Leaseholder faces bill for repair work
STORM damage on a leasehold house has left a couple in Cardiff with a hefty repair bill.
Storms broke the garden gate windows and outhouse roof of a maisonette in Llanishen, where Cardiff council own the freehold.
Melinda Ban lives in the house on Trecastle Avenue with her partner, and owns the leasehold to her house. She said despite reporting the damage to the council, responsible for the repairs, little has been done.
Ms Ban said: “Our house is falling apart and they aren’t doing anything about it.”
Leasehold means homeowners just have a lease to the home, while freehold means owning the building and land outright. The freeholder is responsible for maintaining the exterior walls and roof of the building, and leaseholders must get permission for any major works.
Ms Ban received an invoice from the council in May for £1,168.50 for repairs and maintenance. She said: “It was devastating. How are we going to pay that? Why do I have to pay them to get repairs for what’s theirs?”
The council said workers went to her house in August last year to make “temporary repairs”, including boarding up a window. In October, they removed the outhouse roof and put a new one in.
But photographs of the new roof show daylight coming through holes where it is attached to the walls. Ms Ban said: “I don’t want to see any daylight coming through, or just wooden beams put up. The state of my shed afterwards was disgusting, all the rubbish left in there, with massive holes in the walls and between the roof and the walls.”
As well as paying for the repairs and maintenance, Ms Ban must also pay £143 a year to the council for building insurance. However, she is unsure why she has to pay insurance if she is then still charged for repairs.
Ms Ban said: “We have been paying building insurance for the past 10 years. All those repairs should be covered by our insurance, but they said we have to pay for it. Why do we have building insurance if none of the repairs are covered by the insurance?”
However, the council has now clarified she should be able to claim the repairs back, as the insurance covers storm damage. A council spokesperson said: “Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic we had to prioritise emergency repairs only throughout lockdown. We are now recommencing routine works, and are sending letters to tenants to advise them that if they still require works to be done that they need to call us to rebook.
“However, we have visited the outhouse in question today [August 5] to see what other works are required and if any earlier works need corrected. This work will now be undertaken.
“We are sorry for any inconvenience experienced by any of our tenants and want to take this opportunity to thank them for their patience as we deal with the fallout of the pandemic.
“Information on how to contact the Buildings Insurance company – if it’s felt that the works are covered by the insurance premium – will also be shared with customers as necessary so they can claim back from the insurance company.”