Do I purchase upstairs flat to take control of my building?

We own a ground floor flat in an East London house converted into two flats in the 1970s. We have 120 years remaining on a 125 years lease.

The upstairs flat has 60 years left on a 99 years lease. It needs refurbishing; we’ve had leaks through our ceiling. External maintenance has been neglected and is starting to impact on the fabric of our flat.

The leaseholder ignored our suggestions to work co-operatively to sort it out and the freeholder ignores the breaches in the lease regarding repair and maintenance despite them being brought to her attention.

The Current Situation:

The upstairs flat was sold at auction last month, but the sale fell through and it’s coming up for auction again. We are assuming (maybe wrongly) that it will fetch less this time around.

Could this as an opportunity to buy the upstairs flat, exercise control over the fabric of the house – and apply for the freehold because we own both flats. Or are there just too many uncertainties over the potential costs involved, either in a lease extension for upstairs, or in purchasing the freehold.

If the Price is Right:

Clearly the purchase price of the upstairs flat is the deciding factor – and that’s unknown, but in principle is owning both flats the only real way to address our concerns about the overall state of the house?

Many thanks

Elizabeth