- Original Poster
- #1
Hello All,
I have a beauty salon operating from a ground floor of a mixed use building (with a first floor residential long leaseholder) for the past 4 years. During the leasing process, the property had leaks and it was pointed out to the agent and it was fixed (in hindsight temporarily). I had asked our solicitor to put something in our lease and our solicitor said we were adequately covered for such future problems as it was the responsibility of the landlord to fix it. What I didn't realise was the landlord would fix it using insurance which I would be paying (with the long leaseholder).
Over the past 3 years, there were few leaks from the same location as before and some new locations. The landlord would always let both the leaseholders to sort out between ourselves often citing higher insurance premium should we use the insurance.
Fast forward to now, I had a major leak in the main trading area of the shop with water was standing unnoticed thanks to the lockdown. This has totally ruined the flooring and plastering - rendering the place completely unusable, not to mention the health and safety aspects thank to the raised laminate boards.
I informed the landlord in the first week of Feb 2021 (while still managed to pay someone to unblock standing water from first floor which was dripping in, paid to clean the salon etc. from my pocket). As usual the landlord wanted me and the leaseholder to manage it between us. However this time around, the bill would be hefty and I insisted on using the insurance. That's when the landlord started singing different tones i.e. wanted me to get multiple quotes, photos, videos etc. It all looked like delaying tactics to me and finally once she called me to say (which she never does) that we should report different dates (later obviously) if the insurance folks called us. At this point, I had a strong feeling that the landlord had been simply pocketing our money and never bought any insurances. Also I remembered the quotes she used to share with agents suspiciously sharing her family names. Finally, the landlord seemed to be very interested to get it fixed but then I realised she was trying to literally fix the whole building, all the bells and whistles on the same insurance claim - despite the fact that those issues even remotely concern my problems. And then she went just quiet about the whole thing. My theory is, the insurance claim was either turned down or she is waiting out the cooling-off period, I would never know.
Now the trouble is, she hasn't fixed the problems yet and the roofers and builders from who I had got the quotes have confirmed they don't have any dates in the next few weeks - basically leaving me high and dry : because I can't open my salon on Apr 12th, when I am finally allowed to open my business legally after months of lockdown.
Needless to say, I am literally on the verge of going broke due the extended no-business period and having to still pay most bills with some employees on furlough (the landlord, while agreeing to delay the rent payments, still wants all the rents retrospectively), so it is important for me to open my business as soon as I can. I am unable to seek legal advice as few of the solicitors I called are quoting close to £500 for reading the lease and 1 hour of consultation - which I can't afford at this point.
The stress and anxiety apart, I would like to know the following-
Thanks in advance.
-Sh
I have a beauty salon operating from a ground floor of a mixed use building (with a first floor residential long leaseholder) for the past 4 years. During the leasing process, the property had leaks and it was pointed out to the agent and it was fixed (in hindsight temporarily). I had asked our solicitor to put something in our lease and our solicitor said we were adequately covered for such future problems as it was the responsibility of the landlord to fix it. What I didn't realise was the landlord would fix it using insurance which I would be paying (with the long leaseholder).
Over the past 3 years, there were few leaks from the same location as before and some new locations. The landlord would always let both the leaseholders to sort out between ourselves often citing higher insurance premium should we use the insurance.
Fast forward to now, I had a major leak in the main trading area of the shop with water was standing unnoticed thanks to the lockdown. This has totally ruined the flooring and plastering - rendering the place completely unusable, not to mention the health and safety aspects thank to the raised laminate boards.
I informed the landlord in the first week of Feb 2021 (while still managed to pay someone to unblock standing water from first floor which was dripping in, paid to clean the salon etc. from my pocket). As usual the landlord wanted me and the leaseholder to manage it between us. However this time around, the bill would be hefty and I insisted on using the insurance. That's when the landlord started singing different tones i.e. wanted me to get multiple quotes, photos, videos etc. It all looked like delaying tactics to me and finally once she called me to say (which she never does) that we should report different dates (later obviously) if the insurance folks called us. At this point, I had a strong feeling that the landlord had been simply pocketing our money and never bought any insurances. Also I remembered the quotes she used to share with agents suspiciously sharing her family names. Finally, the landlord seemed to be very interested to get it fixed but then I realised she was trying to literally fix the whole building, all the bells and whistles on the same insurance claim - despite the fact that those issues even remotely concern my problems. And then she went just quiet about the whole thing. My theory is, the insurance claim was either turned down or she is waiting out the cooling-off period, I would never know.
Now the trouble is, she hasn't fixed the problems yet and the roofers and builders from who I had got the quotes have confirmed they don't have any dates in the next few weeks - basically leaving me high and dry : because I can't open my salon on Apr 12th, when I am finally allowed to open my business legally after months of lockdown.
Needless to say, I am literally on the verge of going broke due the extended no-business period and having to still pay most bills with some employees on furlough (the landlord, while agreeing to delay the rent payments, still wants all the rents retrospectively), so it is important for me to open my business as soon as I can. I am unable to seek legal advice as few of the solicitors I called are quoting close to £500 for reading the lease and 1 hour of consultation - which I can't afford at this point.
The stress and anxiety apart, I would like to know the following-
- What are my options if the landlord does not fix the place in time for opening? It is a typical full repair lease with some clauses which says something like "the landlord has the obligation to fix the place within reasonable timeframe" using insurance etc. What if she does not fix? It appears I can stop paying the rent until she fixes the place by the looks of it.. however what about my loss of business?
- Can I demand to see the actual insurance policies that the Landlord, purportedly bought over the years? Calling the insurance companies is not helping as they are not willing to divulge any info due to data protection. I would love to get some of that money back as it was close to £1000 a year for the past 3 years.
Thanks in advance.
-Sh
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