Do I have to agree to this?

[Sneeze11]

I'm a Leaseholder in a converted house with three flats. The other two owners are both Freeholders. One of the Freeholders is a landlord and he has always had horrible, disrespectful tenants in there who always wind up being evicted. I have always endured this without complaint except for one occasion where one of the tenants actually started urinating in the front porch area (between two doors and where all our mail is).

The most recent tenants to be evicted absolutely trashed the communal areas on their way out. Holes in walls, scratches everywhere etc and left so much rubbish on the driveway. As a result, the owner finally acknowledged he had an issue with who he was letting to and by way of an apology for what we have endured offered to redecorate the communal hallway as he was having to completely redecorate his flat.

Since this change, the other freeholder seems to be energized at the thought of redecorating the property and between them they have painted the front of the building. They've also changed the front door and asked me to chip in for it, which I did. But I was never consulted with quotes or costs until I was hit up with the final bill.

Since agreeing to the door, I have put my flat on the market. I had it on the market at the end of last year with no success and they have both known I was always putting it back on in April. I am now being asked to chip in to completely redo the driveway! Am I being unreasonable to not want to agree to this? I appreciate it is a communal space that I should put in for, however I have lived here almost 5 years with the place in a state of almost disrepair, taking care of my own flat, and now that I am trying to leave they actually want to do something about the appearance of the building and have me pay for something to which I will see no benefit and I really don't think will add any value to my sale?

Further to this I should mention I simply can't afford it after almost a year of furlough. I also own the flat with my ex who puts nothing towards. Do I have any right to say no to this or am I just going to have to foot the bill?

That will probably depend on what your lease says about repairs.

Tell them the driveway will have to wait: it doesn't sound like a repair but an improvement, and even if it was a repair, they cannot force you to agree unless damaging the property

I do think you will see benefit from redecorated hallway, however they have not gone about things correctly as the work, cost splits & quotes should have been shared

@QueenStromba

That will probably depend on what your lease says about repairs.

Ditto this.

But also is it worth just being straight with them- you've been on furlough for a year and do not have the funds.

It's going to depend on the terms of the lease. Usually there's a contingency fund that everyone has to contribute to every month so that there are enough funds to cover things like this.

On the other hand though, any prospective buyers are likely to be put off if they think they are going to be immediately hit with a bill for repairs.

Thanks for all the responses. There is no contingency fund and the lease just specifies that I will have to contribute to service charges on an adhoc basis when required.

I think it is worth an honest conversation about my financial situation and also very useful to know the point regarding not having to agree to an improvement etc. I am so clueless with this stuff - I've moved here from Australia and our system is completely different!