2 of 4 Co freeholders not prepared to pay for fire safety measures

Lynlee

Co freeholders not prepared to pay for fire safety

18-10-2021, 13:36 PM

Hi I am an owner occupier who lives in a converted victorian property which has been converted into 4 separate flats - 2 of which are landlord owned. 

The mortice locks to both the front and back communal doors have been increasingly intermittently failing over the past 18 months or so and it got so bad that I could not reliably get into the building, nor can I or and an upstairs tenant reliably get out should there be a fire.

We were kindly advised by the fire safety person at the council to get keyless exit locks for the 2 external communal doors along with fire doors for each of the 4 flat doors inside the building that open onto the communal hallways. 

This advice was also echoed by 2 locksmiths- both of whom said the security curtain of both locks was failing intermittently. 

I requested at a house meeting that the locks be changed because they were

1. Starting to fail

2. effectively a fire hazard given that you have to use keys to exit the building (different ones front and back).

I was strongly verbally abused and made out to be the problem and the meeting broke down. It was all recorded word for word on video.

Given the seriousness of this in terms of health and safety, insurance compliance etc - my mother (one of the landlords) and myself said at the meeting that we’d pay for it ourselves if absolutely necessary and one of the other owner occupiers said “do what you want but don’t expect me to pay for it”. The other land Lord had spat the dummy and effectively stormed out of the meeting. 

As unfair as it is I and my mother are prepared to subsidise the other co freeholders who are not paying their fair share / honouring their legal obligations to ensure that the building is health and safety compliant. 

I was prepared to leave it at that. 

However since getting the keyless exit locks installed I have now received abusive messages accusing me of compromising security at the house and a demand that I now have to get the old mortise locks reinstated at my own expense. 

For it to be keyless exit for fire escape purposes, the old failing mortice locks did in fact have to be decommissioned when the new locks were installed. 

I have also had the other owner insist that I give him copies of the keys “as a courtesy” despite his not being willing to pay his share. 

In addition to it being unfair that I should have to effectively subsidise this landlord in being fire safety compliant I personally do not believe I should have to as his downstairs flat is readily accessible through it’s own separate entrance and his tenants can now (after the improvements I and my mother paid for ourselves) safely easily escape through either of the communal doors should it ever be necessary. 

please advise: 

Do cofreeholders have the option to opt out of essential repairs / safety measures if they do not want to pay? 

Do I in fact have to reinstate the old locks at my own expense? 

Do I have to provide keys for free to someone not prepared to pay their share of legally necessary work - although they can readily enter their flat and escape their flat without said keys? 

As a person on long term disability I am not in a position to pay a solicitor to deal with this - are there any books on co freeholder law issues written in plain English so I can represent myself if it comes to it. 

Thanks in advance for any advice regarding this 

canaldumidi

It was unwise to unilaterally change the locks without the consent of the freeholders. You had no authority to do this. You may have no option but to comply.

However, you could

* get written reports from either the council and/or the fire brigade (who will inspect for free) ideally instructing the freeholders to keep the current new system.However as the old, faulty locks are no longer there, the fire brigade will be unable to assess them now......

* write to the freeholders in you capacity as a leaseholder, demanding the freeholders upgrade the locks.

tacpot12

You didn't have agreement to change the locks, so in theory, the co-owner who did not give permission for the  change could force you to replace the locks, but I would let them go to the trouble of suing you to do so. 

The co-owner who agreed to the change cannot sue you.

If they do sue you, you should counter-sue for the cost of the work - the locks were failing and something needed to be done. Replacing the locks with exit locks hasn't reduce the security appreciably, unless the exit locks can be reached by breaking a pane of glass, then replacing the glass with toughened glass would be an option. I would also counter-sue them for the cost of the toughened glass as they clearly aren't going to be keen to pay for that. 

