Changing windows in a leasehold flat

Bendy_House

devman2001 said:

It’s not mega money being council owned, just over the £100 mark. I’ve gone through all their website and all I can find is details for paying them to approve window fitters, but can’t really afford to go down that route. 

Yeah was thinking of approaching them first, just thought I’d reach out on here for advice first, I’m sure I’m not the first person in this situation. 

That level of maintenance/service charge suggests to me only 'routine' upkeep, say to communal areas, keeping the outside clean and painted, that sort of stuff, and not anything major. I suspect, therefore, that they will expect you to foot most or all of the window replacements.

Roof repairs, for instance, would be a shared cost between all the flats in that block.

That's just my guess. They might, tho', be willing to allow you to find your own window fitter, but equally likely they will only permit their own approved list - and that often/usually means a higher cost, sadly.

But, pure speculation on my part.

devman2001

Thanks for your help. I'll try enquiring but won't hold my breath. 

lesalanos

I had similar in a lease hold flat.  After lots of going backwards and forwards the council agreed to replace them.  They said that they could just fix them ( the wood was rotten in places) but said that changing would be better. 

Keep chasing and complaining 

eddddy

devman2001 said:

So does this mean the council will replace said windows? Any advice how I go about this or would I need to speak to a solicitor? 

You need to read your lease to see who is responsible for the windows - you or your freeholder (the council).

Over time, the cost to you will be the same whether it's you or the freeholder who's responsible.


To illustrate, let's say there are 20 flats in your block - so you are responsible for 5% of the freeholder's repair costs for the block.

So...

• if the lease says you're responsible for the windows - you have to pay 100% of the repair costs for the windows in 1 flat

• if the lease says the freeholder is responsible for the windows - you have to pay 5% of the repair costs for the windows in the whole block of 20 flats

So, over time, it will work out to be roughly the same amount of money, either way.

lesalanos

eddddy said:

devman2001 said:

So does this mean the council will replace said windows? Any advice how I go about this or would I need to speak to a solicitor? 

You need to read your lease to see who is responsible for the windows - you or your freeholder (the council).

Over time, the cost to you will be the same whether it's you or the freeholder who's responsible.


To illustrate, let's say there are 20 flats in your block - so you are responsible for 5% of the freeholder's repair costs for the block.

So...

• if the lease says you're responsible for the windows - you have to pay 100% of the repair costs for the windows in 1 flat

• if the lease says the freeholder is responsible for the windows - you have to pay 5% of the repair costs for the windows in the whole block of 20 flats

So, over time, it will work out to be roughly the same amount of money, either way.

Not if all of the others have already been changed