Remedial repairs from council on your privately owned home.

Robbo29777

I have received a letter from my local council stating that there is a requirement to carry out remedial works on my chimney stack, either to repurpose or remove etc. I bought my house Jan 20 and had it surveyed to which the report stated it will need repointing and vegetation removed from pots etc but it is not essential.

The house that I share the stack with is a council owned house that is used to house temporary families before getting a new council home. The letter states I must pay 50 percent of the costings as covered in the deeds when the council house was bought from them and made private. 

However, I have looked at my deeds and land register title and I can't see anywhere where it states this.

Has anyone had an experience of this in the past and if you are unable to pay (Christmas, loss of earnings, coronavirus etc) what the outcome is? I'm paying council tax as are the occupants of the council homes getting chimney repairs however they won't pay an additional penny for the work and granted I will as its private can they force me to pay? 

RelievedSheff

Paying your council tax has nothing to do with maintaining your property!

If the chimney stack is a shared stack then yes the owners of both properties are liable for the repairs too it.

davidmcn

If you can't or won't pay, the council would be entitled to get the works done (assuming they are in fact necessary) and ultimately put a charge on your property so the cost eventually gets picked up when you sell or remortgage.

AdrianC

Robbo29777 said:
I bought my house Jan 20 and had it surveyed to which the report stated it will need repointing and vegetation removed from pots etc but it is not essential.

Doesn't sound like you've got any recourse against the surveyor, then, because they made you aware the chimney needed work. I suspect they also suggested you got a specialist opinion. Did you?

The letter states I must pay 50 percent of the costings as covered in the deeds when the council house was bought from them and made private.

Are you the freeholder, or are you a leaseholder and the council is the freeholder?

However, I have looked at my deeds and land register title and I can't see anywhere where it states this.

What does your conveyancer say?

One thing's for sure, getting the entire chimney done at once and splitting the cost makes more sense - both in terms of finances and quality - than doing half the job separately twice.

Even apart from all that, if the chimney is actively dangerous, then it's entirely likely the council can take action and recharge you.

ElephantBoy57

Let the council fix it and pay half, that sounds fair. You wont have to worry about employing a coyboy roofer.

UnderOffer

Ask for quotes from the council, so it gives you an idea of the costs involved, also get your own independent quote in case the council over inflate theirs and you can present your own quotation to try and reduce expected costs. The council may allow you to pay them over a 6 -12 month period, so you can then budget a more reasonable amount per month? Communicate with them, that’s important. 

Uptown_Boy

ElephantBoy57 said:

Let the council fix it and pay half, that sounds fair. You wont have to worry about employing a coyboy roofer.

Unfortunately councils have a habit of being charged "insurance"* rates rather than competitive rates. (One might wonder if they farm activities out to their preferred suppliers because they get a kick back at year-end based on volume of work). So the OP may be paying 50% of a grossly inflated cost - without any of the future discount coming their way ... win-win for the council.  

* Like getting a car repaired. Garage A would charge a consumer £xxx ... if it was an insurance job then they probably charge the insurer £xxx + 50% at least - for exactly the same job

[Deleted User]

Yes, years ago I was in a situation when I was mistakenly sent the costs for a house refurb under the council before I moved in.  I was flabberghasted at what the costs were.  Inflated was definitely the key word.

Get your own estimate. Negotiate.

greatcrested

Who has sent this letter? Is it

1) the Housing Dept who believe that remedial works are needed to one of their properties with which you share a chimney or

2) the Envionmental Health or Legal dept who have deemed the chimney to be dangerous?

3) the dept (Housing again?) that deals with leasehold properties - assuming your property is leasehold and the council is the freeholder.

If 1), this is simply a neighbour dispute/negotiation. It just happens that the neighbour is the council. Just as with any letter like this from a neighbour you can

a) agree

b) get your own evaluation of the work required (eg repointing/weeding rather than complete removal and propose that cheaper option backed up by evidence

c) get your own quotes for the job they propose, or which you propose (see b)

If you and the neigbour cannot agree, they would need toapply to court.

I suspect it's unlikely to be 2) above or you would have had previous notification.

As for 3), check you bought the freehold or leasehold title.

Torry_Quine

This is totally normal. It works both ways as well as having to pay the share when there's a roof problem the council paid half when the pipe which serves both flats was blocked.

theoretica

The first thing you clearly need is more information.  If the works are necessary now does the council have details/report of the issues and urgency? Have they told you what the cost and timescale would be if they arranged it? 

'either to repurpose or remove etc' seems an odd wording - I can see it being a safety issue and property maintenance that the chimney is repointed and stabilised - but insisting you 'repurpose' or remove it?