Hi,
I am in desperate need of advice, and am hoping your good selves can help me.
Five years ago I bought a conversion flat in an old, large Victorian house. There are four separate self-contained flats, and the four owners (including myself), share the freehold.
We have a lease that runs for 999 years, and should also pay £15 each per month into a fund, that is supposed to pay for repairs and maintenance of the outer building (gutters, drains, driveway etc). In the lease it states that the outside must be kept in good and clean decorative order at all times, and that it must be redecorated every seven years. It also states that all front and back gardens must be kept neat and tidy. This was the last lease written up in 1996, but I did notice in the previous lease that it mentioned people must afford their neighbours peace and quiet and not cause any not cause disturbance, though I don't know if this rule is cancelled out by the new lease, which makes no mention of noise.
The first problem started after I first moved in, and discovered that the woman I had bought my flat from had not informed the bank, who we pay the fund money into, that she was no longer part of the fund association. Basically, none of the freeholders could access the fund until she had been signed off - at least that's what I was told by one of my co-freeholders who I shall refer to as F1 (Freeholder 1).
F1 was the one (and still is), who said he would like to take control of things and sort them out. For five long years I occasionally asked him if he'd managed to locate where the woman who I'd bought from had moved to - as she left no forwarding address. I had tried finding her myself, to no avail, but F1 told me had an idea where she may have gone to, and to leave it to him. Whenever I bumped into him, he kept promising me he would "try again this week" - and that went on for five years. I was not unduly concerned at the time, as he told me that no-one could access the fund money whilst she was still legally a member, as it it required two signatories.
What did concern me, though, was that whilst I have been paying consistently into the fund, F1 stopped making any contributions in July of 2012, and F2 (Freeholder 2), hasn't paid in for over two years. I know this, as the fund's bank statements come to my flat, addressed to the woman I bought it from. It seems she was the Treasurer.
F1 has always wanted to take control of the running of the fund (despite him paying nothing since July 2012), and he's always wanted to be in charge of arranging for any works that have needed doing. However, even though there was a broken drain cover in his front garden for over one year, which resulted in my toilet blocking twice, he failed to replace it until just last month. He also told me to call in DynoRod, at my expense, despite my paying into the fund which covers the drains and gutters etc. And any time there has been a problem, albeit fairly small that needs fixing - he never gets it done despite promising to.
Both Freeholders 1 and 2 live in the property, including myself, but F3 (Freeholder 3), rents his flat out to tenants. I have a big issue with F3, as three years ago he laid laminate flooring in his flat, at the same time as renting out his flat to a young couple with two young children. He never put any underlay or sound protection under the laminate, and the noise of the children running and jumping, and the woman walking in her high heels is horrendous. I contacted him about it, and he was extremely unsympathetic and unhelpful. His attitude was "tough".
I might add - though this isn't really relevant - that neither F1 or F2 have anything nice to say about F3, so it isn't just me that finds him an unreasonable man.
However, I became concerned about this share of freehold when I read Richard Webster's advice to someone on MSE, who was having problems with their shared freehold.
I am in desperate need of advice, and am hoping your good selves can help me.
Five years ago I bought a conversion flat in an old, large Victorian house. There are four separate self-contained flats, and the four owners (including myself), share the freehold.
We have a lease that runs for 999 years, and should also pay £15 each per month into a fund, that is supposed to pay for repairs and maintenance of the outer building (gutters, drains, driveway etc). In the lease it states that the outside must be kept in good and clean decorative order at all times, and that it must be redecorated every seven years. It also states that all front and back gardens must be kept neat and tidy. This was the last lease written up in 1996, but I did notice in the previous lease that it mentioned people must afford their neighbours peace and quiet and not cause any not cause disturbance, though I don't know if this rule is cancelled out by the new lease, which makes no mention of noise.
The first problem started after I first moved in, and discovered that the woman I had bought my flat from had not informed the bank, who we pay the fund money into, that she was no longer part of the fund association. Basically, none of the freeholders could access the fund until she had been signed off - at least that's what I was told by one of my co-freeholders who I shall refer to as F1 (Freeholder 1).
F1 was the one (and still is), who said he would like to take control of things and sort them out. For five long years I occasionally asked him if he'd managed to locate where the woman who I'd bought from had moved to - as she left no forwarding address. I had tried finding her myself, to no avail, but F1 told me had an idea where she may have gone to, and to leave it to him. Whenever I bumped into him, he kept promising me he would "try again this week" - and that went on for five years. I was not unduly concerned at the time, as he told me that no-one could access the fund money whilst she was still legally a member, as it it required two signatories.
What did concern me, though, was that whilst I have been paying consistently into the fund, F1 stopped making any contributions in July of 2012, and F2 (Freeholder 2), hasn't paid in for over two years. I know this, as the fund's bank statements come to my flat, addressed to the woman I bought it from. It seems she was the Treasurer.
F1 has always wanted to take control of the running of the fund (despite him paying nothing since July 2012), and he's always wanted to be in charge of arranging for any works that have needed doing. However, even though there was a broken drain cover in his front garden for over one year, which resulted in my toilet blocking twice, he failed to replace it until just last month. He also told me to call in DynoRod, at my expense, despite my paying into the fund which covers the drains and gutters etc. And any time there has been a problem, albeit fairly small that needs fixing - he never gets it done despite promising to.
Both Freeholders 1 and 2 live in the property, including myself, but F3 (Freeholder 3), rents his flat out to tenants. I have a big issue with F3, as three years ago he laid laminate flooring in his flat, at the same time as renting out his flat to a young couple with two young children. He never put any underlay or sound protection under the laminate, and the noise of the children running and jumping, and the woman walking in her high heels is horrendous. I contacted him about it, and he was extremely unsympathetic and unhelpful. His attitude was "tough".
I might add - though this isn't really relevant - that neither F1 or F2 have anything nice to say about F3, so it isn't just me that finds him an unreasonable man.
However, I became concerned about this share of freehold when I read Richard Webster's advice to someone on MSE, who was having problems with their shared freehold.