Personally I think it is reasonable that the co-owner has copies of the keys for entry doors that they don't need access to - they are an owner of the building so should have access to everywhere, e.g. to allow access for repairs. However, I also think that they should pay for their share of the work. I would offer to get the keys cut if they give you the money to do so, and wait to see if the money arrives. 

I can't answer your question about whether co-owners have the option to opt out of essential repairs / safety measures if they do not want to pay.  

I don't know of any references to this area of law, but I'm not a solicitor. Really you should be trying to avoid going to court over this. Mediation might be a good option for you. 

another_casualty

A horrible situation to be in . You have my sympathy. 

Very good advice already above . 

The only things that spring to mind are ; a) your buildings insurance . I take it that you all chip in with the annual cost . If anything were to happen due to non compliance as you have mentioned , then I'd say you ( and the others ) are screwed due to the things you have mentioned . Insurance companies would look at anyway of not paying , and the people who are not paying for the things that you have recommended  will lose everything as would you due to their arrogance . B  )If you have legal protection on your contents insurance , then maybe a call to the legal team may be a good idea. 

( Where is @Jeepers_Creepers😸)

eddddy

Lynlee said:

please advise: 

Do cofreeholders have the option to opt out of essential repairs / safety measures if they do not want to pay? 

Do I in fact have to reinstate the old locks at my own expense? 

Do I have to provide keys for free to someone not prepared to pay their share of legally necessary work - although they can readily enter their flat and escape their flat without said keys? 

I guess one way of looking at this is...

The only way anyone can force anyone to do any of the above is by taking them to court. Do you think that's likely to happen? (Especially over the cost of cutting some keys.)

Realistically, you just have to try to reach some kind of an agreement with your co-freeholders.

I guess it's possible that this could end up in court the if there was something like a burglary resulting in losses of hundreds of pounds or more, and the locks were 'blamed' - somebody might then try to sue you for negligence.




More generally, I guess the 4 of you directly own the freehold building - as opposed to having shares in a company that owns the freehold.

All 4 of you really should think about signing a legal document (called a Declaration of Trust) that specifies how decisions are made in future, and how disagreements are dealt with. Otherwise these types of issues will probably keep coming up.

In fact, it's something that should have been done when the freehold was first bought.

Lynlee

Thankyou you all for your very helpful advice which makes me feel much less anxious about the situation. 

In my panic at not being able to enter my own house at times and my fear someone could die should there be a fire I skipped steps I should have ideally taken in anticipation of finding it very difficult to get the cooperation of the other freeholders. 

In hindsight, I should have got a formal fire safety risk assessment by a suitably qualified person done as well as put a request in writing as a leaseholder as suggested by Canaldumidi.  

canaldumidi - also a very good idea to get a written report now albeit belated. Will be now approaching both the locksmith who installed the new locks, who can comment on both the old and new locks. 

Tacpot12 - very good idea to wait it out to see if I am sued and if so counter sue for the cost of essential works under the terms of the lease.

Another casualty- good idea to approach the buildings insurer about fire safety measures necessary to be insurance compliant. Will also as you suggest see if I can get legal advice through them as well. 

trevormax

Am I right in saying that you own 1/4 of the building (and live there), your mother owns 1/4 and rents out as a landlord, another person owns 1/4 and lives there (person 1), and a 4th person owns 1/4 and rents out as a landlord (person 2)?

Am I also right in saying that at this meeting, in which all four joint owners were present, it was proposed that a new communal door/lock be installed to replace a failing and potentially dangerous door/lock, and that
- you agreed the work should be done
- your mother agreed the work should be done
- person 1 agreed on the basis that you and your mother pay for it
- person 2 abstained from voting and stormed out of the meeting?

If I am correct on both points, essentially a majority of 3/4 agreed to the work going ahead and 1/4 refused to vote. You also say you have video evidence of this meeting in which it can be shown a majority voted for the work to be carried out. I would imagine this would be helpful in any future court proceedings should person 1 or 2 attempt to sue you. 

