spontaneous CYCLICAL repair works worth 17,000

I can't give you any advice on the legal position I'm afraid, but I would have thought it reasonable to expect the Council to give you some sort of indication of the probable cost levels of these repairs back when you first bought the flat. If it was me, I'd be asking for a detailed breakdown of costs as a starting point: exactly what are you getting for your £17,000, and has the work been put out to tender to ensure you're getting the best deal?

I would be exceptionally surprised if the details of the liability for these charges was not including in the deeds for the property...or at least some piece of documentation that you signed during the purchase of the flat.

You could pop into the Estate Agent or solicitir that you used and ask advice from them...but I don't think you'll be able to escape the charges.

As for the £17,000...you will most probably find that these have been caluculated accurately. My guess is that either something substantial had to be done, or the council has not been particularly robust in identifying a low cost solution. You will be very hard pressed to PROVE the latter point and I expect that you'll end up legally liable for the whole lot, I'm afraid.

That said...it's worth trying every attempt to avoid, or mitigate these costs. Good luck!

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Dear Juliko,

I am working on an ITV series about people having problems with their homes. Unfortunately we are quite limited to the people and homes we can feature. I hope you don't mind that I ask, are you a first time buyer?

This forum prevents me from posting my email address for you to reply to so could you please reply via this forum?

Kind regards,
Gemma