Leaseholder saying 'can't afford to pay'...

We are five flats in a house conversion, and have been invoiced for some major works that are meant to start soon. It’ll be around £10-16K each.

The four of us that keep in contact with each other are all ready to go and can afford to pay straight away. The fifth one, we’ve heard, has said “I can’t afford it.”

That leaseholder’s flat is a sort of tricky situation. The flat is owned by a young first-time buyer who thought it would be a good idea to buy that flat and rent it out as an investment (via the Council no less!). Somehow a year on from doing that she is behaving as though she had no idea she’d have to come up with ‘all that money so soon’, and says she simply can’t afford it!

Could this mean that this entire project could just now sit on the shelf indefinitely? Are the MA’s able to get the freeholder to pay and then sue the leaseholder afterwards for reimbursement? Much of the work IS about making the property fire-safe after removal of the dilapidated fire escape, so as it is also a safety issue maybe they can do that?

Thanks!