service charges on leasehold flat

[bufo]

I dont know if this is the right place to ask but i will anyway we have owned our 3 bed maisonette since 2000 it is a leasehold and the downstairs flat is owned by the ex owner of an estate agents we had a leaking roof that needed replacing and in the deeds or whatever they are called it stated that both property owners were jointly responsible he ignored our pleas to pay half so we wrote to the estate agent who managed the freehold and they wrote to the downstairs flat and in the end he paid half but only if we agreed to use his roofer who he had used for years so we had to agree anyway that was fine he left piles of roof tiles in the garden came too late etc but that was ok. We have had numerous problems trying to get him to maintain the property and there was a leak downstairs that caused a revolting smell in our house which he was not bothered about at all. Afew years later the freehold came up to buy we couldnt afford so the landlord from downstairs bought it. Then we got a letter saying he was going to be charging a service fee of about 150-250 a year! plus the ground rent in our details it states that the ground rent is 50 per year rising after a few years NOTHING about a service charge I argued with him put the phone down etc and refused to pay for something that was quite clearly just a money making scheme. So he wrote to our mortgage company telling them that we had breached our mortgage agreement (which we hadnt) and they paid him added the debt onto our account and now we are paying it back to them plus interest! I was going to go through a solicitor to dispute this charge but when he went to our mortgage co I didnt bother We are now in debt the property which is a converted house not a block is in a terrible state he has never done any real maintenance on the outside an we are furious with him and our mortgage company but have no option but to pay otherwise be in more debt is there any way of disputing the service charge or claiming it back? can we get it reduced? it is a yearly charge and im sure he just made it up to get back at us for making him pay out for the roof. Sorry this is so long AND sorry if this is not the place to ask! PLEASE HELP! I should also mention that when we sent our cheque for 50 groundrent to the freehold manager our cheque was sent back as the freehold had been bought and because we had not paid on time the one buying the freehold paid it on our behalf (without informing us it was late) he then sent a demand a few months later (we had no address or notification of who the new freeholder was) asking for it back and a fee for the costs involved we were happy to pay this but NOT the extra annual fees which i think he says are management fees I know this is complicated but any advise would be much appreciated.

[Dave777]

May I advise the first thing you need to do is download a copy of your lease, it seems you do not have one.

You can download the lease from www.landregistryonline.co .uk It costs approx £10.

The service charges cannot just be made up as you go along. These are also stated in your lease.
The freeholder is duty bound to maintain the property (also set out in the lease).
For all your enquiries and doubts, you must ring the Leasehold Advisory Service on 0845 345 1993.

If you can afford it, I would strongly advise taking this information to a solicitor. There is something very underhand going on here.