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rogan
Our previous flat was picked up for major refurbishment works which we didn't know about when purchasing although I knew the roof required replacing (I'm a Building Surveyor).
When they came round to do the survey I made sure I was there and had a chat with the surveyor. It turned out that the value of the works was capped at £15k which was split between us and our upstairs neighbour who were social housing tenants (social housing were also our freeholder).
I estimated the roof works would take up much of the joint liability which meant that anything else was free. I managed to squeeze the surveyor for 2 new front doors, a new back door, render repairs, window replacements (the majority) and full external redecoration (only the bottom (our) half of the property was previously decorated). The total cost of the works was circa £35k so we managed to get £20k or so of free work done which obviously completely transformed the appearance of the property. Repayment was staggered, interest free and we cleared the final amount when selling with the profit we made.
Basically, major refurb works can be a very good thing if you're savvy/lucky.