Martha, we did get permission for the changes to the bathroom although many owners here don't bother. We've also asked permission to add an extra cupboard to the kitchen which has been refused.
We do own our flat but it is leasehold which is fairly common here. The freehold of the entire court is up for sale, some residents want to buy the freehold, I see little point as the residents can't even agree on which plants should go where. So trying to get big decisions made would be impossible.
Many residents seem to argue for the sake of it, we've had complaints because we cleared some ivy from a small area of the garden that is designated as ours. We have planted it with an assortment of flowering plants. We have succeeded in moving the rats that lived there to another nearby area. Some residents are aggrieved that they have been deprived of the local wildlife. We prefer to be rat free!
Steve likes to get involved with all these shenanigans, I prefer to keep my distance. I'm perfectly friendly to most of our neighbours though I do avoid one person as she tends to lurk under our window or by our front door to complain about Beano.
3 comments:
My friend had her husband pull all the ivy up in their garden inTexas, when they lived there, because it was where rattlesnakes tended to hide….even worse than the rats! I can’t blame you!
My nephew bought a leasehold flat something I would definitely not recommend.
Good grief refusing you an extra cupboard.
They refused you permission for a kitchen cupboard? What a power trip the lease holders must be on! I wouldn't even have asked, as far as I can see it, you own the flat, so you own the wall the cupboard would be on!
The flat we're selling at the moment is leasehold, but most non structural things are permitted.
One offer we had on it was withdrawn though, because the prospective buyer wanted to build a balcony, enough for a seat and a few potted plants, to be accessed from the living room. It's a second (or third floor in the US] floor flat for pity's sake!!!
Another prospective buyer wanted to have a washing machine fitted in the kitchen, but that's not allowed due to the possibility of noise travelling through the building. There's a laundry room fitted out with Miele washers and dryers, which is free for residents to use, (not exactly free, included in the service charge) so why he wanted his own machine is beyond me. It was a deal breaker for him though!
When my late father in law moved in he had all sorts of work done to it, but unfortunately, he had appallingly poor taste, so we've had to remove most of his choices to make it saleable. We have someone very interested in it at present, but he doesn't have any firm offers on his present house yet. With service charges and Council Tax, it's costing us almost £12000 per month, just to have it sitting empty, so I hope we get rid of it soon. We've already dropped the price by £45000.00 over the last nine months!
I don't think many people are aware that it's possible to own the property, but not the land it's built on, or how common that situation is here.
I wouldn't want to consider living in a flat or apartment, as I like my privacy too much, but who amongst us knows what the future holds!
Take care!
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