Owning your own home

Have you discounted the idea of just buying the freehold and re-apportioning responsibilities in the leases?

Unsure we can achieve this quickly, cheaply, or unilaterally if needed.

The roof could definitely be developed as neighbours ones are, so the freeholder would be a fool not to ask for the development value... this conversation would be too slow even if it were cheap - which it won't be.

As downstairs are balking at £6k (£3k they are liable for, there's two of them so only £1.5k each)... I doubt they're going to be up for this... I could do it... but if I buy the freehold, they are still on an existing lease and I'd need them to be involved for me to change both leases.

All of this takes time which I do not have.

So what I have done: Given the downstairs a full portfolio of photos and videos of the state of the roof, given them three options:

1. £6k overhaul to buy us 5 years, a sunk cost but cheap way to buy time
   
2. £16k full roof including the replacing of a joist
   
3. They do nothing, I involve the freeholder - who as per the lease will simply instruct someone to do the job he thinks it needs, and the bill to be sent to us (which is by far the most expensive option)
   
   

Oh, and I can't use insurance and neither can the freeholder... both state wear and tear is not covered and regular maintenance is implied - clearly this roof has not been maintained at all in the last few decades except by the fool who thought he could do it himself a decade ago.