So hi, first time I've posted and am just looking for some advice...
I've got a ground floor maisonette in a house, the freeholder owns upstairs which he has never lived in and rented out straight from purchase. I bought in 2005 and he bought exactly a year later in 2006 which at the time I didn't even know the the original owner who was the freeholder had sold. Anyway 3 years later in 2009 my wife and I was leaving the country to work/travel for a year and my friend was going to live there, prior to leaving I changed to a better mortgage deal, the bank contacted the freeholder and subsequently he invoiced me for 4 years ground rent and 4 years insurance with no paperwork which due to time constraints I just had to pay so the remortgage deal could go through. So in February 2020 some 11 years later the guttering is hanging off the building, it turns out he has moved address and I have no contact details for him! Long story short I finally get a response for one of the may numbers I have been given to text him on, the problem is the response is from a guy claiming to be his brother, which turns out he is. It turns out he was gifted the lease for upstairs in 2018 and tells me the freehold is being put into a companies name and that he will deal with any matters on behalf of his brother. Anyway a month and a half later lockdown due to covid happens and 6 months later the guttering is finally fix just in time for the next problem.... the water company has found a leak on the supply pipe to the maisonettes. He gets two quotes, one I believe is fictitious at £2500 and one hand written by his tenant upstairs who apparently does this type of work. At £1350 knowing the work needs doing agree to the quote by his tenant which states dig down by main stopcock, mole to his front door, insert new supply pipe and tee section, mole up the side of the building and insert new supply in to my kitchen. Over the week I got him to include in works final connection within my premises ensuring water feeding everything in the kitchen, bathroom, boiler was reinstated as prior to works, which he agreed. Day of the works his tenant and friends moled and replaced pipe from main stopcock to their front door, inserted a tee and poke new pipe through into my premises leving it unconnected and the cost of getting a plumber in. Now for half the work he still expects me to pay half of the original quote of £1350? On top of this he issues me with an invoice for 11 years back dated ground rent and an invoice for 8 years worth of half of the house insurances, 3 years he has no paper work for so is kindly not charging me for! Out of the remainder 8 he has 3 insurance certificates and 5 renewal quotes. And to make matters worse at the end of August his tenants caused a water leak and flooded my bathroom out. With my ceiling falling down and water behind the tiles I asked him to notify the insurance company, something he has not done! instead he wants to send his tenant down who caused the leak to refit the ceiling!!
I'm at my wits end and any advice if you can be bothered to read all this will be gratefully received,
Thankyou in advance.
I've got a ground floor maisonette in a house, the freeholder owns upstairs which he has never lived in and rented out straight from purchase. I bought in 2005 and he bought exactly a year later in 2006 which at the time I didn't even know the the original owner who was the freeholder had sold. Anyway 3 years later in 2009 my wife and I was leaving the country to work/travel for a year and my friend was going to live there, prior to leaving I changed to a better mortgage deal, the bank contacted the freeholder and subsequently he invoiced me for 4 years ground rent and 4 years insurance with no paperwork which due to time constraints I just had to pay so the remortgage deal could go through. So in February 2020 some 11 years later the guttering is hanging off the building, it turns out he has moved address and I have no contact details for him! Long story short I finally get a response for one of the may numbers I have been given to text him on, the problem is the response is from a guy claiming to be his brother, which turns out he is. It turns out he was gifted the lease for upstairs in 2018 and tells me the freehold is being put into a companies name and that he will deal with any matters on behalf of his brother. Anyway a month and a half later lockdown due to covid happens and 6 months later the guttering is finally fix just in time for the next problem.... the water company has found a leak on the supply pipe to the maisonettes. He gets two quotes, one I believe is fictitious at £2500 and one hand written by his tenant upstairs who apparently does this type of work. At £1350 knowing the work needs doing agree to the quote by his tenant which states dig down by main stopcock, mole to his front door, insert new supply pipe and tee section, mole up the side of the building and insert new supply in to my kitchen. Over the week I got him to include in works final connection within my premises ensuring water feeding everything in the kitchen, bathroom, boiler was reinstated as prior to works, which he agreed. Day of the works his tenant and friends moled and replaced pipe from main stopcock to their front door, inserted a tee and poke new pipe through into my premises leving it unconnected and the cost of getting a plumber in. Now for half the work he still expects me to pay half of the original quote of £1350? On top of this he issues me with an invoice for 11 years back dated ground rent and an invoice for 8 years worth of half of the house insurances, 3 years he has no paper work for so is kindly not charging me for! Out of the remainder 8 he has 3 insurance certificates and 5 renewal quotes. And to make matters worse at the end of August his tenants caused a water leak and flooded my bathroom out. With my ceiling falling down and water behind the tiles I asked him to notify the insurance company, something he has not done! instead he wants to send his tenant down who caused the leak to refit the ceiling!!
I'm at my wits end and any advice if you can be bothered to read all this will be gratefully received,
Thankyou in advance.
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