Bought Property and Council repairs

Dannibee123

Hi All, New to the forum so apologies if this in the wrong place.

I am looking for some advice, less than a year ago I purchased a flat (1 of four) and the rest of the properties are council owned with council tenants. (Scotland)

My home report mentioned that the roof was marked as a 2 (will likely need repairs at some point) however about two months after moving in I noticed there was leaks in the roof, animals living in the roof etc and as I was top floor, this kept getting worse. I asked the council to come out and have a look at the roof, after months of back and forth they have now got back in touch and advised that the total cost of the required roof repairs is over 30 thousand pounds and my share of this will be over 7 thousand, this is not something I can afford at this time, the council did advise I can apply for a grant and if I am eligible this would bring the cost down to around 4 thousand pounds however I do not have this money to pay upfront, the council advised if I fit their financial requirements I may be able to pay this back per month, but I don't know what monthly amount they wish to me pay yet.

I am wondering if anyone knows if it is possible for me to pay privately to repair the portion of the roof that directly effects me (this was always my plan when I moved into the property, I did not know it would be the whole roof that I would need to pay towards) or if there is anything I can discuss to move forward with the council but at a reduced cost? They are keen to start the works as soon as possible and I understand this, but I don't feel confident agreeing to this until I know exactly what my repayments will be.

Thank you,  

gazfocus

Unfortunately this is what you sign up for with a leasehold property such as a flat. The roof benefits the four flats, so it’s only fair that the four flats share the cost of repairing it. 

As a starting point you can ask the council to see all the quotes they received. They ‘should’ get multiple quotes and choose the best quote for the job (best does not equal cheapest) but if they’ve only got one quote, you can ask them to get more and challenge their decision. 

With regards to paying for your share, I’d see what the council are expecting in terms of monthly repayments if they agree to allowing you to pay in that way. It’ll likely be cheaper than getting a loan but obviously a loan might be able to be spread over a longer period to bring monthly payments down. 

_Penny_Dreadful

gazfocus said:

Unfortunately this is what you sign up for with a leasehold property such as a flat. The roof benefits the four flats, so it’s only fair that the four flats share the cost of repairing it. 

The OP is in Scotland so the flat won’t be leasehold. 

gwynlas

There are often more expensive repair bills with council properties due to the way in which contracts are allocated according to strict criteria. This means that companies who compete for lucrative contracts have to be of a certain size in order to have the resources to take on this work and larger companies come with higher overheads. I do not know about buying ex council properties in Scotland but elsewhere i would not advise anybody to buy them unless all the rest are already privately owned. Sorry this does not help you now but council accounting does need to be transparent so you can ask for copies. Unfortunately you might also receive higher than normal bills for items such as external redecoration etc.

_Penny_Dreadful

Dannibee123 said:

Hi All, New to the forum so apologies if this in the wrong place.

I am looking for some advice, less than a year ago I purchased a flat (1 of four) and the rest of the properties are council owned with council tenants. (Scotland)

My home report mentioned that the roof was marked as a 2 (will likely need repairs at some point) however about two months after moving in I noticed there was leaks in the roof, animals living in the roof etc and as I was top floor, this kept getting worse. I asked the council to come out and have a look at the roof, after months of back and forth they have now got back in touch and advised that the total cost of the required roof repairs is over 30 thousand pounds and my share of this will be over 7 thousand, this is not something I can afford at this time, the council did advise I can apply for a grant and if I am eligible this would bring the cost down to around 4 thousand pounds however I do not have this money to pay upfront, the council advised if I fit their financial requirements I may be able to pay this back per month, but I don't know what monthly amount they wish to me pay yet.

I am wondering if anyone knows if it is possible for me to pay privately to repair the portion of the roof that directly effects me (this was always my plan when I moved into the property, I did not know it would be the whole roof that I would need to pay towards) or if there is anything I can discuss to move forward with the council but at a reduced cost? They are keen to start the works as soon as possible and I understand this, but I don't feel confident agreeing to this until I know exactly what my repayments will be.

Thank you,  

Doubtful you can repair just the part of the roof that impacts you because it’s highly likely that every flat owner jointly owns the roof. Your deeds will tell you how the roof is owned. 

Under One Roof is a good source of information for flat owners in Scotland. 

https://underoneroof.scot/

jennifernil

Our son-in-law had an ex council flat, when expensive repairs were needed to the block he had to pay his share, but did get some grant funding and a monthly payment plan, which I think was interest free over 3 or  4 years.  

I would enquire further with the council about that as soon as possible.

As they own the majority of the flats, they will be deciding what is done, if you cannot pay your share, or the loan repayments,  they may well put a charge on the property, which will have to be paid off when the property is sold.

theoretica

Dannibee123 said:

I am wondering if anyone knows if it is possible for me to pay privately to repair the portion of the roof that directly effects me (this was always my plan when I moved into the property...

Do you actually have less than 1/4 of the roof above your flat?  Roof repairs are expensive, and if you can't afford the 7k or even 4k for the council plans, I expect you would have trouble affording this plan too.  And builders don't much like payment plans!