Section 20

[Anna1985]

So the lease allows for the property to be kept in good condition.
Thus, the shared hall could be spruced up no problem, but there is an issue with driveway - partially it belongs to the freeholder, partially to the ground floor leaseholder - it is made out of the old paving stones, it looks bad and some stones are gone.

the downstairs owner cannot care less about the overall property look etc and that is the question - what can be done within the remit of the lease - ideally just new paving stones but would it be not upkeep but the improvement and not covered under the lease?

Thank you

[scot22]

There is a fine line between repair and improvement. If it is replacing like for like it could be considered economical, in the long run, repair.
Enforcing obligations could be costly. Is it feasible for those who do care to voluntarily pay to have it replaced.

[vmart]

Hi Anna
How many flats are there? I am not sure what you mean by the driveway partially belongs to the freeholder and partially to the ground floor leaseholder. Can you please explain. Presumably the freeholder is the freeholder for the entire plot and would be responsible for initiating a section 20 consultation to repair or replace the paving stones. As there are paving stones missing these will need replacing.

[Macromia]

...but there is an issue with driveway - partially it belongs to the freeholder, partially to the ground floor leaseholder...

Who the driveway "belongs to" is largely irrelevant, what is important is what the lease says about who is responsible for maintaining it, who it says is responsible for paying the costs of maintaining it, and whether it says that the cost of improvements can be charged to anyone.

[Anna1985]

The driveway/front garden partially belongs to the freeholder and partially leaseholder. The freeholder's maintenance covered by leaseholders, the leaseholder must keep the property in the state of repair but won't do.

[Anna1985]

Hi Anna
How many flats are there? I am not sure what you mean by the driveway partially belongs to the freeholder and partially to the ground floor leaseholder. Can you please explain. Presumably the freeholder is the freeholder for the entire plot and would be responsible for initiating a section 20 consultation to repair or replace the paving stones. As there are paving stones missing these will need replacing.

3, it feasible but we have already enforce the lease via small claims process, due to failure to pay for upkeep.
so, we would be going again but just really need to understand what is allowable and what is not

[Macromia]

The driveway/front garden partially belongs to the freeholder and partially leaseholder. The freeholder's maintenance covered by leaseholders, the leaseholder must keep the property in the state of repair but won't do.

This really doesn't help at all.

In what was does the driveway partially belong to the freeholder and partially to the leaseholder?
Are you saying that part of the driveway is demised to this leaseholder and part is undemised and therefore a common area? Or does the freeholder have a lease that demises the remaining part of the driveway to them?
Do other leaseholders have any rights over the part of the driveway that 'belongs to' the leaseholder (i.e. passage rights), and do they need to use these parts of the driveway?

Is the driveway specifically mentioned under the freeholder's maintenance obligations, and if so, precisely what does it say? Does it say that the freeholder is responsible for maintaining the driveway (which could give them responsibility for the entire driveway), or does it only say that they are responsible for maintenance of parts of the property that are not within a leaseholder's demise?

What does the lease that you say part of the driveway belongs to say? Does it say that they are responsible for maintenance of all areas within their demise, or does it include exclusions? If any areas within the demise are stated as being the freeholder's responsibility to maintain, is the driveway specifically mentioned?

Also, who is the freeholder? Is this a block that is managed by leaseholders? I presume that this is the case, or that you are the freeholder, because otherwise there is nothing that you can do except token telling the freeholder that you want the issues sorted.

If the responsibility for maintenance of the entire driveway lies with the freeholder, they can make arrangements to get it done (including whatever consultation is necessary) and then take action to recover any costs from leaseholders who won't pay. If responsibility for maintenance of part of the drive lies with the leaseholder the freeholder would need a court order to try and force them to carry out maintenance if they won't do it voluntarily - but getting this will depend on what the lease says, among other considerations.

[Anna1985]

Macromia , yes part of driveway demised to LL and part not demised to anyone.

According to lease the LL should his part to keep and maintain the said area edged bla in a neat and tidy condition and further to keep and maintain the fences belonging thereto in a good state of repair.

Re undemised part - as often as required to pay contibute 1/3 of the expense of maintaining the area edged, entrance hall and pathways in good repair and condition.

[Macromia]

Those aren't particularly useful lease terms, especially if the driveway is partially on demised property and partially within communal areas.

"Neat and tidy" will mean different things to different people if not more specifically defined, and says nothing about requiring the property to be kept in "good repair and condition" (again a fairly loose definition).
It is definitely possible to keep property in a state that most people would consider to be "neat and tidy" even though those same people might agree that it was not in "good repair and condition".

[Anna1985]

Yes, 100%. Hence the question, what can be done to ensure property looks good when one of the leaseholder doesn't give a damn.

[Macromia]

Yes, 100%. Hence the question, what can be done to ensure property looks good when one of the leaseholder doesn't give a damn.

Very often, not much - unless at least one other leaseholder is prepared to accept/share the cost of any work done to the property demised to the leaseholder who "doesn't give a damn", and that leaseholder is willing to allow work to be carried out on the property demised to them.

Other than that you would need to take legal action, get a court/tribunal to agree that the problem leaseholder was in breach of the obligations in their lease, and get a court order either obligating them to take action to maintain their property, or allowing the freeholder to carry out work and charge the cost to the leaseholder.