Freeholder Problems

princeofpounds

gab3x said:

He arranges building insurance but of course I have no idea whether this is done or not and I haven't been billed for anything for the last couple of years.

You have a right to summary information about the insurance policy, and you are also allowed to view the entire policy at his 'office'. If he doesn't provide it to you, he is committing an offence and can be fined in the courts.

I suggest you do this sooner or later, because you don't want your building to be uninsured. He's unlikely to have any other assets you can chase if the building burns down. You would lose your home without any compensation.

In fact, if he doesn't play ball on the LPE1, I suggest as part of the stick approach you chase him with all the statutory rights that you actually do have - demand he prepare budgetary summaries, demand inspection of receipts etc.

I don't know why I didn't mention this earlier, looking back (thinking I may have conflated this with a reply I had already made in another thread), but if there are enough other leaseholders in the block, you could look into seizing right-to-manage or even collective enfranchisement. The other leaseholders may not care about the LPE1 issue unless they are also thinking of selling sometime, but if he has been derelict in his duty to insure the building it's clear that he is not capable of responsible management.