Hello!
I own the upstairs flat in a converted Victorian terrace in South London. The freeholder lives in Australia and has done for the past six years. We have a long lease (about 112 years left) and the lease is fairly clear that exterior repairs are the freeholder’s responsibility, with costs recoverable through the service charge.
The problem is that the rear and side walls badly need repointing. I had a surveyor out last year who said the mortar is shot in several places and water is getting into the brickwork… there is damp showing on my bedroom wall now and it is getting worse. I have emailed the freeholder three times since January, including forwarding the surveyor’s report. The first time he replied saying he would “look into it” and since then nothing. Complete silence.
The downstairs flat is owned by someone else but they rent it out and their tenant doesn’t seem bothered (or aware). I have tried contacting the downstairs owner through the Land Registry address but no response there either.
I know I could potentially do the work myself and try to recover costs, but the quotes I have had are between £8,000 and £11,000 and I really cannot afford to just front that and hope for the best. I have also heard that if I do the work without the freeholder’s consent I might actually be in breach of the lease myself (…which seems absurd but apparently is a thing).
Do I need to go down the route of a First-tier Tribunal application? Has anyone actually done this and if so how long did it take and what did it cost? Any advice would be very welcome! Thank you
The route you are looking at is likely a section 22 application under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which allows leaseholders to apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine whether the landlord has failed to meet their repairing obligations. This is separate from a service charge dispute under section 27A, though the two can overlap depending on how the lease structures the recovery of costs.
In terms of process, you would complete the appropriate application form on the tribunal’s website, pay a fee (currently £100 for most residential property applications, though it may be more if combined with other claims), and submit your evidence including the lease, surveyor’s report, correspondence, and photographs. The tribunal will usually attempt to mediate first, and if that fails they will list it for a hearing. Timescales vary considerably by region but six to nine months from application to hearing is not unusual.
The practical difficulty you face is enforcement. Even if the tribunal makes an order requiring the freeholder to carry out the work, enforcing that against someone in Australia is genuinely difficult. The tribunal itself has limited enforcement powers and you may need to pursue the matter through the county court to get a meaningful remedy.
It might be worth exploring whether you and the downstairs owner could jointly apply for a management order under section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, which would allow a tribunal-appointed manager to take over the freeholder’s management functions. That would give someone local the authority to instruct works and recover costs through the service charge. The downstairs owner’s lack of engagement is a problem though, and you may need to write to them formally setting out the situation and the shared risk of water ingress before they take it seriously.
Had a near identical situation with a property in Gateshead about ten years ago.. absent freeholder, needed roof repairs, complete radio silence from the landlord who was living in Dubai at the time. We ended up going the section 24 management order route that @Graspthedetail mentions and it worked, but it took the best part of a year and cost about £2,500 in total between application fees and the managing agent’s setup costs.
One thing to be aware of.. the tribunal can appoint a manager even if the freeholder doesn’t engage with the process at all. In our case the freeholder never responded to any correspondence and the tribunal proceeded in his absence. So don’t let the silence put you off applying.
The repointing quotes you’ve had sound about right for London.. we paid £6,800 for a full gable end and rear wall in 2016 up north so £8-11k down south in 2026 is not unreasonable.
Get that letter to the downstairs owner sent recorded delivery. They may not realise the water ingress is going to become their problem too once it works its way down.
Cheers!
Thank you both so much, this is incredibly helpful! @Graspthedetail and @theartfulfreeholder, the section 24 route sounds like it might be the way to go.
One quick follow-up… does the application for a management order need to come from both leaseholders jointly, or can I apply on my own? I have no idea whether the downstairs owner will engage even if I write to them. I will send a recorded delivery letter this week either way.
Many thanks!
Hello! Just a quick update on this. I sent a formal letter to the freeholder in Australia via recorded delivery on 19 May, setting out the repointing issue and asking him to confirm within 28 days whether he intends to arrange and fund the works or agree to us instructing a contractor and splitting the cost per the lease terms. I also sent a copy by email.
So far… nothing. No response at all. The 28 days are up on 16 June so I am trying to be patient but it is frustrating when the damp is visibly getting worse on the internal wall of my bedroom.
Assuming he does not reply by the deadline, is it reasonable to move straight to a section 24 application at that point or should I send a second letter first? I don’t want to look unreasonable if this ends up at tribunal. Any advice would be very welcome! Thank you.
