Management company haven't done repair

[jpfinney]

I'm landlord for a house that I lived in for twenty years and now let to tenants.

I complained to the management company for my leasehold house two years ago regarding a rotten front doorstep. They promised to act, but nothing's happened and it's already put off one prospective tenant who wouldn't even look at the inside of the house.

I have withheld my maintenance payments and chased them to do something about the step, but nothing's been done and they are now questioning whether they are responsible for the repair of this. They also say that their inactivity is not a valid reason to withhold payment of maintenance charges, but I beg to differ.

Firstly, it is my understanding that the management company is responsible for the maintenance of all exterior parts of the building that are permanently fixed to it, such as door and window frames, but not the windows and doors themselves. No such question was raised when I first reported the problem and at least two similar repairs have been carried out by the management company previously (one was on the same door frame).

Secondly, as this is one of the jobs we pay a maintenance charge for, it seems that the complete lack of action to a problem reported more than a year ago is a perfectly valid reason to withhold payment of their charges. What other course of action do I have?

I understand that I can get the work done myself and deduct the bill from the maintenance charges owed, but that I need to meet some criteria in order that the management company can't dispute my action. I have got three quotes for the work making sure that the quotes are purely for repair and making good the damage. I wrote to the management company a couple of weeks ago advising that it was my intention to do this and deduct the cost of repair from the monies owing to them. I have not had any response from them apart from the unhelpful comments mentioned earlier.

Have I done this correctly?

Is there anything else I need to do?

[jeffrey]

1. Is this a house or a flat?
2. Did lease involve mgt co too, or was it appointed by L to carry out L's functions on sub-contract, or is it owned by collective lessees?
3. On whom does lease place mgt obligations? There must be a covenant by one party to do the service work, with a covenant on the lessee to pay service charge to that party for it.

[jpfinney]

Thanks Jeffrey.

It's a house (see first line of my post).

Not sure about the answers to the other questions as I don't have a copy of the lease, but doesn't the fact that they have done repairs in the past suggest that they are responsible? Let's just assume they are. My question is really to do with the procedure for getting the work done myself and deducting it from the maintenance charges owed.

[Paul_f]

To add to this if the rotten doorstep is not dangerous and does not otherwise interfere with your accommodation there is little you can do and you should not at this stage withhold rent.

However if it is such that you or a visitor might trip and fall then that is a different matter. You might take this line with the management company as if you were to fall in the near future and what are they likely to have to deal with then? A much more costly scenario