Communal flats/ freeholder question

Hibiscouscous

unsure of which forum to put this in

I am

The free holder of a house, split into four flats. Two of the flats are on a v long leasehold.

we share the communal space and bills etc

one of the flats I own is the ground floor, the other the basement.

the communal hall lights have gone and I think need fixing, but my basement flat has a separate entrance and therefor we do not use the hall lights or bells.

normally we split jobs involving communal spaces by four ( as in I pay half, 25% for each flat).

but as the communal hall lights hall way is only used by one of the flats I own, would I still be expected to pay half or just a third?

hope that makes sense!

user1977

You'll be expected to pay whatever the leases say each flat should pay.

ExEstateAgent

What does the lease say? I lived in a building with a basement flat but all costs were shared equally regardless. It's like flats with lifts, the ground floor flats still pay for the upkeep, usually.

What does the lease say?

eddddy

As above, the 2 leases will say what percentage/fraction of the cost each leaseholder has to contribute.

(If the 2 leases don't say, they are defective and need to be changed.)

But the 3 of you (the 2 leaseholders and you) are free to agree to split the cost of fixing the lights in some other way. All 3 of you would need to voluntarily agree.

If the 3 of you can't agree, you'd have to split the costs according to what the leases say.

knightstyle

We had a ground floor flat but still had to pay our share when the lift needed major work doing.

Albermarle

I would not have thought fixing the lights would be expensive, so probably not worth getting in a fight with the leaseholders over it.