Definition/examples relating to leasehold agreement - rates taxes assessments

leafy211

Im hoping someone will be kind enough to clarify what is meant (maybe with an example if possible) by assessments, within my leasehold agreement.  This relates to my responsibilities of paying towards 'assessments' via my service charges.  But I have no idea what it really means.  Any help would be very much appreciated.  Thank you in advance.

leafy211

I should have added the phrase - 
rates taxes and assessments

davidmcn

It just means anything else similar to a tax which is payable by the freeholder in relation to their interest in the property. Probably unlikely that any such thing is likely to crop up in practice. Why do you ask?

leafy211

Im in an annex building (2 flats) to the main block (24 flats). For the last 30 years my lease was understood to mean i dont have to pay anything towards the costs of the main block.  I currently pay 50/50 for external repairs with my neighbour upstairs.  And a proportion of the costs for the communal spaces (excluding anything to do with the main block - which has a lift, alarm, security system etc). 
The current directors have now decided my lease agreement states i should pay a small proportion of all costs, including those in the main block.  They have had a solicitor look at my lease and she has come back with the following statement (limitation referring to contributing to the main block): 
The limitation is in respect of the rates, taxes or assessments imposed. I have clarified this within the lease review
The Directors are taking this that anything else other than these three things should be contributed towards by me.  So i was wondering exactly what the assessments wording meant, in case it means basically any costs relating to the main building only .. that was my hope, so that I could have tried to nip this in the bud 

mrschaucer

Dunno, but I would be taking MY OWN paid for legal advice from MY OWN solicitor as to exactly what MY lease says in this respect.

eddddy

leafy211 said:

The limitation is in respect of the rates, taxes or assessments imposed. I have clarified this within the lease review

Have you been given a copy of the whole of the solicitor's lease review? I would be suspicious if the directors have just provided 'snippets' from it.

And have you read the relevant clauses in the lease, to see if you agree with the solicitor? How does it describe the proportion of the freeholder's expenditure that you are responsible for?

You might also want to see what the leases of flats in the main block say. Again, you can check how they describe the proportion of the freeholder's expenditure that each flat is responsible for.

leafy211

Hi Edddy - yes i have a copy of the whole review.  All of it is correct, its just the interpretation of this particular section that is key to the whole of my service charge bill.  Ive interpreted what the review says in one way, and the Directors another.  I asked them to go back and ask for that particular paragraph to be rewritten in a way that clarifies exactly - but they have refused that saying it will cost more money. 
Is it worth me posting the section showing my query on here i wonder?

leafy211

ooh i forgot to add that Im in an annex building (of only two flats) to the main building in the complex (24 flats) so my lease is different. (I and the flat above have 50/50 responsibility for the outside of our building and pay a proportion of the common areas. Until now Ive not been expected to contribute to anything in the main building, but these directors are trying to get me to pay towards the costs of the main building too .. where they own their apartments, coincidentally :-)).