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I'm wondering how to frame my negotiation, if at all.
I think you would be gambling on whether the lease could be updated as being found 'defective'. If the lease does not allow a third party to recover 100% of the expenditure, I think you could have a good case to say it was. If it does allow a third party to recover 100% of the expenditure, and it just says that it's split 50%/50% between the upper two flats with the LG one paying nothing, I think you'll be on a hiding to nothing. There's a Triplerose case in BAILLI where this precise question is on trial and the tribunal found that the lease was not defective - unfair, yes, but not defective. Leases are under no obligation to be fair!
ReekBlefs
I viewed a place yesterday that I like, but there's a weird freehold arrangement.
Ground floor flat in Brighton with one flat below, one above. The freehold is split 50-50 between the ground and first floor flats. The LG flat is rented with an absentee landlord. There's no maintenance arrangement in place and the building hasn't had work for years (not confirmed yet, but likely 20+ years).
I can make an offer subject to survey but if the survey says thousands needs spending, then that's potentially a massive issue right? The person upstairs is an elderly women who's lived there for 25+ years, presumably without paying anything towards maintenance (to be confirmed).
I know this is all surveyor/solicitor advice, but I'm wondering how to frame my negotiation, if at all.