Neighbour dispute renter v leasehold owner

Anon4tax

To put my question simply: Can I as an a leasehold owner be in dispute with a renting tenant of a neighbouring flat? Or would the dispute have to be between me and the other leaseholder who owns the flat?

My neighbour beneath me in rents his property from the housing association who is also the freeholder of the whole building. He claims that a minor leak during my pre approved renovation caused a damages to his property (minor water marks and a hairline crack running along where the ceiling and wall meet). Being a reasonable person I was willing to sort this out with him for peace and ease sake but he’s trying to claim a ridiculous amount of money for the works. I told him he’s going to have to go through the leaseholder owner of his flat/freeholder (who are the same organisation) as I believe they are more than likely ultimately responsible for the repairs. He’s written to my estate agent saying that he is in dispute with me & that this has to be declared on my LPE1 form and informed to potential buyers. 

To add further context to this scenario he asked me to wait a month after the works were done as he had experienced leaks when the previous owner had baths. He also mentioned that the housing association takes long to resolve issues so would rather do this between us.

All in all I would never cause damage to someone’s property and not pay up and I’d hate to leave someone in the lurch but he’s being totally unreasonable. I know the repair works would cost a couple of hundreds of pounds & he’s asking for several thousands. He’s even asking for a £1000 to pack up his stuff and move out for a period of time whilst the works are being done. There’s also no proof that she’s not including damage for previous leaks. The pipe that leaked is under my floorboards which I don’t own. What do I pay service charge which includes insurance to the freeholder, surely it’s for this?

Ultimately I don’t want this to hold up a potential sale!

theartfullodger

Which country - e.g NI, Wales???

see for England..
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/s/?q=neighbour+disputes

Anon4tax

It’s England

propertyrental

You are only responsible for the damage if you acted negligently eg knew there was a leak but ignored it.

So my advice here would be to write politely to the occupant below suggesting he

* claim on his contents insurance for any personal possessions damaged and

* request the necessary repairs from his landlord (the HA)

marcia_

 Ignore him and go directly to the freeholder his landlord. If you were negligent and owed anyone anything it would be them not the tenant.

Anon4tax

Thanks. I was pretty certain that I wasn’t liable. And yes as soon as the leak was reported to me I got the workman to down tools stop the water via the stop clock, go downstairs & investigate, which they did on the day. I also got my electrician to check what he could as the neighbour claimed water was dripping around the light.

ThisIsWeird

This is hardly a 'dispute'. This is a chancer making a spurious claim for pretty obvious reasons.
I suggest you do not deal with the tenant any further; tell him "the correct move is to inform the Leaseholder - his Landlord/flat-owner - and/or the FH/Management Co.,", and that you will not engage in any further correspondence with him. Do this in a recordable way. Witnessed if verbal, or by email/WahtsApp/, or by videoing you posting this note through his letterbox.
Explain what's going on to your EA, and that you have instructed the tenant on the correct way forward, and that you are also informing the LH and FH on the situation. They should be experienced enough to understand this in any case, and what is going on.

Then I would contact both the Leaseholder/owner of the flat (do you know who they are - do you have contact details?) and ManCo/Freeholder as they have a direct interest in this; they should be aware of any damage that's been cause to the fabric of their property. 

I would add a brief-but-succinct, chronological account of what has been going on, without casting aspersions against the tenant. Ie, Just factually describe what he has been saying as verbatim as possible, list the increasing costs, make clear the delays in the tenant responding to you, and what you have said and done in each case. But do not say why you think this is happening; that will be pretty obvious.

Ending with, "10th April 2024: I informed Mr X that I would no longer communicate with him on this matter, and to contact both the FH and his LL."

Whenever you subsequently bump into MrX, ask him whether he's informed his LL and the FH? If he says, 'Non', then tell him that you have.

Q - do you have any photos of the 'damage' at any stage?

Anon4tax

Hey thanks for this comprehensive advice. His Landlord, the freeholder and the managing agent are all one body so that’s pretty straightforward communicating with them. I’ve got 5 photo’s dated back to when I visited the property after the initial report of the damage. I think I’m going to lodge a complaint with the Landlord that they are in breach of their lease by causing a nuisance. 

user1977

Well, that's something you'd definitely need to disclose to buyers.

ThisIsWeird

Anon4tax said:

Hey thanks for this comprehensive advice. His Landlord, the freeholder and the managing agent are all one body so that’s pretty straightforward communicating with them. I’ve got 5 photo’s dated back to when I visited the property after the initial report of the damage. I think I’m going to lodge a complaint with the Landlord that they are in breach of their lease by causing a nuisance. 

Eh? Do they even know what's going on?! Has the FH been involved in this? If so, I don't think you mentioned this?

I suggest you just keep this as unprovocative as possible. You had approved works carried out, the tenant in the flat below told you there was a leak - for which you have zero evidence of when it occurred, that you tried to resolve this painlessly to all, but that the tenant procrastinated and prevaricated and escalated to the point you are now doing what you should have done in the first place - passing it on to the FH.

Aaaaand breathe.

Anon4tax

ThisIsWeird said:

Anon4tax said:

Hey thanks for this comprehensive advice. His Landlord, the freeholder and the managing agent are all one body so that’s pretty straightforward communicating with them. I’ve got 5 photo’s dated back to when I visited the property after the initial report of the damage. I think I’m going to lodge a complaint with the Landlord that they are in breach of their lease by causing a nuisance. 

Eh? Do they even know what's going on?! Has the FH been involved in this? If so, I don't think you mentioned this?

I suggest you just keep this as unprovocative as possible. You had approved works carried out, the tenant in the flat below told you there was a leak - for which you have zero evidence of when it occurred, that you tried to resolve this painlessly to all, but that the tenant procrastinated and prevaricated and escalated to the point you are now doing what you should have done in the first place - passing it on to the FH.

Aaaaand breathe.

ThisIsWeird said:

Anon4tax said:

Hey thanks for this comprehensive advice. His Landlord, the freeholder and the managing agent are all one body so that’s pretty straightforward communicating with them. I’ve got 5 photo’s dated back to when I visited the property after the initial report of the damage. I think I’m going to lodge a complaint with the Landlord that they are in breach of their lease by causing a nuisance. 

Eh? Do they even know what's going on?! Has the FH been involved in this? If so, I don't think you mentioned this?

I suggest you just keep this as unprovocative as possible. You had approved works carried out, the tenant in the flat below told you there was a leak - for which you have zero evidence of when it occurred, that you tried to resolve this painlessly to all, but that the tenant procrastinated and prevaricated and escalated to the point you are now doing what you should have done in the first place - passing it on to the FH.

Aaaaand breathe.

As far as I’m aware the Landlord, freeholder and leaseholder (who are all the same organisation) are not aware of the situation. I’ve had no communication with them regarding the matter. I would naturally keep it unprovocative normally but my hand is a bit forced with them emailing my estate agent, I don’t think I have much choice