SMF - Just Installed!

Question from leaseholder re. freeholder responsibilities

Started by cgareth, September 04, 2010, 09:05:10 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

cgareth

Dear Landlords,

I post here for the first time and hope you are able to point me in the right direction with my queries -

I am a SE London leasholder in a four-flat, three-storey building, on the top floor. Another leaseholder (B) owns the two lower flats, the final flat is empty, that leaseholder having developed it and put it on the market.

Leaseholder B runs a seemingly shady lawyer's practice from the living room of the ground-floor flat, renting out the rest of the flat (one bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, no heating or hot water) to whoever, for the last five months I discover, an elderly couple... Consequently, her clients are to-ing and fro-ing, which has caused increased wear and tear. The communal front door to the building is, frankly, knackered; it can be 'bumped' open from the outside and the intercom electrics are broken.

I have approached the management company to no avail.

My next thought is to get hold of the freeholder but I'd like to know what someone in his/her situation is responsible for -

a. Are they responsible for the inaction of the management company, given that he/she has employed them?
b. Who enforces the terms of the lease? If the leaseholder/lawyer is flouting these terms by running a practice on the premises, how do I make large enough waves to stop this?
c. Should the security fail totally and, say, I am broken into, who would be responsible; how would my buildings insurance comapny react to this?
d. Finally, what does a freeholder get for being a freeholder? Apart from the inevitable hassle, there must be benefits?!

Many thanks for any thoughts you may have.

Gareth

jeffo

When you bought the property it would have detailed in the documents your solicitor handled, various points such as who is responsible for what. It will have laid out the responsibility of the freeholder and wether or not you were allowed to trade from the premises. The chances are that you are all jointly responsible for communal areas. I own a flat where I am jointly responsible for communal areas but when there were maintenance issues I could not contact so much as half of the other lanlords involved. These situations are why we have ground rent. My premises do not and it is a real bugbear. Again, ground rent may or may not cover the problems you are having.
I would say that so long as the front door to your own flat is adequately secured, your insurance company would see that you had done all within your power to keep your property safe.
Most of your questions can be answered by the solicitor who did the conveyancing for you. As in each instance the rules are different, it is impossible to say.

cgareth

Thanks for that Jeffo. You've solved the insurance responsibility query I had.

As for the others, perhaps if I was more specific you would have further thoughts?

As I understand it, the freeholder has appointed a management company. They are 'not very good' - not responding promptly to phone calls/emails/letters. But that is by the by.

Should they be enforcing the lease, in terms of possible-commercial activity cessation, and replacing building's front door, at the least? And if they don't, who does? Is it worth my while contacting the freeholder directly, given that he employs the management company?

Thanks for any words of wisdom!

Gareth