Apartment block / changing lease terms

[saleprice]

Live in an apartment block which is an old property with new build to both sides.

All owners have the same lease, with their floor area as a percentage of the whole area, used to calculate contributions towards corporate expenditure such as periodic redecoration of the complex.

A number of residents now don't feel this is unfair, as the redecoration costs for the older parts is more expensive than the new build. The complex is masonry throughout with wooden windows and soffits / facias to existing property, whereas the new build is upvc

Is it possible for some owners to press to have the lease changed, so they only pay for their parts?

many thanks

Edited by saleprice on Monday 5th August 13:09

[Mandat]

saleprice said:

Live in an apartment block which is an old property with new build to both sides.

All owners have the same lease, with their floor area as a percentage of the whole area, used to calculate contributions towards corporate expenditure such as periodic redecoration of the complex.

A number of residents now don't feel this is unfair, as the redecoration costs for the older parts is more expensive than the new build. The complex is masonry throughout with wooden windows and soffits / facias to existing property, whereas the new build is upvc

Is it possible for some owners to press to have the lease changed, so they only pay for their parts?

many thanks

It is possible to change a lease but it cannot be done unilaterally, and needs to be agreed by all parties.

However, the fairest solution is what you have now, with all estate expenditure being shared according to % of floor area.

If this were to be changed, what would be next?

All owners who don't live on the top floor are exempt from contributing to roof repairs / renewals?

All owners who live on the ground floor are exempt from lift repairs / renewals?

In any case, those owner who have uPVC windows already pay less than they would otherwise have to, since the timber windows & soffits are only present in one third of the estate.

[semisane]

found this :-

https://www.lease-advice.org/faq/in-what-circumsta...

“ If the application concerns fewer than nine leases, all (or all but one) of the people concerned must give their permission for the application. If the application concerns more than eight leases, no more than 10% of the people concerned must oppose it, and at least 75% of them must give their permission for it. For these purposes, the landlord is one of the people concerned.”

So if there are more than eight leases then only 2 need to object ?

Although there has been the leasehold reform bill recently so not sure if that affects ?