how come im liable for major works bill

keith69

my lovely mum died 2020 and was in receipt of PC When she died all works had been completed with major works completed for fire safety works indeed zero charge was raised to confirm this and completion of works . Yet six months Since property has now passed to myself and my two sibling council freeholders are saying we must now pay £5,000 towards cost of major works? How is this fair and can we dispute this. This is not helped that whilst property in London has not sold ongoing towards a year we have no redress for discount on council tax? Any advice would be useful . I understand as there is no outstanding mortgage on late mothers  property there is an option to rent back to HA or indeed council freeholder but is this possible with outstanding charge. I dont necessarily want to contact freeholder myself as I think they prey on peoples predicament so would seek advice from someone who has been in similar situation  

lincroft1710

If someone owns their own flat in a council/HA block then they can be charged a proportion of the cost of major works. The charge can pass to new flat owner if not paid by the previous owner. 


Reading this may be helpful

https://www.lease-advice.org/files/2016/09/Major-Works-Leaseholder-English.pdf


Regarding the flat not selling, it is often suggested on these boards that the asking price should be reduced

Keep_pedalling

The charge will relate to the terms of the lease, there will be no getting out of it. Be careful as failure to pay could result in ownership reverting to the freeholder.

According to a earlier post this property is worth £500,000 so a bill of £5,000 does not sound extortionate or unfair. Council tax is chargeable on it after the 6 months exemption following obtaining probate, and to discourage leaving property empty the rate will increase up to 2 fold if left empty for too long.

if it’s not selling then the selling price is too high, 

keith69

and the third point I asked?

elsien

Are you thinking of the guaranteed rent schemes some councils run?
Those vary between areas so you would need to contact the council/housing association directly to ask how that would work with the property in question. The option is there for landlords generally, if the property is suitable, and is nothing to do with freeholders preying on anyone. 

Is the flat an ex-council one? 

Savvy_Sue

Keep_pedalling said:

According to a earlier post this property is worth £500,000 so a bill of £5,000 does not sound extortionate or unfair.

And that's £5000 split between 3 people. Although whether the property is actually worth £500,000 is clearly moot. 

Keep_pedalling

Have you actually transferred the property into the beneficiaries names or is it still held within the estate?

Marcon

keith69 said:

my lovely mum died 2020 and was in receipt of PC When she died all works had been completed with major works completed for fire safety works indeed zero charge was raised to confirm this and completion of works . Yet six months Since property has now passed to myself and my two sibling council freeholders are saying we must now pay £5,000 towards cost of major works? How is this fair and can we dispute this. 

If extra work needs to be done in the time since she died, then whoever now owns her property inherits the costs and charges along with the property. Is this actually a demand for payment, or a consultation notice (if so, it'll be headed 'Section 20')? Is it fair? Yes, if it's in accordance with the terms of the lease - otherwise other occupants would be subsiding her former property. 
 

keith69 said:

This is not helped that whilst property in London has not sold ongoing towards a year we have no redress for discount on council tax? Any advice would be useful . I understand as there is no outstanding mortgage on late mothers  property there is an option to rent back to HA or indeed council freeholder but is this possible with outstanding charge. I dont necessarily want to contact freeholder myself as I think they prey on peoples predicament so would seek advice from someone who has been in similar situation  

Anything sells at the right price. If you've not sold in a year, talk to the estate agent about dropping the price to a more realistic level.

You need to ask the HA if you can do that, or check the lease. No good relying on other people who have been in a 'similar situation' unless they have the same lease terms. It's unlikely, but without seeing the wording in your lease it's impossible to be certain.