I live in a private block of flats, the fire escape at the rear of the block needs repair, is this the responsibility of the freeholder of the block or of the owners of the flats?

[FIERYFRANK]

I live in a private block of flats, the fire escape at the rear of the block needs repair, is this the responsibility of the freeholder of the block or of the owners of the flats?

[ladybirder]

The freeholder should get it repaired quickly as it's a fire escape. He will then bill the residents for the cost. Do you have a management company?

[redcrx]

read your lease, but usually it would come out of the funds that you pay into a management company. If not enough funds then the bill would have to be split between all flat owners.

[FIERYFRANK]

Hi ladybirder, yes we do have a management company, thanks for your answer. We will contact them.

[redcrx]

Thats what you pay them for.

[FIERYFRANK]

thanks also redcrx for your response.... our problem is that we pay our maintenance charges to the property company that manages the block, and seem to get very little in return... except for common parts lighting, caretaker twice a week for a few hours a day, and we were quoted what seemd like an astronomical figure for the repair of the fire escape by the management company. Also the appearance of the entire block is now run down and its affecting the market values of the of the flats. The freeholder has spent nothing on the block, (except for minor fence repairs in the small garden) for years. Some of the flats in the same part of the block are now considering witholding maintenance payments and getting general upgrading and maintenace work done privately with the money they would normally pay in maintenance to the property company. Can anyone tell me what is the legal position for residents to withold maintenance payments in view of neglect by the freeholder, after continuous annual payments are made to him by the residents?

[redcrx]

who owns the management company? do none of the residents have an interest in it?
how about getting quotes yourselves and submitting them to the management company? I dont know what amount you pay into it but if a reasonable amount you should have a healthy balance there to get things done.

[bednobs]

the freeholder and the management company are 2 different things. can you ask the management company to get 3 quotes for the work? Do you have a sinking fund within the management company?

[Postdog]

If you contact the fire department they could assess whether it was a breach of reguations and take action themselves against the management company.

[bednobs]

the management company will surely only arrange to have work done that they are instructed to do? do you have a residents association?
When i lived in a block, the management co were rubbish, so i got myself elected onto the residents committee, binned off the old management company and got a new one

[redcrx]

itll depend how it is set up, bednobs. There were only 5 flats in our building, all owners were directors of the company so we knew what money was about and what needed to be done etc.

[ladybirder]

If you don't have a residents committee you should form one and the chair of the rescom should write to the freeholder and management company and ask them to get 3 quotes for the repairs. It might help your case as someone has already mentioned if you get the fire department around. They could force the work to be done. Of course you will all end up paying for it.

[redcrx]

Frank, you could try asking about witholding payments here http://www.lease-advice.org/

[FIERYFRANK]

thanks bednobs and postdog...the management company does not have a sinking fund. Myself and a neighbour have decided to get several quotes for work needed to inprove the external fascia of our side of the block and the appearance of the interior of our side of the block and put them to the management company suggesting that our side of the block, (with 8 flats) will pay for the work... with the maintenance money that we would normally pay to them (the management company). Do we have a hope in hell of this actually happening I wonder?

[237SJ]

The trouble with these management companies/ground lease owners is that they tend to get ridiculous quotes. I used to live in a flat and the ground owners were a building company so any work that needed to be done tended to be done by themselves. A friend of mine had a flat and the ground owners wanted £1000 per maisonette for outside decorating. I told her to tell them to shove it and a painter and decorator I knew did the job for £400 per maisonette. Get your own quote and pass it to the management company. They don`t have a good arguement against if you get a better price.

[FIERYFRANK]

and thanks redcrx for the link..... there are 25 flats in the block, and shops, but my side of the building has only flats....so we hope to improve the place. We have no connection as residents to the management company, and hope to from a committe of eight owner occupiers who will place our proposals for improvements to the management company.....

[FIERYFRANK]

thanks 237sj.....

[FIERYFRANK]

Thanks to all who responded, its given me a bit of hope... just off to eat dinner now, but will resume here a bit later. Best regards! FF

[237SJ]

You could have a look at the lease. When I had a flat there was an obligation by the ground lease people to decorate every so often. The outside was supposed to be done every 5 years and the inside, every 3. It hardly ever happened. There may be a breach of contract issue there. Our manager was useless as well and there was never any money in the pot for extras. We had to find the money outselves. My neighbour and I decided to put a tender in ourselves to do the decorating one time. The funny thing was the useless manager got a cheaper quote because we were charging too much.

[bushbaby_de]

You say they've been taking money off you and doing nothing, but they can only bill you for actual expenditure and contributions to a sinking fund, if one exists. They will have been sending you accounts along with their yearly demands. So you've been getting what you've paid for, if you see what I mean. Agree with all earlier posts about what to do to get them to carry out works that you'd like to have done - but expect your annual payment to go up to cover them.

[FIERYFRANK]

later... thanks for the tip r37sj... worth checking the lease. Ta.