Freeholder/Leaseholder do we have to pay for a new front door we don't even use?

eddddy

Cheeky73 said:
we've never been asked to pay for their front door before and the new owners are asking for it

The new owners of what?

Cheeky73 said:

I did read my lease - but as my comment says above - it is not clear, or specific and I don't understand it, which now means we are going to have to pay for some independent advice in interpreting the lease.

As I mentioned, before paying for advice, ask "the new owners" which part of your lease says you have to pay for the new front door.


Or, assuming they haven't sent you a formal legal service charge demand (and done a section 20 consultation, if they want you to pay over £250) - you can say...

• You don't believe your lease says you have to contribute to the cost of the new front door, so you will only pay if they can provide legal advice from a solicitor saying you have to

• ... or maybe agree to split the cost of getting legal advice from a solicitor

Marky4040

Cheeky73 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Cheeky73 said:

I'm not sure that they have read the lease.....possibly but I'm not sure.  thanks for your responses.  In the same vain, do you think they would have to pay for our stairs (which are metal external stairs) and also our electricity, which is only for the upstairs communal area?

Read your lease.

With our lease all communal areas are chargeable to all leaseholders, so we pay for maintenance of the lift which we will never use in our life. At our previous place only floors 2+ had to pay for a share of the lift but then the fobs used for getting into the building and activating the lifts control panel wouldnt work for those going to the first floor.

Ours current one is an even split across all leaseholders even though 2/3 of units are 2 bed duplexes and the other 1/3 are much smaller units, some only one bed. In the prior place the split was by square meterage so those with bigger units paid more than those with studio flats. 

I did read my lease - but as my comment says above - it is not clear, or specific and I don't understand it, which now means we are going to have to pay for some independent advice in interpreting the lease.

You don't need to pay for anyone to interpret your lease, either ask them to show you in the lease where you are responsible or you just say no.
Even in an old lease it is quite clear what the shared communal costs are and which parts of the building it applies to. It will often say "windows" or "doors" inside or outside of your demise etc.

They may have just assumed the front door costs are communal because this is the way most apartment blocks are set up. If you all a have your own front doors with direct access from the outside, it's unlikely you are liable for this cost. 

poseidon1

Cheeky73 said:

I live in a converted Victorian flat, which has 2 flats downstairs with it's own front door and 2 flats upstairs with it's own separate front door.  I live upstairs and we do not have access to the front door or flats behind it downstairs and likewise the other way around.
We are being asked to pay for a new front door downstairs, which doesn't make sense to me.  If we are liable for these costs, surely they should be paying for the repairs to our stairs (which provide access to our upstairs front door - which they do not use) and also the communal electricity for upstairs (which again they have no benefit of)?

I have a share of freehold and I am a leaseholder.  There is no RTM, no management company and we pay no service charge.  

I've looked at my lease, but cannot make heads or tails of it.   Any advice please.  

Sounds a bit similar to our set up.  Ours a 4 story victorian town house , basement and upper ground floor flats have own doors whilst 1st and 2nd floor flats  have a shared front door. Similarly, Share of freehold no RTM and no service charges  ( we share cost of building insurance per terms of leases).

On our leases the demised curtilage of basement and ground floor flats  per the floor plans obviously include our doors for which we are solely responsible.

For the upper floor flats they soley responsible for their shared door, and stair access to their respective flats. 

Absolutely no circumstance where the two flats below with their own doors would even attempt to pass on cost of maintenance of their own demised premises to others.

If ( which I am sure will be the case ) the front door you mention is part of the demised curtilage on that flat's lease floor plan, they are clearly responsible for their own door and indeed windows for that matter.

You and the 3 flats should simply say no and leave it like that. 

As matter of interest, who organises arranging your buildings insurance and if you own the  freehold via a company, who deals with Companies House  annual compliance? That person wouldn't happen to also be the flat owner seeking to get the rest of you to pay for their door?