Leasehold - roof water escaped significantly into my property today causing damage

CookwiththeE

As title says. I am a second floor flat in a 3 story old building. There has been a 'leak' into my flat since the start of the week with the heavy rain, initially where the drainpipe meets the exterior wall. However with the torrential downpour today, it has come through in many more areas and at significant pace, almost flooding. 

I contacted the management agency Monday to Wednesday but they ignored me or didn't reply. I had to call the fire service as it became an electrical hazard. They said its an emergency to turn to electric off, I now have no electric. 

I just moved in less then two weeks ago. Anyway, I've reread my lease but can't make full sense of it. I believe like most situations like this the company is responsible for common areas like the roof. But who is now responsible for my damaged walls.

Apparently to neighbours this happened 2 years ago and they took months to fix the roof and have done a hap hazard job. I'm awaiting further details on that. 

It's my view they have neglected their duties to maintain and this has resulted in damage to my flat. I don't have contents insurance and I didn't get a full survey, more fool me. 

I've attached a section of the lease.

Where do I start guys, i am totally lost and feel badly messed around! 



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CookwiththeE

Also the seller who I just bought didn't declare any previous issues like this hence me having no awarness. Is this something I also need to follow up on if he was aware of previous works and damages?

Jellynailer

I suggest you raise concerns with your conveyancer (could be firm of solicitors but these often use paralegals for the conveyancing work).  It seems to me there has not been due diligence because 1(a) of the transfer deed extract is unclear (to say the least!).  At the same time you should ask them what you can do  a) given you were not informed about a similar leak 2 years ago; and b) how to get the lessor to take urgent action given the extent of the problem.

Do get a response to these concerns before deciding whether to make a formal complaint.

However I suggest that the top gutter of the block may not have been cleared regularly and that the problem is caused by a blockage in the downpipe if you are sure the flat above these does not have the same problem

You could ask 3 roofers to give you an urgent quote to rectify the problem which is what I have just done - see my thread preceding your thread (athough it is a minor problem compared with your disaster) + ask an electrician whether the power to the socket can be isolated and cut off.

I hope this is helpful. 

HampshireH

Unless you asked whether there had been a repair before there would have been no reason to disclose it. Sellers aren't obliged to provide a full list of repairs carried out over x number of years. A roof repair 2 years ago is irrelevant to a gutter repair. 

The freeholder are also unlikely to be deemed negligent if they weren't aware of a new repair. Not sure where you would start a claim there really. 

They certainly won't be responsible for your belongings that's what you should have had contents insurance for. 

Repairs are part and parcel of home ownership (including leasehold) nothings perfect forever.  The weather has been particularly awful in the last few weeks and gutters break/crack/joints move from time to time.

Your focus should be on getting this repair sorted so phone them up and find out what is going on it doesn't sound like you have done that "contacted" and "ignored and didn't reply" sounds like you emailed. Most emergencies would be phoned in.

Once phoned follow up in writing and request a response. Then if you don't get one go through the complaints process.

You're in a block so others are likely to be affected. If need be get together and have a joined up approach

EssexHebridean

Jellynailer said:

I suggest you raise concerns with your conveyancer (could be firm of solicitors but these often use paralegals for the conveyancing work).  It seems to me there has not been due diligence because 1(a) of the transfer deed extract is unclear (to say the least!).  At the same time you should ask them what you can do  a) given you were not informed about a similar leak 2 years ago; and b) how to get the lessor to take urgent action given the extent of the problem.

Do get a response to these concerns before deciding whether to make a formal complaint.

However I suggest that the top gutter of the block may not have been cleared regularly and that the problem is caused by a blockage in the downpipe if you are sure the flat above these does not have the same problem

You could ask 3 roofers to give you an urgent quote to rectify the problem which is what I have just done - see my thread preceding your thread (athough it is a minor problem compared with your disaster) + ask an electrician whether the power to the socket can be isolated and cut off.

I hope this is helpful. 

Eh? The OP doesn’t even show us what the transfer deed says - that is the lease they have posted an excerpt from, not the TR1! In any event sorting out 5e immediate issues is more important for the OP right now than trying to find someone to blame, that can come later.  

OP - you have the details of the management company, yes? See if they have an emergency line as a starting point for report of issues - if they do, and it is a real person rather than a recorded message then use that service to report the problem - state that it is an emergency as the fire service have insisted that you turn the electrics off. Then see if you can find a contact for your freeholder as well - they usually have ultimate responsibility even if a management company is appointed. Again, report it to them as an emergency - particularly in the light of today being a Friday, and more rain being expected. Back up both these telephone contacts with emails - ask for names of the people you speak to and refer to those in the emails. Stress the danger from the electrical issue. 

Move any belongings That will be damaged if water comes in in the same places again. Have you made your downstairs neighbours aware of what has happened as if the water was pretty much flooding your flat, it will likely affect them sooner or later too. Tell them now if not - and show them the photos confirming that the water has come from the roof. I would let both the first and ground floor know to be honest - never harms to be transparent and at least that way they won be blaming you - the newcomer - for the  water ingress if it occurs to them as well! 

As for whether this should have been admitted by the sellers then yes, I would have expect that for what sounds like a significant structural leak of this type it would have been declared with a further detail stating that repairs had been made. The “slip shod” repair is hearsay from the neighbour but their opinion does seem to be being borne out by what is happening now. Obviously this does depend on how one the sellers owned the property - it was be that it was not declared to them by the person they bought from, and they have suffered no issues during their home tenure. 

