Maintenance of block of flats

[clive.r.long]

This is really a legal question but someone who frequents this group may ha ve knowledge or experience of this issue.

I own a flat (apartment) in a block of nine in London, UK. There are some r epairs to the fabric of the building that need to be carried out, the major one being repointing the brickwork on the second floor. There is an area o f about 5 square metres where the pointing has obviously come away. Now the maintenance company have said this is not necessary because they have rece ived no complaints about damp. However, I am concerned that if this is negl ected this will affect the building. What is the owners' position/power (li ttle I guess) to oblige the maintenance company and the freeholder to carry out maintenance on the fabric of the building?

I am surprised the maintenance company / freeholder are turning down this r equest. I would have thought they would have wanted to protect their invest ment in the building and not let it degrade. The normal scenario I would im agine is the freeholder charging for unnecessary work at inflated prices - rather than the leaseholders asking for repair work to be performed.

[tabbypurr]

have knowledge or experience of this issue.

repairs to the fabric of the building that need to be carried out, the maj or one being repointing the brickwork on the second floor. There is an area of about 5 square metres where the pointing has obviously come away. Now t he maintenance company have said this is not necessary because they have re ceived no complaints about damp. However, I am concerned that if this is ne glected this will affect the building. What is the owners' position/power ( little I guess) to oblige the maintenance company and the freeholder to car ry out maintenance on the fabric of the building?

request. I would have thought they would have wanted to protect their inve stment in the building and not let it degrade. The normal scenario I would imagine is the freeholder charging for unnecessary work at inflated prices

- rather than the leaseholders asking for repair work to be performed.

try uk.legal.moderated

NT

[DJC]

As you note the usual problem is to prevent unnecessary work. In the thirty years I ran a flat management company the usual problem was persuading people to pay for repairs. One increasing problem is the onerous consultation requirements ('section 20') before any repairs can be carried out.

[Roger Mills]

Have a read through your lease. That should have a list of obligations which must be fulfilled by the Landlord. See how this re-pointing work would fit within that.

I presume that you have to pay an annual maintenance charge to the Landlord. Is that fairly constant, or does it vary from year to year depending on what the actual repair costs have been each year? Presumably if this work is done, you and the the other flat owners will have to share the cost of it in one way or another?

But if it's *not* done, it could affect the market value of your flat if and when you wish to sell your lease. If you can find a way of getting it done, it will prevent water ingress and general deterioration which will otherwise occur.

I own a flat in a Georgian house which has been converted into six apartments. We're in the fortunate position where the six flat owners collectively own the freehold, and are the shareholders in the management company. We try to plan 5 years ahead and set the maintenance charge at a level which will cope with year to year fluctuations, and the fact that some major expenses like external decoration only come round once every few years. We would still try to deal with ad-hoc repairs like re-pointing in a timely fashion rather than waiting for problems to become more serious.