Owning your own home

Exciting night in my household.

My kitchen is badly installed, hence my wanting to replace it with a kitchen of much better quality and so forth. Problems with it: Boiler installation means it cannot be fully serviced, water filter inaccessible, kitchen power not isolated, some kitchen sockets were built behind units and are inaccessible, some sockets were placed under a sink!, plumbing is all a misfit jumble of pipes.

So that's the background, what happened?

Appliance grey water pipe attached to the twin sink trap popped out. Because it's the wrong height it's full of water that it proceeds to empty... over sockets that are under the sink... which power the boiler. Sockets go pop! Boiler is out, hot water out, sockets in kitchen out.

Then the house alarm... sheesh, whoever installed this thing has run it off... the kitchen socket circuit. So it starts beeping that the mains has been cut. It considers this an active fault, because I can't get the power back on because socket goes pop! So that's been doing a 100db alarm every hour all night, needing manual resets... so sleep has been fucked and I'm cranky.

What needs to happen today:

• Two sink waste and appliance trap needs replacing
  
• Dual socket under the sink needs replacing (an outdoor one given it's placement?!)
  
• 13A fuse needed
  
• 3A fuse needed
  
• Reset of house alarm after all is done
  
  

I'm tired and haven't begun anything.

Even after I do all of this, the kitchen is still a time bomb of costs if it's not ripped out and rebuilt properly.

And this... is why one shouldn't DIY a kitchen.

We haven’t been given any notice that the service charge schedule we agreed when moving in has to change.

It’s biannual in the main lease, IIRC (I’m on the turbo right now and can’t check), which is why we agreed to change it to quarterly when we moved in.

There has been nothing written to us about changing that.

The problem here, I believe, is that Martin has an axe to grind because Dammit asks awkward questions thereby forcing Martin to do his job, which of course Martin does not like.

We had artex ceiling with asbestos in (and textured paint) in just about every room. Skimmed it with plaster making sure the plasterer didn't scrape it and forgot about it.

Would it not be prudent to swap the dual socket with a junction box, seal it up to waterproof it and move the socket a couple of feet- provided you have the space . Would be a relatively simple job.
Our kitchen has a three double sockets that had to be fitted upside down as the electrician and builder didn’t allow for a return of the worktop against the wall so nothing with a factory fitted plug and a rigid flex out of it could plug in to them - and that was while we were having the kitchen done “properly “

This. Very much so.

If you went court it’s because you ‘owe’ money if the records show you don’t then he’s barking up the wrong tree

So if anything the solicitors should start hassling Martin for their fees. If it’s that he upset about tell The offer to pay was rejected so leave it as that It’s between him and solicitor. For them to say I think you should be nice dammit is taking the pi55

If he has a gripe tell him he has x days to send you written letter saying that as of this date you are reminded as per your lease to pay biannually maybe a pain for you but at least due diligence is applied here.

The problem here, I believe, is that Martin has an axe to grind because Dammit asks awkward questions thereby forcing Martin to do his job, which of course Martin does not like.

I think there is some of that, definitely, but also Martin instructed the solicitor to pursue me for arrears that I didn't, in fact, have. So he has to pay the solicitor for their time spent if they don't recover it from me.

I did speak to Martin on the phone and he kept saying "I think you have to pay something", but couldn't justify why when I asked him to justify it.

Nah, whoever installed the kitchen has gone and broken the ring circuit by branching out which has impacted the integrity of the ring.

At this point, the kitchen needs a full rewire to get the 32A ring back... and as the sockets were built behind cabinets (!) and are inaccessible we can't go hunting for the branching to fix it. We need to downrate to 20A.

hahaha.

Well that sounds like the night from hell...

but also Martin instructed the solicitor to pursue me for arrears that I didn't, in fact, have

Oh yes, absolutely. He's done that because i) he's a cunt and ii) he takes offence at your attempts to do due diligence regarding works and how they are paid for. i.e. you've asked questions, he didn't like them, he's looked for a way to inflict something on you and he thought he had found it.

any recommendations for a sparky SE?

