they can challenge it at a tribunal. If they win, they get a 'refund', even if the money's already been spent.
TBH, a property that needs repairs and a joint freeholder with a history of being 'difficult' about repairs, might be a reason to think twice about buying this particular property.
(And have you checked that the building is insured, and everyone has been contributing to the premium?)0
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