In November 2020 a property developer bought the flat above me and proceeded to make my life hell for months on end. As always hindsight is a wonderful thing. Should you too find yourself in a similar situation, here are some of the things I wish I’d known back then. Please note I’m not legally trained: I’m a stand up comedian. Remember when in doubt always check with a lawyer.

• The property developer befriended me at first, and then proceeded to take advantage of my good nature. Bear in mind they are there to make a profit; they don’t care about you or the long-term implications for your home. They don’t care about your property. View everything through that prism and you may save yourself a lot of upset down the line.
• As soon as you know they plan large-scale works, take photos of the whole building: those before and after shots may come in handy.
• Ask them what they plan to do exactly and how long they think it’s going to take.
• Log everything. I used my phone and logged when they arrived and when the drilling started. If they damage your property, make a note of when it occurred and take photos: also note when they work on a particular part of the building. You might not think you need to do this at first, but you may well regret it if you don’t.
• Check out what the times your local council allows construction work to take place. My property developer always claimed they were doing ‘their hours’: this apparently included all day at the weekend and bank holidays such as Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. I believed her (no, I don’t know why either), until I finally checked and realised there were ‘no works’ on Sundays and Bank Holidays and you could only work till 1 pm on Saturday. She then acted ignorant (her modus operandi when caught out doing something wrong). If they do turn up when they shouldn’t, record them and then if you can, message them (so you have a record) with the link to the relevant page to the council’s website and reiterate they are not supposed to be working then.
• If there is a freeholder to your building, it may be worth checking to see if they have their own ASB policy as regards construction noise. My council allows 10 hours a day of construction work. That’s a long time. It might be worth seeing if the freeholder has their own policy which hopefully consists of shorter hours.
• Check they have permission to do the works and do this as soon as possible. Don’t feel bad. You are safeguarding yourself and your property. If they are making significant changes to the property, they should have asked permission from Building Control. If they have a lease, they should have permission from the freeholder. Don’t assume they have either. Personally, I would check in with the freeholder and the council as soon as possible.
• Bear in mind if you are both leaseholders and your fellow leaseholder tells you they have to fix something and you need to pay towards it, this probably means it is outside their remit and the works need to go via the freeholder. Do not listen to them if they assure you otherwise. Check with the freeholder first.
• Moreover, double check your lease to see if you are in fact responsible. My property developer tried to convince me I was partly responsible for replacing her crumbling brickwork and for clearing out her loft. Needless to say she failed in that particular enterprise.
• If they go ahead and do the repairs anyway, the chances are that you are not liable to pay anything (remember I am not a lawyer, so please check with someone who has spent a lot of time and money to understand contract law, and doesn’t do stand up for a living). As a leaseholder your contract is presumably only with the freeholder and not with the other leaseholder(s). This means you are only liable to pay if the freeholder does the work and then recharges you and your fellow leaseholder(s) accordingly.
• If doorstepped as I was i.e. knocking on the door with the gas fitter alongside her, bamboozling you with why something needs to be done urgently and guilt-tripping you because the worker is already there, tell them you’re sorry, you require ‘reasonable prior notice’ and ask them to write to you explaining what works are to be done and that you will forward this to your solicitor, even if he is purely imaginary. (You obviously don’t tell them that part). If they try and guilt trip you, explain they are the ones at fault and they should have given you more notice. If they try and play hardball, remain firm. You can always say you want to discuss it with the freeholder first (and it’s very unlikely that is going to be a prompt response). Do not agree to anything there and then. Have a good think about the repercussions to your property if you were to agree to those changes. If you don’t want to go ahead with them, don’t let them use your own good nature against you. Stay firm, hide behind the freeholder if you must and seek legal advice if you can.
• If any fitter does work which affects your property get their details and registration numbers and check that they are registered to do the work they are carrying out, i.e. the gas fitter is on the gas safe register. Before any works go ahead that will affect your property, check that you will receive the relevant certificates of work from the fitter. If they are unable to provide these then do not agree to the works going ahead.
• If a fitter is doing work that affects your property, ask the fellow leaseholder to put in writing (in advance) the precise works to be carried out, and stand over and supervise the entire process. I didn’t and the property developer moved the internal wiring to suit her and inconvenience me and took the roof of my cupboard in the process. So be warned!
• If your property is damaged, insist they repair your property immediately. Don’t let yourself be fobbed off with a vague ‘we’ll do it when we’re finished’. What happens if they sell the flat before they finish doing it up? Technically they don’t have to repair the flat because they never got to that stage when you agreed they could do it. Get a firm date and supervise the works. For plumbing repairs, you’ll also want to make sure the plumber is insured in case there is an unexpected problem with the work he or she completes.
• If the developer is making your life hell, then your neighbours probably feel the same way. See if you can band together, but note, some neighbours may not want to get involved even if their lives are likewise being affected. That is their right. Don’t pressure them to act otherwise.
• If my experience is anything to go by, then it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the freeholder couldn’t care less about you or your property; they are much more concerned with the bigger picture which doesn’t include one lone leaseholder being run roughshod by a property developer. They may well think nothing about gaslighting you and stating facts which are blatantly incorrect, possibly due to poor training or indifference who can say. I got told by my freeholder that I couldn’t get the gas fitter’s registration number because the gas was switched off. I kid you not. Their prime aim may be just to close you down. Never take what they say at face value, and be persistent. If you do feel they are trying to fob you off, it’s a good idea to involve your MP, local council or local newspaper.
• If you want to complain, always put it in writing. For any major complaints, copy in your MP and your local council. Organisations hate putting things in writing. It’s harder to deny they said something when it’s there in black and white, although they probably still will!

Hope this is of help. If you take anything from my experience, be wary, keep a close eye on exactly what they are doing, and don’t let them take advantage of your good nature. You’ll be the one ending up paying the price if you do.

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