Freeholder Responsibilities for Exterior Repairs

cgfw201

Not sure this is the right forum but seems the best I could find.

We own a (leasehold) Ground floor flat, 2 floor building with another flat above.

The Ground Floor has an extension which is circa 20 years old (we moved in 5 years ago). Next door have been having ongoing damp issues, which it turns out is caused by a lack of adequate drainage from the extension's roof, causing the water to run off straight onto their wall, and seep through into their property.

Our freeholder's Property Manager (after a lot of persuading) finally got a roofer to look at the job, and have given us a quote for £3500 for the repairs.

My understanding is that as it's an external fabric of the building issue, it is not a leaseholder's problem.

Is this right, or is it case by case?

I'm currently reading through our 25 page Lease agreement which is full of impossible to understand language, so whilst trying to make sense of that, is there anything obvious I should be looking for or doing?

user1977

Generally speaking, the freeholder arranges the work, but the leaseholders (almost certainly) reimburse them for the costs. But not sure what the distinction is here with the extension as opposed to the rest of the building.

fullyrendered

As above, the freeholder is most likely responsible for the maintenance of the building fabric, and each leaseholder will be required to contribute a share of the costs (totalling 100%). 

The lease prevails, what does it say?

Seeing as the cost per leaseholder is going to exceed £250 the freeholder is required to carry out Section 20 consultation with you. And usually requires them to provide at least two quotes for the work. The should also have access to the detail of the solution they are proposing for that money.

There is one possible curveball - if the extension was built by a previous leaseholder, with the consent of the freeholder, the consent may have been granted with conditions, for example the leaseholder of that flat becomes solely responsible for the maintenance of the extension. The fact they have engaged and provided a quote suggests this isn't the case, or isn't known to them.

poseidon1

Leaseholders are generally  responsible for costs of remedial work to the fabric of the building. Freeholder merely organise what needs to be done and passes costs on to leaseholders unless there is a dedicated sinking fund set up for the purpose via service charge levies. I assume in this instance the construction defect would not be covered by buildings insurance.

Sounds like you are living in a house conversion with added extension at the back.  It appears there is a specific defect with the construction of  your extension which the  freeholder ( for whatever reason) has determined is your sole cost. 

Out of curiosity is there any reason why you and your Co lessee have not collaborated to buy out the freehold, and retain complete control over the management of the building for your mutual benefit going forward?

eddddy

cgfw201 said:

We own a (leasehold) Ground floor flat, 2 floor building with another flat above.

The Ground Floor has an extension which is circa 20 years old (we moved in 5 years ago). 

• When was your lease initially granted? i.e. The date on the lease, not the date you bought the lease. Was it before or after the extension was built?

• If the lease was granted before the extension was built, do you have any kind of lease variation document relating to  the extension?

The devil is in the detail, so you need to read your lease, but the typical situation is:

• The freeholder is responsible for repairs to the external structure of the building - as the building was when the lease was first granted, and as a leaseholder, you would be responsible for paying a percentage of those costs (maybe 50%)

• If an extension is added after the lease is granted, you are not automatically responsible for paying anything towards the maintenance of that extension. You would only be responsible if you or your predecessor signed a lease variation accepting responsibility

Assuming you are responsible for paying a contribution, as your contribution is over £250, you have 2 choices...

• 1) You can voluntarily agree to pay a contribution (e.g. £3.5k)

• 2) You can decline to agree to pay the contribution. In that case, the freeholder will have to do a "section 20 consultation". At the end of the consultation, the freeholder can 'force' you to pay.

A section 20 consultation would probably take about 6 months; it would involve getting at lease 2 quotes; and it would provide some statutory safeguards.

But doing a section 20 consultation might result in you paying more overall. (It depends on a few factors.)

DullGreyGuy

You understand incorrectly... everything to do with the building is ultimately the leaseholders responsibility unless the freeholder seriously breaches certain regulations etc. The only difference is some things you have to pay for directly yourself and other things the freeholder has to initially pay and then will recharge to the leaseholder(s). 

cgfw201

poseidon1 said:

Leaseholders are generally  responsible for costs of remedial work to the fabric of the building. Freeholder merely organise what needs to be done and passes costs on to leaseholders unless there is a dedicated sinking fund set up for the purpose via service charge levies. I assume in this instance the construction defect would not be covered by buildings insurance.

Sounds like you are living in a house conversion with added extension at the back.  It appears there is a specific defect with the construction of  your extension which the  freeholder ( for whatever reason) has determined is your sole cost. 

Out of curiosity is there any reason why you and your Co lessee have not collaborated to buy out the freehold, and retain complete control over the management of the building for your mutual benefit going forward?

Yep, it's around £21k for the freehold and a) we don't have the money, and b) upstairs have zero interest in doing it.

NameUnavailable

Read your lease. Check if this extension was done with freeholder approval.

This could get messy. If the freeholder didn't approve the works it could open a can of worms. If the did approve the works but didn't amend the leases, it could open  a can of worms.

It might be easier and cheaper for you to just get the work done after shopping around for quotes.