£33,000 major works to pay

Hi guys,

I am quite upset and shocked when yesterday I got a letter from Southwark Council for a Major works in my block,which the estimate cost of it is £33k!!!
I am the leaseholder of 1 bed flat in New Place Square (Close to Bermonsdey station) and I do not how deal with that.

Are there anyone in my same situation?

Anyone have any advice for me?

Do I need to contact some organisation to help me?

Thank you very much for yor help!

Check other posts about costs for major works because there's lots of advice. Have you looked at their payment options? I paid mine using their three year, no interest payment scheme, but there are other options - on of which is to defer payment until you sell your property (obviously subject to interest). Please do look at other posts, I know I have posted advice in the past. First and foremost, you must call a meeting of all leaseholders and have a joint plan.

I believe the council now offers interest free payments for longer than 3 years. I would contact them and ask if you can have it over 5 years, given how large the bill is. A leaseholder meeting is a good approach, as you can contact the council as a group and ask them to consider giving you even longer to pay (as £33,000 over 5 years is still a lot). You can also ask your local councillor to get involved.

I asked about getting a longer term (but not interest free) loan from the council, and I recall it was cheaper than putting it on my mortgage, so make sure you check out all of the options.

Do you guys know about leaseholders Southwark association?
How can I get in touch with them?

Have you spoken to your local councillors?
I get emails about this type of thing from time to time.

Zoe wrote:

I believe the council now offers interest free payments for longer than 3 years. I would contact them and ask if you can have it over 5 years, given how large the bill is. A leaseholder meeting is a good approach, as you can contact the council as a group and ask them to consider giving you even longer to pay (as £33,000 over 5 years is still a lot). You can also ask your local councillor to get involved.
I asked about getting a longer term (but not interest free) loan from the council, and I recall it was cheaper than putting it on my mortgage, so make sure you check out all of the options.

Longer repayment terms should now also be possible. not sure if it's only 48 months or longer. But even if you split 33K over 48 month you still end up having to pay roughly £690/ month. Not really very affordable either in my view.

I think there is usually also an option called 'discretionary service charge loan offer'. This would be a loan term over 25 years at 1.5% above the base rate of Nat West Bank, provided there is sufficient equity in the property. Likely here would be an application fee in region of maybe £500, which covers the councils costs for securing the loan against your property (basically a second charge in the Land Registery. This would be obviously much more manageable on a monthly basis but not interest free.

All the payment options should be listed right before the "Leaseholder Observation Form.

Surely the £33k cost is split between all the tenants in the block?

James, we had a similar quote for major works and we live in a relatively small block. The overall project was £2m for 56 one bedroom flats. Not sure if you were being sarcastic in your response, but no, it's per flat.

Hi Mr Brown,

I received a major works est not too long back, i live on a different estate for 15k. Can you give a break down of the 33k you are having to pay? Like how much is for the roof, lift, electrics etc

I was not being sarcastic - what could cost £2m that is not covered by insurance? How old is the building you live in?