Freeholder issues

Other

I have a flat which is let out. The maintenance is covered by the freeholder who also own flats in the building. Every year the maintenance charge goes up - and the current charge is extremely high. This is mainly due to the various crises which happen at the property. One example is flooding through the front steps which ruined the electrics throughout and required expensive repair.

My freeholder never gets quotes - he does all the work himself and claims that this saves money for everyone.

However, I have had costs relating to items such as removal of a tree in the garden which belongs to my flat. Strictly speaking I feel I should be able to put in this cost as part of overall maintenance as i have to contribute to things in the building which do not affect my ground floor flat. However, the freeholder is not open to discussion as to sharing costs - he avoids the 'jointly and severally' arguments etc.

I am currently being asked for a maintenance fee for the year which is higher than any of my other properties, mainly due to the freeholder's property seeming to be in a permanent state of crisis one way or another.

Can anyone advise as to my possible course of action on this?

Many thanks