ground landlord

hamish_2

hi, what a lie saver this site is, wonderfull info.
i would like to ask some questions about my property, firstly, i am the ground landlord of a victorian semi, i live on the ground floor, and the upstairs is leasehold, i cover the insurance and the people upstairs pay half plus a very small ground rent, i dont charge any services although i maintain and keep common areas well. how much should i charge?
whilst the property was on the market i had a letter from the buyers solicitors saying that their lease for the upstairs was in fact defective, and his clients wanted the lease changed,(it turns out that i may own their front door, stairs etc, also the roof space), i had not heard anything more, until a new couple moved in a few days ago, surely i should have been consulted about the sale.
how do i go about setting up a maintainance program, the place is 150 years old and will need a lot of work /care, i want to do this properly as in the past have gone about it on a peacemeal way.
thats enough for now, although i do have more questions, thanks for your advise in advance. hamish.

sooz

i would think, if there are only 2 flats in the building, it would be fair to charge the upper floor half for maintenance...a solicitor would need to put this into the lease of the top flat...although check, most should include provisions for share of this.

re you owning some of 'their' flat, you should own the roofspace, don't just give this away, you could always sell them the right to extend into it, and/or use it for living space. as freeholder, you own the fabric of the building, and this includes roof, walls, stairs and, i think, doors.

i would suggest that you obtain a copy of their lease, and have a careful read through. flag anything that you don't understand, and then ask a solicitor to have a look. if the new top flat owners want a new lease, the terms could be negotiated, to say, include roofspace, and maybe extend the term of their lease...they would have to pay all costs for this, including surveyors and your legal costs, and the calculated cost for the added value to their flat of an extended lease.

re costs of maintenance, charge half of what you have had to pay....you should also need to provide them with 3 quotes for major works, and give them the opportunity to get their own quote if wished. for big things, eg roof replacing, painting of whole building etc, it might be worth getting solicitor to set up a sinking fund, ie you each pay a certain amount each year, over and above regular maintenace costs, so that you have money in an account, earning interest for you both, for major planned works


eg, i used to live in a georgian terrace in a conservation area, and the front and back of the building needed repainting every 5 years, at a cost of 5000 pounds, so we all paid for this every year, so that we did not get a big bill

hope this helps

rozeepozee

I used to be in a similar situation owning the ground floor flat and free hold with two leasehold flats above. I agree with what sooz says about your commitments as freeholder. The lease should specify your obligations to the leaseholder and their obligations to you. I also agree about getting 3 quotes for any work. In addition, I set up a joint account with the other leaseholders into which we all paid an agreed sum monthly. Out of this I paid for any regular bills (gardening) but also we made sure there was enough to use this for any large work (e.g the 5 yearly repainting - which I was obliged to do under the terms of the lease and they were obliged to pay their share of the cost). Also, how big is the loft space? Before you sell it to the other resident, if it's a large property (as mine was) you may be able to convert it into another flat and let this out or sell it! I am now just about to convert my cellar into a two bedroom basement apartment :j