UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello, I am a Camden lessee and I let my studio flat. Although I have had no Section 20 yet, I attended a meeting where Camden told me that there will be works to the tune of £15- £20,000. Is there a limit on the amount that a freeholder can hit a lessee with please? Is there anything I can do to resist this as I have not this kind of money. Thank you Alan

Isn't that divided by all the other leaseholders in the building, or is it 15-20k per leaseholder?

Thank you for replying Propertyfag, it is for each leaseholder. 
Regards
Alan

That is a terrifying figure.  Is there not a leaseholders committee for the building?

Ouch! I don't think that's fair, but I'm not sure what the rules are unfortunately.

Yeah, as Riptide asked, is there a committee? If you all get together, you might be able to put up some resistance. Have you spoke to the other leaseholders about it?

To be honest, this is why I stay clear of leasehold properties.

If the council owns the the freehold, I don't think the leaseholders have much say. A friend of mine has a flat in Camden (leaseholders are in the minority) where the council owns the f/h and they slapped an 11k bill on him for replacing windows in the block. He had a covenant in his lease to say that his liability would be capped at 7k (or something like that) in the first X years of issuance of the head lease, but the works were carried out after the covenant expired so i don't think he had a leg to stand on.

You should certainly speak with the other leaseholders and see if you can voice your concern in unison to the council.

Thank you so much everyone.

I cannot see in the lease that there is any cap on the amount they can charge.

Camden say that we have one lessee short to make a committee, I suppose that is true, although would it matter?

I understand that there is a new law in or about to come in says that there is a cap on all London charges of £15000. Is this true?

Hope to hear more from  you thank you.

Alan

Quote from: alanf on October 18, 2014, 01:05:18 PM
I understand that there is a new law in or about to come in says that there is a cap on all London charges of £15000. Is this true?

I haven't got a clue.  London is a different country to the rest of us!

Half the issue is the councils really get stung for contract works. Builders who tender often "take it in turns" to get contracts, keeping there prices high as a result. In situations like this, its the leaseholder who ends up paying.

I would argue like hell with the council and insist I can have the tender document to get my own prices for the works, to ensure it is fair.
After that though, really if you own a property you have to maintain it. £2000 a year or 1% of the property value is reasonable in terms of a budgeted maintenance cost for a freeholder. So if you have had a free run for a while, then it could be arguably fair???

Thanks everyone, Grateful for your help. alan

Hi Alan, I am with Camden too. I hope we are not in the same block. I have disputes with the Council as some of their charges are LUDICROUS. We are on a communal heating scheme and my building and they are trying to charge £1005 just for the heating of a  2-bed flat. My lease says that I am liable for the works charges but if the charge is over a certain amount you are able to spread it over so many years. Some of the leaseholders in my building that have been there awhile. It is so funny. They simply don't pay what they don't think is fair and nothing happens. But, I think in most cases if you do this you will booted out and fithe bailiffs after you etc. You should speak to the council about what is happening as they ALWAYS send out extensive paperwork about this kind of work and a breakdown of the charges. Before any of it happens, they always have a consultation period anyway. Then they send the estimate of how much it costs per unit, then they ask for objections, then if it passes something, they begin. Good luck. Let us know how you get on!