Here's a question which has just occurred to me - what if they refuse to take me to court, but simply keep insisting that I owe them money? Is there a mechanism to force them to take me to court?

I've got no idea how to take the firm of solicitors to a tribunal as Bleak References suggests, and would rather the solicitor has to initiate the action as (I am hoping here) if I win I only have to pay my own costs, and I can't see (currently) how they could win.

You don't take the solicitors to court. You apply to the first tier property tribunal (leasehold) for a determination as to whether or not the costs in question are payable.

If they are, you've lost nothing but the application fee, plus a bit of pride when you have to pay it.

If they're not, which seems more likely, you're in the clear for these costs, you've shown your freeholder / managing agent that you understand how the game is played and you won't be fucked with, and you may be able to claim your costs back, which is always a poke in the eye to those guys.

The other alternative is gambling that they won't have the time or inclination to take YOU to first tier tribunal to prove the opposite (i.e. that it is payable). But if you wait for them to do it, and they elect to go down this route, it is stressful. That first letter telling you you might have your flat forefeited is a shocking thing. The addition of £600 in legals each time they send you a letter adds to the stress.

A guy in our block was recently taken to first tier tribunal for costs of £22k, much of which were the freeholders' spiralling legal costs over a debt which the leaseholder had already paid. Obviously unjust. Obviously a scandal. But completely normal within the world of leasehold. Here's the story: https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/israel-moskovitz-demand-for-22170-admin-charges-reduced-to-300-in-colossal-waste-of-courts-time/

Our leaseholder managed to get those £22k's worth of charges reduced down to £300 - about which he's not happy, but I'd still personally chalk that up to a win. However, I'm not in his position. That win cost him three years of his life defending this and wondering whether or not he'd need to sell his flat to pay these bogus charges. Sure, there was only a 1% chance of that happening. But that 1% is like a bit of grit in your shoe - it might not look like much, but when you're on a 20 mile hike, it can make your life a misery until the fucking thing is out of there.

My advice is, get out in front of it. You can be blase in leasehold and most of the time there'll be no impact, but if your freeholder is aggressive or unethical, you may be about to enter a world of frustration, aggravation, and pain.

All fixed...

Electrician: £159

• New 20A fuse box thing
  
• New socket box
  
• New fuses in plugs
  
• Ring circuit check
  
  

Plumber: £277

• New two sink and appliance waste trap
  
• New pipe out of the flat
  
• New sealant on sinks
  
• Quick boiler check (not full annual service as that is 6 months away)
  
  

So that was an expensive night.

And still the fundamental issues with the kitchen remain.

I used Pimlico btw... found them to be extremely fast, competitive costs, friendly, sane, did exactly what I thought was needed... would actually use them again.

I'm glad someone with knowledge stepped in. Reading that gives me a cold sweat.

The estate agents I feel have been to blame for this paying over the odds like they done the last time. Telling sellers they will get this and then telling buyers they need to go in 10 over asking. Absolute cunts

Out of interest, what do you think the chances of that situation arising if the leaseholder has also had share of freehold?

I think you should stand your ground, the management agent sounds like a cunt and is fully at it.

Moskovitz is a well known rogue freeholder who somehow manages to live with himself whilst making the lives of others miserable.

I've never lived in that sort of environment but I'd imagine very low. It only tends to be the Moskovitzes of the world who are prepared to waste both their money and tribunal's time on no hope cases for no other apparent reason than to punish independently-minded leaseholders. Why, is that the situation @Dammit is in?

My knowledge is very much of the worst case scenario, but I hope its handy for others to see what that worst case can look like. Leasehold is a pit.

Aye. We (Dammit & I) have a share of the freehold.

Why, is that the situation @Dammit is in?

I believe so. I'd have thought, unless the freehold directors have collectively gone loopy, they would be quite interested and possibly slightly disturbed by their agent attacking one of their stakeholders.

Indeed this is where the fustration lies. This is why they are cunts.

Point of entry water softeners: has anyone used one? are they worth it? liquid/salt based system? What do I need to know? Most info seems to be on the same websites that are selling the products - so wary of marketing guff.