While you are waiting for other things to be sorted out get that contents insurance sorted too - it won’t help you for this incident but it’s a false economy not having it, and it honestly costs so little. 

eddddy

CookwiththeE said:

I contacted the management agency Monday to Wednesday but they ignored me or didn't reply. 

So it sounds like the freeholder (or lessor) has a managing agent.

The most urgent thing is to get the managing agent focussed on dealing with the leak.

How did you contact them? Did you explain that it's an emergency? Do they have an emergency contact number?

If you want to get 'heavy' with them, you can remind them that if they fail to address the problem in a reasonable timescale, they would be negligent, and you would make a claim from them for the extra damage caused as a result of their unreasonable delay.

CookwiththeE said:

I don't have contents insurance

FWIW, based on what you've said, Contents Insurance probably wouldn't cover this anyway, because it seems that...

• It's a long standing problem
• It may be a result of a botched repair (poor workmanship and/or poor materials)
• Or it may be the result of wear and tear of the roof
• Or it may be the result of lack of maintenance of gutters and downpipes

None of those would be covered by insurance.

The only real possibility for a successful insurance claim would be if you could identify a specific storm, on a specific day, at a specific time - that caused the damage to the roof.

Then the insurance company would check met office records to see if the were wind speeds on that day/time which were high enough to damage a roof.

EssexHebridean

The actual roof damage would be one for the freeholder’s buildings insurance policy though, rather than the OP’s contents cover (if they had it)? 

eddddy

EssexHebridean said:

The actual roof damage would be one for the freeholder’s buildings insurance policy though, rather than the OP’s contents cover (if they had it)? 

Yep - I assumed that, as the OP mentioned contents insurance, the water had damaged their carpets/rugs (which insurers normally consider as contents), or maybe soaked a sofa or mattress etc.

But the roof would typically come under the freeholder's buildings insurance.

The OP's bigger worry might be water damage to the ceiling and the plaster on the walls. The OP is probably responsible for repairing that. They're usually covered by the freeholder's buildings insurance.

But as I say, this incident probably isn't something that's covered by any buildings (or contents) insurance. So the OP would probably have to pay for any ceiling/plaster repairs - unless the OP can show that the managing agent was negligent.

Jellynailer

I agree that most of my suggestions are well open to criticism including I should have said lease and not deeds.  

Whatever the document is, it is poorly drafted and my fuzzy brain (awake since 1 a.m. due to my own leak) now understands that the reference to decorating external walls applies to the inner side of external walls.

However, the OP.s flat is under another flat which also should have similar problems to the OP if the cause is a roof problem - which is why I suggest the problem is due to a blocked down pipe where the OP said it has come adrift from the wall.

I wish to further suggest that I believe all leaseholders shoud have a right to copies of, or at least to view, the records of the Management Company which should show the date and specification of works to the outside of the building(s).

Finally, re the comments on insurance, I sympathise with the OP who had no reason to suspect that this would be needed ony two weeks after moving in.  Also many policies do not cover the first month or so.  I also ended up without insurance because, 30 years before I moved in, the cowboy developer had registered all 13 dwellings  (5 flats & 8 houses) as flats so my insurance application was refused.  It sems that all 8 house owners at least had never had insurance.  End of this subect I hope - stable door & all that..

CookwiththeE

HampshireH said:

Unless you asked whether there had been a repair before there would have been no reason to disclose it. Sellers aren't obliged to provide a full list of repairs carried out over x number of years. A roof repair 2 years ago is irrelevant to a gutter repair. 

The freeholder are also unlikely to be deemed negligent if they weren't aware of a new repair. Not sure where you would start a claim there really. 

They certainly won't be responsible for your belongings that's what you should have had contents insurance for. 

Repairs are part and parcel of home ownership (including leasehold) nothings perfect forever.  The weather has been particularly awful in the last few weeks and gutters break/crack/joints move from time to time.

Your focus should be on getting this repair sorted so phone them up and find out what is going on it doesn't sound like you have done that "contacted" and "ignored and didn't reply" sounds like you emailed. Most emergencies would be phoned in.

Once phoned follow up in writing and request a response. Then if you don't get one go through the complaints process.

You're in a block so others are likely to be affected. If need be get together and have a joined up approach

Nope you're wrong on most accounts. Obviously I called every day.

CookwiththeE

As a few questions have been asked. I called every day Monday to Wednesday the managing agent to inform them of water escape, which is the picture where the walls meet and it's wet. They said they were calling a maintenence person but didn't get back to me.

Last night when it started gushing through, called fire service initially then the managing agents emergency line. They spoke with the fire service also highlighting the urgency. They then called back later saying electrician said they can't or won't come until the leak has been sorted which sort of makes sense but still they could have come and perhaps tried to isolate the living room so I have some power.

I have sent emails last night to the managing agent to start a thread of evidence and I have informed them of notice to start letter of claim for negligence.

I have since spoken wirh them this morning and a roofer is supposed to be coming at 3pm. 

My next steps are to contact the freeholder. 


Finally, my seller ticked no but he has owned for over 2 years since the last roof repair. Is he liable now also for falsifying?