As a leaseholder - are my expectations unreasonable?

In my blog last week, I talked about what you can expect from a landlord. This week, I’m going to talk about the expectations some people have when it comes to what they think their landlord should provide.

When we buy a property, whether it is a house, a flat or retirement property, it is our home. The place where we can hide away from the world, should we need to. It becomes our kingdom and we can become very emotionally attached to it, which is a good thing of course. 

If your property is freehold, and as long as you keep up mortgage payments, you can do just that, after all you have full responsibility for everything about your home. If something goes wrong, within your property or within your outside space, you are responsible for the cost of putting that ‘thing’ right. 

However, if you are living in a leasehold flat, then it’s incredibly important that you understand the legal rights and liabilities. What will the leaseholder do if something goes wrong – and what is your responsibility as the resident? What do you have to pay for? 

Looking at it in simple terms, if you own a leasehold flat, it is a long tenancy, and you have the right to occupy that flat for a long period. For the term of the lease. You also can expect some things to be paid for – and some things will not be paid for and in some blocks or properties, different residents may have different rights. Check out our blog here for more info.   

This is due to the fact that some properties in the same ‘block’ or area may have different leases or no leases at all. It is not always straightforward

What can be expected in a lease:

You, the leaseholder has ownership of everything within the four walls of the flat, including floorboards and the plaster on the walls and ceilings. Anything goes wrong within that domain, you will have to pay for it, make it right at your own expense and decorate at your own expense.

If a garden is included, then it is your responsibility too and any works which are carried out are at your cost. If, however it’s a communal garden for the building, then the landlord would be expected to care for it from the funds you pay in with other relevant residents. This may just be maintenance though, it may not mean a whole re-design or landscaping of the space.

What you cannot expect:

• The landlord to mend your washing machine, or any other white goods in your flat. That is your own personal property and therefore your responsibility to repair.
• To be able to make structural changes within your flat, without speaking to the landlord first.
• The landlord to decorate the inside of your property, or buy new carpets
• The landlord’s responsibility stops at your front door. 

However, unlike ownership of a freehold property, you may not necessarily be free to do whatever you want. These restrictions and conditions are put in place to protect the interest of everyone in the building. Some restrictions may include:

• Owning pets of any kind.
• Making noise i.e playing loud music, or instruments, after certain times of the day/night.
• With retirement properties there may be restrictions on the age of people living there.
• The placement of satellite dishes.

What features are the responsibility of the landlord?:

1)   External or structural walls.
2)   Garden, if communal
3)   Maintenance and repair of the overall building structure and communal areas.

The third point above, is where serious problems have arisen, with landlords not effectively looking after their building with enough care and attention. However even this can be a grey area and must be looked at on a case by case basis.

Take, the worst case in recent years, the fire of Grenfell Tower. This is an example of a landlord, (in this case, the local authority), appearing to not ensure the safety of their building, and ultimately, tenants, with tragic consequences. 

Not surprisingly, following this fire, many other residents of blocks of flats have been contacting their landlords to make sure they don’t have the same issue with cladding that doesn’t comply with building regulations.

Recently, it has been deemed to be the responsibility of the leaseholders to rectify any unsafe cladding via the service charge each leaseholder pays. This isn’t good news for leaseholders as in some instances, costs are in excess of £50,000 per flat. 

In a leasehold property, although it is the landlord’s responsibility for maintenance and repair of the building, they will generally recover any costs through the service charges passed on to the leaseholders.

This has become an issue for people who took up the chance for the ‘right to buy’ scheme around their council properties. Many are now leaseholders and are suddenly being presented with large bills for works being carried out.

A different problem, is when someone lives on an estate where some properties are leasehold and some have management agents and some don't. In reality, this means that whereas some people expect the landlord to pay for the replacement windows and doors, their agreement doesn’t actually cover that.  You don't always have parity with your neighbours. 

As I mentioned in the last blog, always read the small print of your lease to find out what is covered in the contract. Take a look here to refresh your memory. If you’re still not sure, talk to a solicitor.

Check in next week where I'll be talking about issues related to living in a listed building.