You and the Law

I live in a block of flats where, as shareholders, we all own the freehold. This year the board of directors proposed a 16.5 per cent increase to our maintenance charges, which was approved by three-quarters of the owners. Those against are retired people who object to funds being spent on things such as a satellite dish. Is there anything we can do before we are priced out?

Just over a year ago I lent my son and his wife £7,000. They have now split up, and my daughter-in-law is taking over the house and buying my son out. The money they owe me has not been mentioned. Is there anything I can do to get it back?

I own a cottage jointly with my sister. The tenant has given a month’s notice and moved out and I would like to sell the property since we are moving abroad shortly. But my sister cannot decide what to do, and has now gone off on six week holiday. I am worried that the cottage will become damp and its value will start to drop.

My brother owns a flat in a block of eight. His lease stipulates that no pets are to be kept on the premises, but he has bought a parrot and I know that other residents in the block will complain. I have tried to persuade him to get rid of it, but he refuses.

I work for an agency doing night work and have worked for the same firm for more than two years. We have been looking forward to the change in the law when agency workers get the same pay as the people they are working with, but the firm’s bosses say this won’t happen because we work for a different firm.

I had a very bad fall two years ago and was taken to hospital with concussion, a fractured cheek bone and knee damage. The grating and hole in the pavement where I fell was subsequently blocked over, but the council states this was done before, rather than after, I fell and as a result rejected my claim. I still get severe pain and headaches.