Water leak...should landlord pay?

[~Craig~]

I live in an end of terrace building which comprises of:

-Two bed maissonette which is mine (top two levels).
-Basement flat (someone elses).

My property is mortgaged but the leasehold for both properties is owned by the same landlord. We both pay maintenance charges (includes buildings insurance)

I've had a call from the management co. saying that there is water leaking into the kitchen below; possibly from my bathroom which is above (boiler is in there too).

I haven't had a chance to look at the damage and can't see where it's coming from, but in principle should this be covered by the landlords buildings insurance? I don't want to payout unless I have to!

thanks.

[sasguru]

If you pay mgmt charges, and it's a structural problem as opposed to you, say, letting the bath overflow, I would imagine the maintenance company should foot the bill.
Not sure though...

[Dow Jones]

Buildings Insurance claim

By landlord you obviously mean the freeholder, whose responsibility is to arrange the buildings insurance, clean and maintain the building in a good state. The service charge that you pay covers all that. You should have been given a copy of the BI when you paid the SC (upfront). Do not be tempted (if asked) to claim on your contents one as this could be a joint claim by both flats.

[~Craig~]

By landlord you obviously mean the freeholder, whose responsibility is to arrange the buildings insurance, clean and maintain the building in a good state. The service charge that you pay covers all that. You should have been given a copy of the BI when you paid the SC (upfront). Do not be tempted (if asked) to claim on your contents one as this could be a joint claim by both flats.

thanks fellas. Yes I've got a copy of the buildings insurance cert but I don't remember getting a copy of the policy wording. Correct about freeholder...not sure if the woman in the flat below rents or owns.

I don't trust the management co. so I just wanted to check my position in case they try to get me to pay.

[~Craig~]

DJ do you think this would cover the repairs to the root cause in my property or just the repairs to the flat below?

[Dow Jones]

Management Co

Management Co may or may not be a real (Ltd) company - probably a setup by the freeholder with a PO Box No (usually the case for a block with a couple of flats). Whichever way, speak to the flat below in order to assess the damage and to the insurance co. in order to claim for it. Ensure that the payment goes to the person that paid for the repairs (not necessarily the freeholder)
Answer: should do both

[~Craig~]

Thanks again DJ. It is a proper mngt co. (has fairly large premises in Hove) they just don't seem very proactive unless it's to invoice.

[milanbenes]

'My property is mortgaged but the leasehold for both properties is owned by the same landlord. ',


can someone please explain to me what this means as I've never understood it

Person A owns the freehold

and then

Person B (craig) takes a mortgage to buy a kind of one off 99 year rental payment to Person A for the dwelling for 99 years ?

What happens if you sell after 20 years ?

This is very confusing, please explain.

Milan.

[~Craig~]

'My property is mortgaged but the leasehold for both properties is owned by the same landlord. ',


can someone please explain to me what this means as I've never understood it

Person A owns the freehold

and then

Person B (craig) takes a mortgage to buy a kind of one off 99 year rental payment to Person A for the dwelling for 99 years ?

What happens if you sell after 20 years ?

This is very confusing, please explain.

Milan.

Normally the lease carries on getting extended i.e if it get's down to 75 years a new lease will be drawn up by a solicitor.

It can be a good sytem for shared buildings because lot's of people owning their own portion of the freehold can cause problems when trying to get repairs carried out.

[milanbenes]

thanks ~craig~

call me old fashioned I'd rather have good old fashioned freehold and be done with it

but whatever floats your boat eh

Milan.