@Barbsmoney61 do NOT send a second letter.. it just resets the clock in his favour and signals you are not serious about escalating. One properly worded letter with a clear deadline is sufficient. The tribunal will not penalise you for moving promptly after a reasonable deadline has passed.
In my Gateshead situation I mentioned upthread, I made exactly this mistake.. sent three letters over four months and the freeholder used each one as evidence that the matter was “ongoing” and therefore not yet ready for formal proceedings. Cost me nearly half a year of damp getting worse.
After 16 June, if there is still silence, go straight to the section 24 application. The fee is modest (from recollection around £100 to £300 depending on the specifics) and the tribunal will take the view that you have given reasonable notice. Make sure you keep copies of the recorded delivery tracking and the email.
Cheers!
Hello! Quick update… I heard back from the freeholder’s solicitor in Sydney on Wednesday. The letter basically says that the freeholder considers the repointing to be a leaseholder responsibility under the terms of the lease, and that he has “no obligation to contribute to or arrange external repairs to the building fabric.”
I have re-read my lease and I genuinely cannot see how he gets to that conclusion. The lease says the lessor covenants to keep the exterior walls and roof in good repair. Repointing is about as exterior wall as it gets!
So I suppose the question now is whether this formal refusal actually helps or hinders the section 24 application. @theartfulfreeholder you said not to send a second letter, and I have not. Does the fact that he has now responded through a solicitor change the approach at all? I am slightly worried that because he has engaged (even if only to say no) the tribunal might see it differently than if he had just stayed silent.
Any thoughts very welcome. Thank you!
This is actually very good news.. even if it does not feel like it right now!!
A formal refusal via his solicitor is far better for your purposes than silence. Silence can be spun as “I never received the letter” or “I was considering the matter”. A clear written refusal is evidence that the freeholder is aware of the problem and has actively chosen not to fulfil his repairing obligations under the lease. The tribunal will see that immediately.
More importantly, the fact that his solicitor has tried to recharacterise exterior walls as a leaseholder responsibility, when your lease clearly says otherwise, suggests he is either badly advised or hoping you will not challenge it. Either way, a First-tier Tribunal judge will read the lease and draw their own conclusion.. and if the covenant says “lessor covenants to keep exterior walls and roof in good repair” then his solicitor’s letter is essentially nonsense.
Do not reply to the solicitor. Keep that letter safely filed. When you make the section 24 application, attach it as Exhibit A alongside your original letter and proof of posting. You have done everything right so far.
Cheers!
Hello! Another update on this saga… I contacted two solicitors this week about taking the next step with the freeholder. One quoted £3,500 plus VAT to handle the tribunal application and the other said £2,800 plus VAT but warned that disbursements could add another £1,000 on top.
I nearly fell off my chair! The repointing work itself is only going to cost about £4,500 so I would basically be spending as much on legal fees as on the actual repair. @theartfulfreeholder you mentioned the section 24 route earlier… is it possible to make the tribunal application yourself without a solicitor, or is that just asking for trouble? I have the formal refusal letter from his solicitor in Sydney so at least I have the evidence that he is not engaging.
Any thoughts very welcome! Thank you.
@Barbsmoney61 yes, absolutely you can do this yourself.. the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) is specifically designed to be accessible to litigants in person and they actively discourage the kind of lawyered-up approach that your solicitors are quoting for!!
I helped a friend do exactly this about six years ago.. converted house, absent freeholder (not quite Australia, but Spain, so similar problem). The application fee was £100 at the time (might be slightly more now). You fill in the form, attach copies of the lease, the correspondence showing the freeholder is not engaging, and a statement setting out what you want. The tribunal does not expect legal language.. plain English is fine and in fact they prefer it.
Two practical tips from that experience. First, get three quotes for the repointing work to show the cost is reasonable. Second, include the solicitor’s refusal letter prominently. A freeholder who has formally refused via a solicitor but offered no alternative is in a very weak position.
Cheers!
Hello! Quick update on this… after a lot of soul searching (and staring at those solicitor quotes) I have decided to apply to the tribunal myself. @theartfulfreeholder your earlier post about the tribunal being designed for litigants in person really stuck with me. I downloaded the application form last night and it is actually quite straightforward. Will update once it is submitted!