Without doubt, since the end of
the second World War in the United Kingdom, Blocks of Flats have been seen as a
viable method of providing homes for a growing population with ever declining
spaces of land on which to build new property.
After the second world war,
Britain's housing stock was in a poor condition, several changes of legislation
were introduced including the setting up of a listed building register to make
sure that many historic and important buildings were not lost for good. However,
not all of Britain's buildings could be described as important or worthwhile
saving, far from it , many were in a very poor state of repair and lacked any
real form of sanitation. Which ever way you like to look at it, German aerial
bombing was either very accurate or indiscriminate and the widespread damage to
buildings resulted in sites having to be cleared relatively quickly and replaced
with a quick fix form of construction which would take care of the urgent need
for housing.
Most damage was confined to the
major cities or industrial areas and these parts of the countries were seen as
being idle for tower block or flats contraction as due to the lack of space
available and the high demand for property, blocks of flats were deemed to have
both technical and economic advantages.
However, during the 1960s and
70s, Tower Blocks began to develop a certain reputation and whilst the idea was
sound, not everyone wanted to live in one. Many of the earlier blocks were made
will little attention to build quality and after a relatively short life span
found themselves in very poor condition. Also many became synonymous with inner
city crime and a poorer quality of life. Much has been done to improve the
humble tower block in recent times and indeed many are now quite coveted, Many
blocks have now gone on to be popular and most major cities have a least one
block that will command high prices based on location alone. On the whole city
dwellers would prefer to live in a building that has been converted in to flats
and these former houses now converted in to flats are often the first choice of
a property to buy in a city.
Georgian, Victorian and to a certain degree, Edwardian homes were built with
fine proportions and were architecturally pleasing to look at. Built in a by
gone age, these quality homes were required by large families often with staff
and you could say that many of these houses, because of their proportion and
changing lifestyles have now become obsolete. However, these buildings lend
themselves quite well to alteration in to Flats, providing roomy accommodation
with many retaining some of their original features. Thus period property began
to enjoy a renaissance and a new life as a buildings converted in to flats,
usually being occupied by individuals or couples who had all of the advantages
of living in quality housing without the large outlay of having to buy a whole
house. It is interesting to be able to view photographs of city property from
say 50 years ago and most people would agree that many fine buildings converted
in to flats having never been in such a good condition.
One of the major dilemmas for owners of of flats within blocks is being
able to source an insurance policy to cover the building. Unlike property that
is owned freehold, where you simply arrange the building insurance yourself,
blocks of flats cover is a little more complicated as usually the freeholder
(the person that actually owns the land on which the building stands, arranges
the insurance and charges each individual flat in the block a proportion. This
is the general rule in England & Wales although it is not impossible to insure
an individual flat on its own.
Whilst many people attempt to
arrange insurance on this basis, complications can occur in the event of a claim
and there is always a grey area of insurance for common parts. In some cases,
the freeholder whose responsibility it is to insure the block of flats, neglects
their duties and the building becomes uninsured. This again presents a dilemma
to the leaseholders as under the terms and conditions of a mortgage, you have to
keep adequate insurance in force. Often people have arranged their own building
insurance on an individual flat as it has not been possible to contact the
freeholder to establish insurance cover. This scenario usually happens when a
flat is about to be sold and evidence of insurance is required for the paperwork
to complete. Many insurance companies are reluctant to accept business from
leaseholders but if you explain the situation and the reasons for wanting to
insure, you should find an underwriter that is willing to help you. The key
thing to remember is that as a leaseholder, you have a financial interest in the
building, and there fore you should be allowed to protect that interest by
effecting insurance cover.
In some cases, where the
freehold is proving difficult to track down, it is a good idea to have a meeting
with all of the other leaseholders in the block and discuss the possibility of
taking control of your own insurance arrangements. If you take this route, you
will most definitely need to the tell the insurance company the situation but as
long as they are aware and have accepted the risk, then their should not be any
problems with obtaining the cover. One final point to note, under the terms of
the contracts rights act 1999, for anyone to receive a payment under an
insurance policy, they need to make sure that their names are stated on the
schedule of insurance. If you are arranging insurance for a whole block and you
have not set up a management company, make sure you obtain the names of all
interested parties so as their interests can be duly recorded
