Things not mentioned in the lease

danco

What is the situation when there is a disagreement about an aspect of management and the lease is not explicit?

Specifically, there is a cafe as part of our block of flats, and an area at the back is reserved for residents' use. When I moved in this area could be accessed at any time (we use a fob to open the cafe door). But the guy who runs the cafe feels, quite reasonably, that he does not want people in the cafe if he is not around, and the access has now been reprogrammed so that we can't use that area when the cafe is closed. This (and another similar issue) does reduce our use of the building.

We were quite clearly told that these areas were for our unrestricted use, and it has now been restricted.

One of our other residents feels strongly that this change should not be permitted. I am more inclined to accept the change but ask for some compensation. It does seems clear that we were promised things that are not being supplied.

hazyjo

What does your lease say regarding access to the area?

user1977

danco said:

We were quite clearly told that these areas were for our unrestricted use

"Told" by what means? What does your lease actually say about it (if anything)? What sort of "areas" are these?

daveyjp

The lease should specify how the property is accessed and which areas you have access to.

Jonboy_1984

Is there anything shown on the plans with the lease?

HampshireH

What is the area and what are you paying to use it?. A communal lounge?

Your lease and any service charges will state your eligibility to use this area.

If you don't contribute in any way to the upkeep and it sits within the title of the shop with nothing in your own leasea then it seems odd you would have any legal right 

Jonboy_1984

Do you know what the area was built for originally? Our old block had some old bin stores that we originally put full bin bags in until bin day. When the council switched to communal wheelie bins the freeholder/managing agent fitted locks and permitted the storage of bikes and pushchairs only.
This was not part of the lease and it was made clear it would be withdrawn if fly tipping or storage of other items took place.

Is it something such as this change of use , that wasn’t envisioned when the lease’s were drawn up? If so your rights might well be limited.

danco

OK, I do always tend to very short statements rather than give too many details, so more is needed. The building is a block of retirement flats, built around four years ago. The cafe is part of the building, with the developers leasing it out. The advertising for the block places great emphasis on the cafe.

There is a herb garden that can only be accessed through the cafe. This area is clearly marked on the plans that go with the lease, but there is no specific mention of it in the wording of the lease. I am myself happy enough being restricted in access to cafe opening hours  but that does not include evening hours, and one of our other residents feels strongly that this is a reduction in our amenities.

The other area is part of the cafe, but is for residents' use only. When the cafe was first opened we had unrestricted access to it, and it was used for various communal activities. But now access has been limited to opening hours. Again there is no specific mention in the wording of the lease.

There's a related issue with our gym and swimming pool. Again there is no explicit mention of what hours they should be available to us and they are in fact closed at times when I think they could well be open.

sheramber

Are there any stipulations in the cafe /gym/swimming pool leases as to opening hours?

danco

I don't know what the freeholders lease with the cafe proprietors says, but there's no mention of cafe hours in our lease.

And no mention of swimming pool hours anywhere. Obviously if the pool were open twentyfour hours, there would be a huge electricity cost against the service charge, and I'm sure we don't want that. Presumably there would be health and safety issues if the pool were open but unheated.

I think I need to ask if access to that area can be slightly extended. The main reason is that we regularly show films in the nearby communal area, and we usually can't access the loo in the gym area when the film has finished.