Leasholder charged £40k for 'decorations'
I am a leaseholder and bought my house around a year ago. Mine is the only house in the complex and is next to a set of apartments which are in a Grade II listed building. My house is not listed. I and the other leaseholders in the complex have recently receievd a Section 20 notice from our freeholder housing association for "cyclical decorations" and they have said the cost to us is approximately £46k and they intend on using 100% of our sinking fund bringing our individual contribution to around £40k. The list of work is not very detailed and consist of painting railings and door frames as well as the hiring of equipment. It is also very generic as some of the work isn't even applicable to our house. I cannot understand how our small unlisted house can be responsible for £40k's worth of 'decorations', nearly a third of the value of the house.
Additionally, when I bought the house last year my conveyancer did not tell me that a Section 20 consultation had been carried out 5 years ago and a Qualifying Long-Term Agreement for these works had been put in place. I have checked all correspondence and documents and there was nothing even vaguely mentioning either of those things.
The contractor carrying out these works was determined 5 years ago and although the housing association claims they were the highest rated choice, they have a 2.1 rating on Trustpilot and 1.8 rating on Google.
Does anyone have any advice on what the best action to take is? We will be submitting observations and asking for a detailed breakdown of works and why each is required from the housing association. Does anyone also know if we might have a case against our conveyancer for not informing us about the Section 20 consultaion and QLTA?
Thanks