Can another leaseholder serve me a Section 20?

Can another leaseholder serve me a Section 20?

9:20 AM, 19th January 2024, About 4 months ago 7

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Hello, last month I moved into a leasehold flat (converted house into two flats, I am upstairs). Four days after moving in, the downstairs neighbour asked me to contribute to getting the guttering sorted at £50 per flat.

I am now six weeks into living here and she has told me she has rising damp (I appreciate this is a catch-all term!) and that she wants to undertake work now and I need to pay half!

My LPE1 had no mention of section 20 works upcoming as she has not involved the Freeholder. The service charge for the property is taken on an ad-hoc basis.

The total cost of these works is just shy of £2K and the majority of the work is taking place INSIDE the property. The only work being done outside is renewing the old plinth. Inside is removing damp plasterwork, injecting damp course protection fluid, applying a drywall system and re-plastering.

None of this seems like something of a ‘leaseholder’ issue and sounds more like an individual issue with her property.
I have 2 questions:
A) Can work over £250 be issued by another leaseholder with an expectation to pay?
B) Are these even works that I should be jointly liable for?

Can anyone offer any advice/insight? I can share the quote I have been given and my lease if it helps!

Thanks,

Charlene


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Comments

Graham Tisdale

9:55 AM, 19th January 2024, About 4 months ago

Only a landlord can serve a section 20.check your lease. The landlord is responsible for any work outside of the property. Not the inside..its your responsibility to make good any repair. So no she can't do it. . There has to be a consultation . Leasehold advice is a good site for all the info you need.

Judith Wordsworth

10:25 AM, 19th January 2024, About 4 months ago

Read your lease. Who is the freeholder or are you joint freeholders each with a lease for respective owned flats

David Smith

12:58 PM, 19th January 2024, About 4 months ago

Perhaps when the LPE1 was filled out the previous leaseholder may not have known about the Rising Damp issue and trying to prove they did would be difficult to prove.

In my opinion Rising Damp is a Communal issue so you would be liable for costs.

Keep this simple get 3 quotes and split 50/50

Kizzie

17:44 PM, 19th January 2024, About 4 months ago

Graham Tisdale response is correct. It is for the freeholder to be responsible for building structural repairs. It is in your lease what service charge costs you are liable for in the communal areas in the house.
If the damp is in building structure then that falls on you as a freeholder.
Section 20 consultation is only for major works under service charge provisions of your lease

Charlene Simpson

8:44 AM, 20th January 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Graham Tisdale at 19/01/2024 - 09:55
Thank you - this aligns with my train of thought so will check there too!

Charlene Simpson

8:46 AM, 20th January 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 19/01/2024 - 10:25
With all due respect, the lease may as well be written in mandarin!! I have read it and am struggling to get clarity on this point around boundaries etc hence my ask.
We are both leaseholders. Freeholder is an individual

K Fearon

9:45 AM, 20th January 2024, About 3 months ago

This and the guttering maintenance are freeholder issues, otherwise the top flat would be entirely responsible for repairing the roof and that's clearly not fair - it's the same situation. There is usually only going to be rising damp in the ground floor, at least initially. The only thing I have to add is to wonder if she is doing this because the freeholder is crap and won't tackle ongoing repairs to the fabric of the building even though it's their responsibility. Talk to her and see if you can handle this with them together and get a clear programme of maintenance and timely repairs - you might need this yourself in the near future.

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