Difficult Co-freeholder

smileygal_110 · 22 January 2022 at 10:50AM

Hi, any advice would be appreciated-I own a leasehold flat with 50% share the freehold with the ground floor and there are just 2 flats in the house. I had rotten joists diagnosed on the floor of my kitchen by a structural engineer (SE) and the joint freeholder was involved in this consultation and in that meeting we agreed I would fix when putting in a new kitchen (as floorboards taken up). I advised the joint freeholder the dates when I planned to install a new kitchen and the couple told me they were going on holiday for 2 weeks but the builders couldn't wait around for them to return so did the joist repair work and covered the floor. The joint freeholder had an in-depth conversation with my builder (who showed before & after photos) about the work after they returned from holiday (he explained joists were not cut into and just doubled up to strengthen) and showed before/after photos. The couple are refusing to pay the invoice saying they were denied the opportunity to inspect the joists and get their own advice but the lease doesn't say that this is essential and I believe they were given adequate time to get their own quotes. They are demanding to see the emails from SE and also any report he prepared but they wouldnt pay the 50% for his services, so I dont think I am obliged to share this information. They also want annotated photos but I dont know what for. My builder and I tried to discuss the work together with them but they said they dont want to discuss this as they are taking legal advice. My question is-what evidence am legally required to provide the joint freeholder? The couple are also saying that they have cracks in their walls since my work but I have asked them to provide a structural engineer report to verify these claims. I have said to them that I don't think we should talk about this anymore without a mediator as we are just bickering and not moving forward. My question is-Should I have got a license to alter? Should I have followed the party wall act to repair joists? They did joist repair work ( which I paid 50% for), installed beams, put in new windows and knocked through walls five years ago and did not follow party wall act but I did give consent by email.

A solicitor has raised these issues and other breaches in a letter to them. My new question is-when they sell do I have leverage to get these breaches resolved and invoice paid? I live alone and the couple involve all the neighbours in these problems but I prefer to keep these matters private.

Our relationship has broken down completely and I wonder why they are so reluctant to try mediation or a declaration of trust. Surely they must be as sick of this situation as I am. I dont want to sell my flat so my plan is to stay out of their way as much as possible for the year ahead.

Can anyone advise what my options are? I would really like to get payment for their share of repair work. If I went to small claims court I have been advised I would just get small portion of money back and may need to hire a solicitor.

TELLIT01 · 22 January 2022 at 11:08AM

Leave it with the solicitor unless the solicitor requests your further involvement. Making it a 3 way conversation can only lead to additional problems where the relationship is already rocky.

starving_artist · 22 January 2022 at 11:36AM

If you can get a telephone appointment with an adviser at https://www.lease-advice.org/ they should be able to help

FaceHead · 24 January 2022 at 11:49AM

If the relationship has broken down, and you want to move onto mediation, send them a letter before action to recover what you think you're owed and say in the letter that you would be happy to try mediation rather than fight it out in court. You can have a solicitor write the letter, but I think it is better to write it yourself, and avoid the impression of 'lawyering up'.

Perhaps say that you think mediation is the next step more clearly and earlier in the letter than most of the templates will.

Either they pay, engage with the mediation, or you file the court claim, and the claims process will push the pair of you harder into mediation. If they still decline the court-suggested mediation then you do end up in court, and it's looking really bad for them having not engaged with the mediator.

2bFrank · 24 January 2022 at 1:22PM

Unfortunately it looks like it might be a job for the courts. How much are you talking here. If its within the small claims court, I would write a letter before action, detailing exactly what you want. I agree with others as well and mention that you are amicable to mediation to discuss how to resolve the issue.

Your main issue is the fact you went through with the work without your fellow freeholders consent and still expect them to pay half. For all they know you could have adding the expensive option when a cheap alternative could have been found (probably not in this case, but you took that option away from them), its nothing to do with them that your builder couldn't wait.

In regards to evidence, you need to provide all the evidence you can show, to explain that the resolution that was taken was the correct and economically the best option, it will certainly help if you have a few quotes available and shown you picked the most reasonable.

If I was your fellow freeholder, and you just decided to have the work done without my agreement on the price, then I too would be telling you to do one, and not agree to the cost nor medication, you chose to carry out the work and not wait, thats nothing to do with the freeholder.

Difficult Co-freeholder

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