New Leaseholder company trying to pass £20k charge to residents - UPDATE

Joined
16 Oct 2010
Messages
292
Reaction score
4
Location
Berkshire
Country
United Kingdom
Hi,

I have lived in my property (a maisonette/flat) for nearly 7 years. The original company who owned the leasehold was a large organisation and their deal was always along the lines of:

if the damage or problem is INTERNAL then it's your responsibilty. If it's external, then it is ours.

About every 4-5 years they do work like paint the outside, repair things, etc... just keep things fresh. I pay around £30 a month to them.

About 2 months ago a new leasehold company took over. The long story short is that they are going to be doing work to the outside but they state:

All residents who own their property will be liable for costs. We estimate it to be £20'000 per property.

Frustratingly, this is just before we have sold our property and due to exchange in about 4-6 weeks. My additional concern is that the buyer pulls out due to the concern of having to pay this money.

One of the residents on the road is fighting it, and I too will of course. It seems a ridiculous sum of money to ask each household to pay. They state they will set up a payment plan.

It also seems really unfair. We have buildings insurance as part of the lease and this apparently doesn't cover any of the work.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this, or knowledge about things like this?

Thanks,
RR
 
Sponsored Links
Happened to a friend of mine in a block of flats in Holloway. How many properties are there where you are? What work are they doing? As 20k per property is an obscene amount and yes, I would challenge it too.
 
Happened to a friend of mine in a block of flats in Holloway. How many properties are there where you are? What work are they doing? As 20k per property is an obscene amount and yes, I would challenge it too.

I have a few questions I need to get answered:

- Legally where do I stand.... I think what they are doing is legal as it says something like that in the letter
- What if an owner doesn't want to pay, I'm guessing the work gets done and the company take the owner to court

I think there's around 20 flats that this relates to.

I'm very concerned by all of this and the timing could not be worse, just before exchange on the sale/purchase we are involved in. I don't know how to challenge it really as all I'm really saying is "this isn't fair"... as they're legally within their right to do this (I'm guessing).

I will check the documentation I first got when I bought the place. See what the original lease holding company had in their terms and conditions.
 
If a certain number of leaseholders qualify, you can take over the management of the block yourself
A friend was involved in something similar where a new company took over and decided to charge large amounts. The residents too it over and although repairs were necessary, they staggered the costs and it was half what the original company said, even doing it more slowly and in stages
 
Sponsored Links
Start by reading the lease. Who is responsible for forming the management company? then look at if the management company has resident directors.
Then look at what consultation took place with residents. They cannot just decided to do some work without consultation and in general leases don't allow them to make improvements at your expense. You can challenge the reasonableness of the fees.

start here, but you might want to lawyer up - it would be worth the £5-600 once you've done some howework.
https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/service-charges-other-issues/

You might want to post here: http://swarblaw.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=7
where there are some very knowledgeable specialists.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone.

In terms of legal advice, we have a good solicitor who has been handling the sale of our property, and the purchase of our next. I may ask her for advice, or possibly go to a different one.

I found this document:

https://www.silvahomes.co.uk/download.cfm?doc=docm93jijm4n563.pdf&ver=210

Silva are the new lease people... Bracknell Forest Homes are the old lease holders. They are responsible for repairs to the outside, including cladding. The repairs needed are to the cladding. Although it does say "residents may be asked to pay a contribution".

In my eyes, a contribution is £500... not £20'000 ... twenty thousand?! madness.
 
either way its over £250, so you have rights. One of which is to argue the work is an enhancement not required maintenance.
 
Surely you should have details of the work proposed and an estimate of the cost.

400 thousand is a lot of work.
 
I have a few questions I need to get answered:

- Legally where do I stand.... I think what they are doing is legal as it says something like that in the letter
- What if an owner doesn't want to pay, I'm guessing the work gets done and the company take the owner to court

I think there's around 20 flats that this relates to.

I'm very concerned by all of this and the timing could not be worse, just before exchange on the sale/purchase we are involved in. I don't know how to challenge it really as all I'm really saying is "this isn't fair"... as they're legally within their right to do this (I'm guessing).

I will check the documentation I first got when I bought the place. See what the original lease holding company had in their terms and conditions.
It was some years ago, but it was a council owned block of flats, some private, some council but quite a large number of flats as it was an estate (3 large buildings full of flats all together). I have a vague memory of the people who owned their properties challenged the work needed and the cost, I think they got more quotes for the work and the cost went down to something more acceptable.

It does seem unfair to change the terms after you've bought the flat and I hope you get some good legal advice.
 
It does seem unfair to change the terms after you've bought the flat and I hope you get some good legal advice.
It is not really changing the terms. It is just a very high cost for whatever this work is.

The owners of the flats must be told what that work is and receive accounts of expenditure every year.

They should not pay twenty thousand pounds 'up front' without knowing.
It could be a mistake and 20,000 is the total to be shared by the twenty flats or it is supposed to be 2,000.

It may not make any difference in this case if genuine work (400,000???) but it does come down to the ridiculous medieval leasehold/freehold conditions that apply in Britain but I suppose some will consider that to to be anti-UK so you'll have to put up with it.
 
I thought it was changing the terms, of sorts. The OP said that external costs were covered by the old leasehold company, unlike the new one who is passing on the charge.

It's an incredible amount of money and agree, I'd want to know where every penny is going as well as find out if the work actually needs to be carried out, and how many quotes have been given.
 
The OP said that external costs were covered by the old leasehold company, unlike the new one who is passing on the charge.
Yes, for £30 per month.

However, anything exceptional would incur additional charges.
The freeholder does not (usually) pay for anything. Ground rent is an income while still owning the land and the building.

It's an incredible amount of money and agree, I'd want to know where every penny is going as well as find out if the work actually needs to be carried out, and how many quotes have been given.
Exactly - I am sure they will be told.
After all, the freeholder will not start the work without having been paid. They are not going to be 400 grand out of pocket.

Edit - added "ing". :)
 
Last edited:
UPDATE

Our worst fears have been realised today. After emailing the new company, they have stated that:

  • They estimate the work to cost between £15000-20000 per property
  • They can offer up to 5 years interest free loan... if it was £15k that would equate to £270 a month
  • The work will include
    • Roof repair or replacement.
    • Fascia, soffit & bargeboard replacement.
    • Gutter and downpipe replacement
    • Cladding replacement including repairs to flue installations
    • Balcony repairs
    • Porch repairs or replacement
    • Cavity Wall Insulation
    • Loft Insulation
    • Bin store and recycling store

I feel gutted and physically sick. It's highly likely now that our sale will fall through 2 weeks before exchange and and we will also lose the house we are buying as well.

I'm not sure how this is fair, and where my £30 per month was going, or what that was even used for.

The worst bit about this is that even after the sale collapses, we can't pick ourselves up and go again. We have this huge bill and possible dispute to sort out. Then the work that they want to start next Spring.

I honestly don't know what to do
 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top