Leasehold flat in 12 storey block...general warning..!!

[bumblebee1000]

People might already be aware....A chap in our yoga group, bought ex council leasehold flat, cheap with discount, he is on 3rd floor and has just got a bill for 70k to cover replacing all windows from pvc to metal, new balcony, new front door and sprinkler systems etc.....
These works are due to the new fire regulations which apply to blocks over a certain height etc.

blimey. When did he buy it? I sold last year and had to supply a huge amount of documentation for this. Some solicitors wanted to charge up to £900 extra for the sale even with all the docs in place. He must have bought a while ago?

regardless, that is shocking. How the hell is anyone meant to pay? I really regret moving but one factor was the ever changing regs. I did fear it was a bit “now or never”.

Although presumably that’s why the flat your contact bought was cheap…I honestly thought flats in that situation were unsellable due to the cost of remedial works. Had a quick google and see that they are mortgageable now though for some lenders. Lots of conflicting info.

Block is about 70 years old, brick built, no cladding issues, he bought it about 20 years ago and is also has constant drainage issues with blocked pipes and water leaks from flats above. Council is constantly sorting out piping issues, seems the main pipes which run internally through a duct are now corroded so bodged up all the time.

This might be the Building Safety Act 2022, which has strict new fire safety rules. I believe it applies to buildings which are higher than 5 storeys or 11 metres from lowest ground point and are not wholly leaseholder-owned. (I'm not a lawyer though so don't take this as gospel!)

This is a common issue for buyers of ex council flats.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/jan/16/leasehold-nightmare-why-owning-a-council-flat-could-land-you-with-a-wipeout-bill

That’s horrific. What happens if he refuses to pay?

A similar thing happened with my brother. This was a only three storey but got stung with a large bill for roof repairs. When he bought the flat he asked his solicitor for advise about the length of years left on the leasehold, he was told by his solicitor that the number of years was fine/plenty - nothing to worry about.

This was 20 years ago and I believe issues in regards to to leaseholds were not such common knowledge so my brother didn't question this. I think issues after Grenfell brought leasehold issues to the forefront. Anyway, I can't recall the number of years on his leasehold but he had been given incorrect advice and the number of years left on the leasehold were in danger territory.

He had to pay £25k to increase the lease otherwise he would never have sold it. Any equity he built up all went on the roof/ lease despite living in it and paying his mortgage for around 8 years. It was his first place after leaving home - financially he would have been better off staying at home longer so that he could have bought a house.
I would never ever buy a flat after his experience.

Note - not council, not fire regulations related but just another issue with leaseholds.

It's buildings above 7 stories and/or 18m and containing at least 2 residential units.

One of the issues I think is that in a mixed block of council tenants and private leaseholders, it’s only the latter who can/will foot the bill. So they’re subsidising improvements.

The council stump up something on behalf of their tenants but it’s a smaller amount.

Of course whether those flats should ever have been sold off under Right to Buy is a whole other discussion.

This is the problem with buying an ex-council flat.

Council tenants don't pay for the maintenance of the building so the councils just charge the unlucky flat owners for the costs of major renovations which means bills can be astronomical...

Happened to someone I used to work with. She bought a 2 bed ex council in London and a few months letter got a massive bills for window and roof upgrades.

So you have two issues here:

-freeholders having to do work to address the fall back from the cladding scandal/Greenfell fire
-the fact that the freeholder here is a council and that there are less leaseholders to share costs in a social housing building...

Your yoga friend should have been advised of all this by their solicitor.

Your second list - I thought that sounded odd for BSA. I got too familiar with it trying to sell a high rise.

perhaps it’s a combination. But I was advised not to buy ex council because of how costs go. I only had BSA to deal with and that was hard enough with the building needing no remedial works at all. My concern was if the BSA got updated.

there must be an instalment plan because no one is going to have that money available. I’d be asking if all the work is necessary. But also they contract it out to their suppliers who are more expensive.

This is a well-known pitfall of being a private leaseholder in a council block - you get clobbered with a hefty chunk of any building costs.

I'm in a block, albeit private, and the new fire regs are a ££ PITA.

This whole saga has been going on for years but never gets any coverage on the news. My building is still waiting for works to start - thankfully a developer has after several years agreed to take responsibility but I'm not certain about getting what I had to pay out for a new fire alert system back and who knows when the big work to remove dangerous insulation will start, 5 years and counting- but they're people who've been bankrupted by this saga.