Long story, so my husband and I own a flat which is currently leased to tenants around the corner from our house. We're having some serious trouble with damage caused by a handyman commissioned by the freehold committee manager and we're wondering if there's anything that can be done to try and limit the fallout.
All of the leaseholders in the building pay service charges to a shared freehold company (let's call it 'Building Ltd.') that's managed by one of the other owners. We all then then vote on communal works to the building.
At the last meeting, it was voted that a leak from our balcony into the flat below would be mended. Following this meeting, we realised the scale of the job - the committee manager wanted to take out all of the decking from our balcony (it's a large terrace about 20 metres long) in order to find and fix this leak. This wasn't discussed in the meeting. The usual handyman she gives these jobs to had been rude to our tenants in the past (refusing to wear a mask during the Covid lockdown, turning up at times that weren't agreed, accidentally drilling through a mains electrical wire amongst other things) so we asked if we could replace him with a professional roofer as this was quite a big job. We sent her the details of a trusted roofer (who was also cheaper and quoted a shorter duration for the job) but she refused and insisted on pressing ahead with the usual handyman. She said we should have raised this during the meeting and that it was now too late to have a say.
As a result, we had our first meeting with the handyman the week before last. During this meeting, he agreed to remove and then replace the decking on the terrace, leaving it as he found it. He also agreed to start work the following week as the tenants were working from home and needed time to make alternative arrangements.
Neither of these agreements were honoured. He turned up and started the job the day after next, at which point the tenants handed in their notice (this is despite my waiving 50% of their rent of £1800 in order to try and smooth over the situation).
The handyman has also destroyed the decking. This was relatively new decking, fitted 6 years ago at a cost of £3000. He claimed it was already rotten but didn't inform me of this before chopping it into small pieces and throwing it away.
In addition, we won't be able to find new tenants while this work is ongoing. He has quoted 3 weeks for this job (although he frequently overruns so it could be longer).
We're currently £3000 out of pocket for the decking and another £900 for the rent. It's likely we'll lose another £1800 in rent next month.
We've spoken to the committee manager about this several times but she insists that these costs are entirely our own problem.
It's unlikely that the freehold committee would vote to help us, even if they had the opportunity, as only our flat has been affected.
Is there anything at all that we can do to try and recover at least some of the damages?
Have considered contacting a solicitor but I'm wary of spending hundreds of pounds just to be told that there's nothing that can be done.
Any thoughts v. much appreciated!