new landlord issues and issues from before

[mrs caglar]

hello everybody
i purchaced a long lease flat 12 months ago, turned out there was an absent landlord and leaky pipes and leaky roof and no seperate meters for my electric or water.
anyhow as i couldnt get hold of the landlord i have never been able to move in properly.
the building has now been bought by a lady who has opened the shop below as a cafe.i am the only flat above the shop,just a singular flat. she said as it will be exspensive to seperate the water pipes she wont do it and we will have to share the water charges, and also she said her solicitor said it is a pain to insure the building as it is commercial and residential,and she said we should we should vote to set up ourselves as a management company and get seperate insurance, which i dont understand as there is only us 2 people and she is the owner. anyway she has gone ahead and insured her business and left me uninsured!

can i insist the water is to be seperated ?
and isnt it her total responsibility to insure the whole building?

regards
mrs caglar

[andydd]

So who is the freeholder ?

What does the lease say about insurance ?

[mrs caglar]

im new to this and not sure if my replies coming through so if this is a repeat of what i have already said im sorry.
the freeholder is a lady with other businesses in the town.
the lease states the freeholder gets the insurance and i pay a proportion.
i dont know if she really knows what she is doing or is just trying to be crafty and get out of paying for things

[mrs caglar]

from when i bought it i have a leaky roof and leaking water pipes in a bathroom. she is aware of these problems,and i have mentioned the roof is her responsibility but i think she is ignoring this

[andydd]

So did the freeholder recently change ?. and if so where you given the opportunity to buy it ?

My understanding is that the building contains one flat and one shop, is that correct ?

What advice were you given by the solicitor/conveyancer when you purchased the property ?

Why has the issue of 'seperating' the water been raised ?

Andy

[ram]

from when i bought it i have a leaky roof and leaking water pipes in a bathroom. she is aware of these problems,and i have mentioned the roof is her responsibility but i think she is ignoring this

Read the lease, it should state your and freeholders responsibilities.

Even though the freeholder is responsible for "building" repairs and
maintenence, you should have to pay half the cost of such.

If you have leaking water pipes in your flat, that is your responsibility
to repair, not the freeholder.

Also, the water and electricty would, at a guess be, maybe 80% for
the Cafe, and 20% for you. I would insist on a separate electric meter
as there is realy no way freeholder can apportion a FAIR useage cost to
you.
Your lease should state what the freeholder has to do, andif that includes
insuring the building, then that's what they have to do, but insured it
MUST be, as if cafe catches fire, your home is destroyed, you won't
get any money for your flat, and you will be homeless, and still have to
pay your mortgage for a flat you no longer have.

You knew the setup when you bought, and the "shop" must have looked
like a commercial premises, which would tell me that the insurance would
be high, and your half would be excessive. ( Has to be, as you are above
a potential fire waiting to happen )

Read your lease, get professional advice as to how to MAKE the
freeholder fix the roof and get insurance.
( Fixing the roof alsomeans you have to payhalf the costs.)

R.a.M.

[leaseholdanswers]

To reiterate what has been said, your new freeholder is responsible for matters as your lease sets out.

You may find that there is no need to pay anything for the cost of water under your lease. You therefore need to review it thoroughly and then come back to the forum.

The idea of a Man Co is nonsense, your respective responsibilities are set out in the lease and can only vary if you agree.

I would say that the commercial risk will increase your overall premium and your own insurance might be cheaper.

[mrs caglar]

hi guys
thanks for the replies
andydd - yes it is one shop and one flat above
it was sold at auction as the previous owner went bankcrupt, the conveyancer just said as my landloard was AWOL i didnt have to pay services charges and things and not much else. i do have a insurance thing that supposidly covers me if my landloard is absent or uninsured,but i tried to claim on this ages ago for the roof but they said i still had to try get the landloard to do it even though they'd gone missing and were no where to be found.and i raised the issue of the water being seperated, i wasnt even told when i bought the flat that it was a single supply! everytime a hot tap in turned on in the cafe it is my boiler and gas heating it.

[mrs caglar]

hi ram, yes i knew it was commercial underneath,and i dont have a problem paying my share of the insurance if i got a chance

hi leasehold answers , yes i will did the lease out and review it again. and i will look into getting insurance myself if this at all possible ?

[mrs caglar]

ok have just dug out the lease for a look,as you guys have said i will have to take it to someone who deals with these things as the more i read the more confusing it gets. as relating to 'service media = all media for the supply or removal of heat,electricity and gas,water,sewage,energy,telecommunications,data and all other services and utilities and all structures,machinery and equipment ancillary to those media' this is the bits i have found

[mrs caglar]

1 . ancillary rights , the landlord gives the tenant the following rights;the right to use and connect into any service media in the building that belongs to the landlord and serve( but do not form part of) the property which are in existance at the date of this lease or are installed during the perpetuity period.
2 . the following rights are excepted and reserved from this lease to the landlord = the right to use and to connect into any service media at but not forming part of the property, the right to install and construct service media at the property to serve any part of the estate and the right to reroute any service media.
3. the service costs are the total of = the supply and removal of electricity,water,sewage and other utilities to and from the common parts.
4. the tenant shall pay all costs in connection with the supply and removal of electricity,gas,water,sewage,telecommunications,da ta and other services and utilities to and from the property.

thats what ive found in the lease,confuses me

[andydd]

and me, not sure thats relkevant here, that seems to be about connecting new ultilities. The lease shouild say something about how electricity, water costs are apportioned and also mention insurance.

I suspect you should of investigated furtehr when firts opurchsing the property, split commercial/residential leasehold properties are often problematic throw in an absent leaseholder and a solicitor who didnt tell you much and you have extra problems.

You stuill havnt answered the question, how did it go from abset freeholder to being sold to cafe lady ?..you should of been given a channce to purchase (either individually or at least in partnership with her).

Andy

[worzelgummage]

As it is a commercial premises my understanding that there is no need to offer the freehold to the flat owner when the commercial bit changes hands.