UK Landlord Forum / Life

I have a tenanted first floor L/H maisonette above some shops, where the freeholder had refused to do maintenance and hasn't sent a service charge in over two years. There was a problem with the flat roof of the property and it was leaking into the flat but the F/H would not act, so we came to an agreement that I would replace my section of the roof, which I did 20 months ago, as did one other of the four first floor apartment owners.

Last week I receive a section 20 notice that I have five days to pay my share of a roof replacement that is to be done on the block. I contacted the FH who claims to have sent me a letter a year ago notifying me of the proposed works and another in November 2015 with quotes, neither of which I received (funny that!) They have my email address and my phone number as we were previously in protracted discussions back and forth about the state of the block and their lack of maintenance but have never contacted me regarding this.

I have an appointment with a solicitor on Monday but wondered if anybody had any advice?

Have you spoken to the other four owners to see if they received the communications last year? It all comes down to the terms of the head lease.You may have the right to get a comparison quote for the work to be done.Did you pursue the LH about the missing service charges,and keep a copy of your letter? You mention an agreement to replace your damaged part of the roof.Did this allow for you to be reimbursed,or have your costs deducted from any later roofing work?

Quote from: heavykarma on September 24, 2016, 09:13:55 AM
Have you spoken to the other four owners to see if they received the communications last year? It all comes down to the terms of the head lease.You may have the right to get a comparison quote for the work to be done.Did you pursue the LH about the missing service charges,and keep a copy of your letter? You mention an agreement to replace your damaged part of the roof.Did this allow for you to be reimbursed,or have your costs deducted from any later roofing work?

I am out of the UK now but have someone going to speak to the other owners tomorrow. I do have the right to get a comparison quote but only from the 30 day period from when the quote was allegedly sent to me in Nov. 2015, as for my roof it was a phone conversation where I was told by the FH that they were not going to fix it because they were in dispute with another leaseholder in the block and it was down to individual LH to repair their part of the roof. I could have sued them but something had to be done immediately as there was water entering the flat.