Home Renovations

[galasalmon]

Is it law that in a block of houses 2 privately owned , 2 rented that the owners have to pay for all work and outside repairs and also when other 3 owners ask for payment before work is carried out not when other owner decides to pay . Thanks,

[Peter Pedant]

it totally depends on what the leases or documents said that you signed when you bought said about outside repairs

I cant believe it was undecided

[Peter Pedant]

[ one flat I didnt buy, the ground floow brother and sister who owned the block had put into the leases for floors 1 and 2 that they were responsible for roof repairs alone. This was a deal breakeer and clearly they were having difficulty selling ]

[galasalmon]

yes it was decided , but one owner decided it could be done later. just checking others thoughts on matter. Thanks,

[Peter Pedant]

Hmmm someone who is in shared ownership must know the answer

Get three quotes and tell him he will have to pay a quarter ( or whatever ) - however getting agreement is cheaper

[ Had a shared water main and no 3 of the four was always yapping she didnt have the money for this and that - "if you need the water then you can pay [ for me] " was one of her arguments. It was just a nightmare ]

[The Builder]

Difficult to understand this, Gala.
Is there a Management Company that owns the freehold?
Do you all have a leasehold interest?

[bednobs]

someone must own the rented ones!

[Peter Pedant]

Builder - nice to seee you - I assumed there were four leases that said the repairs were shared and that was it....

three out of the four have agreed repairs are needed and one hasnt ( agreed )

so what do they do ?

[KARL]

Assuming the question is whether law dictates that everyone must pay their share then, without truly knowing, I suspect everything depends on prior agreement to proceed with work (multiple quotes often being demanded by someone, then disputes over which quotes/contractors being competent) - that the law does not dictate anything in particular and that the ultimate arbitrator would be a court if it goes that far.

In many European countries it is at least customary if not law that the owners must form a registered maintenance arrangement with regular money contributions building up a fund which then is used by those running it - this is rare, perhaps largely unknown, in the UK. Instead it is frequently a matter of those suffering/unhappy about some aspect lobbying the rest in the hope of getting everyone to agree, sometimes within the context of terms set out in each individual lease (hopefully all of which are identical).

[Peter Pedant]

well if Gala doest thank you boys
I will....

[KARL]

Apologies, I meant to say "....terms set out in each individual title....", not "....lease...." because the owners' documented rights/obligations are what matters, not so much the leases of those who occupy the property/ies.

[The Builder]

Thanks, Peter :o)

I've been holding off, waiting for something from Gala. I think Karl's pretty well covered it. An ideal arrangement is for a Management Company to be set up by the Freeholder(s). This isn't always done, and leads to all kinds of mess.

Also ideal, is the arrangement where the Leaseholders pay a regular service charge to the Management Company. The fund pays for regular maintenance, and ideally builds up enough to cover major works such as mentioned in the original post.

This, being the UK, is often overlooked; resulting in bad feeling, squabbling, and fees for lawyers.

[bednobs]

the problem with doing it that way (as used to be the way in the resident's association i was director of) is that then you get loads of whingy people saying that if they move out/sell, they will NEVER see the benefit of that sinking fund. they all hope the major stuff is going to need doing when they no longer have an obligation to pay i suppose!

[The Builder]

Good point, Beds. Plenty of that kind of whinger about. They simply have to be outvoted ;o)

The upside is that an accumulated fund will be reflected in the saleability/valuation of the property. It can't hurt.

[bednobs]

perhaps the 4th person in htis case is hoping to sell before it becomes apparent the work needs doing. unfortunately, our whingers were in hte majority. However, there were only 3 directors who could have a vote, so we just squashed them