New freeholder wants to self contain the basement and stop us using it!

New freeholder wants to self contain the basement and stop us using it!

10:34 AM, 12th September 2016, About 8 years ago 11

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We have RTM of a block of 15 flats. There is a large basement which is marked in our leases as an ‘internal communal area’. Access to the basement is from a door at ground floor level in the communal hallway. There is a small room within the basement where all our meters are kept. basement

Our leases refer to this small room containing the meters as an ‘easement’. Other than this mention of an ‘easement’ to the meter room, our leases do not grant us any rights to the basement. Our old freeholder permitted all the flat owners to use the basement for storage. Our leases were not varied to reflect this use. Our leases do however include a provision for us all to contribute to the repair and maintenance of the basement.

Our new freeholder has just given us notice to remove all of our stored items from the basement. He states that he is not bound by any permission that the old freeholder gave us and he plans to self contain the basement and rent it out to a commercial user as an office. He plans to achieve this by creating another door to the basement (from the outside).

We will then have to share this new door with the commercial user so that we can continue to access our meters. We will not be able to access the rest of the basement though as only the commercial user will be given a key to the rest of the space. The existing door at ground floor level in the communal hallway will also be blocked up.

As a sweetener, our new freeholder has said that once self containment has been done, we will no longer have to contribute to the costs of repairing and maintaining the basement as these costs will be the sole responsibility of the commercial user.

My questions are these:

  • Is there anything that we can do to stop the freeholder self containing the basement in this way. If so, what?
  • Do we have to remove all our stored items as requested? We have been given 6 weeks notice
    If we cannot stop the freeholder from self containing the basement, can we claim compensation for losing our use of the basement?
  • Can we offer to buy the basement from the freeholder?

And before you ask, ‘no’, there is not enough interest to buy the freehold through collective enfranchisement.

Many thanks

Viv


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13:47 PM, 13th September 2016, About 8 years ago

Viv check your Mem and Arts. See what is says about the below extract from a company law website. Enough of the members can force the issue by passing a resolution.

"Members' power to require directors to call general meetings (sec303 - sec304)
The directors must call a general meeting if so requested by the holders of 5% of the voting shares (or 5% of the voting rights if there are no shares). (The figure was reduced from 10% to 5% by the Companies (Shareholders' Rights) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1632), reg. 4(2).
The request for the meeting must state the general nature of the business to be dealt with and may include the text of a resolution to be moved at the meeting (provided the resolution would not be ineffective (e.g. under the Act or because contrary to the company's articles, etc., and provided it is not defamatory, frivolous or vexatious).
If the request is properly made, the directors must within 21 days call the meeting for a date not more than 28 days after the date of the notice calling the meeting. If the request included a proposed resolution, that must be included in the notice, which will then be part of the business that can be conducted at the meeting. (If it is a special resolution, the notice of the meeting must say so, in accordance with sec283, above.)"

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