If the above is correct, and either person 1 or person 2 is now demanding the locks again be replaced or returned to their previous state, then I would be inclined to advise that person that they will need to put it to a vote at a meeting, and if a majority votes in favour of replacing the locks, that person can foot the bill (maybe do what person 1 did and say "fine but don't expect me to pay for it"). 

Given that you and your mother would likely vote against the change, a majority is not going to be achieved, and the person demanding the locks are replaced can again be told that they can pay for any work, AND ensure any work they do complies with the required fire safety legislation. 

Reference the request for a key, it is only right and fair that all four owners should have a copy each or access to a copy (maybe 1 communal key which can be readily accessed by all four owners for emergencies), however given that you paid for the work, I would advise person 1/2 that they will be required to contribute to any costs associated with creating further keys (1/4 of costs per owner). 

Lynlee

Hi Trevor max. Apologies for not seeing your response earlier. you got it exactly right Trevor max. 

Yes it is person 1 who wrote a letter demanding the locks be changed back to what they were. I have simply ignored it as it would stop the communal areas being keyless exit making it a fire hazard again. Fortunately he doesn’t seem motivated enough to pursue it further at present. 

All four flats can access the communal areas even without a key and all 4 can now get out of the building through the communal areas without a key should there be a fire. There will be an emergency key left with a neighbour should either of the residents of the two upper floor flats which must go through the communal area lock themselves out. Both of the downstairs flats have their own separate external entrances. The 2 other flat owners will also be welcome to purchase their own keys at cost should they wish to do so. 

In case anybody has similar issues I have found out that the government funded LEASE advisory service have a free flat law legal helpline - must make an appointment and appointments themselves limited to 15 minutes a time. I spoke with a solicitor there yesterday and she was extremely helpful and advised on issues going forward with certain freeholders not honouring the terms of their leases including writing me a long email straight after the appointment with a lot of detailed info and various links. As I understand it I can speak with her as many times as I need as long as I make a 15 minute appointment. 

They also have a fire regulation team on their website which you can also get advice from on fire safety law as it pertains to flats but you need to make a telephone appointment with them through the website which I will be doing today. 

I have also been googling on fire safety and apparently you can get your local fire safety regulation authority (cannot remember the exact name for them) to send enforcement notices to anyone who isn’t prepared to honour their legal obligations with regards to fire safety measures - so going forward plan to get a formal fire safety assessment by a suitably qualified and registered person and then use that report to request further fire safety measures here at the building. If as expected the same two owners do not wish to contribute I will be informing the authorities who will hopefully pursue it themselves with enforcement notices. 

Wish I had known about this stuff before but it was an emergency situation where I literally couldn’t get into or out of the building at times due to increasing intermittent failing of the external door locks so had to act promptly in the circumstances. 

fewcloudy

Lynlee said:

Wish I had known about this stuff before but it was an emergency situation where I literally couldn’t get into or out of the building at times due to increasing intermittent failing of the external door locks so had to act promptly in the circumstances. 

It is best not to over-egg the pudding in these situations, just keep things factual.

It wasn't an emergency situation, and it is important that you remember that. If you forget this, just re-read your OP.
Annoying and irritating yes, and the potential to be an emergency situation if all the holes in the Swiss cheese lined up.
But it wasn't. There was no fire. If you exaggerate this to others, what else are you exaggerating in your story? It was intermittent, and annoying, so you changed them, end of.

eddddy

As above - this is a dispute about a lock. It seems to be escalating out of control.

Ideally, you need to de-escalate it. The best solution is find an amicable compromise and then everyone can move on.


The 4 of you jointly own a building - you're going to need to work together and reach agreements on lots of things in the future.  (Like insuring the building, fixing leaking gutters, re-painting doors and windows, etc)

It will all be a lot easier if you're all on amicable terms. It will become a nightmare if every small job turns into a war like this.