Upstairs flat damaging our property.

[Swimminglikeaswan]

Hi! Will try to keep it brief. Basically we own a downstairs flat. Upstairs is rented out but not maintained. Every time it rains, the rotten windows upstairs allow water to run through the wall cavity. As a result our coving is falling down, our plasterwork and carpets are ruined and our flat stinks of damp. After two years of chasing the owner to make proper repairs this is really getting us down. There is no management committee and our insurers say they cannot force the owner to make repairs. Help?

I can’t help but have experience of living in a block of flats where the management broke down and one owner did fuck all and wouldn’t even put the bins out, sweep up the leaves, or pay towards insurance/repairs, and another others rented to tenants who left mess for others to clear up.

It doesn’t sound like a leasehold/freehold situation - who insures the fabric of the building (surely the building must be insured so you can have a mortgage on it). If you don’t have a management committee then who should do the repairs? Do you pay into a fund for such repairs, then who manages this fund? Surely, there must be some mechanism to ensure regular maintenance such as painting wooden frames, maintaining guttering integrity etc.

Can you look (or get a lawyer) to look at legal paperwork, covenants etc. To find a way forward. Which country do you live in?

Oh and when my bathroom plumbing leaked into the flat below I paid to repair the plumbing In my flat , and the building insurance for the building sorted out the repairing/repainting of the dovwnstairs flat.

How can your insurers not be able to force the landlord to make repairs? They just need to take them to court for the damage they have caused and are causing to your property. (You can claim for both).

Do you have legal cover in your home insurance? If so give them a call and see if they can help.