Contesting a VVE Refusal? Free Legal Advice

Questioner

Ls, I have a house for sale in a block where the majority of the apartments are owned by 1 housing association. The housing association therefore always has a majority when it comes to voting in the VVE. Do they have to have a reasonable argument to refuse something, or are they allowed to reject a request from us without giving a reason? I would like to include the attic above my house (an unnamed space, a loft without windows, where rats and mice live and where a lot of work still needs to be done before it is habitable) in my house. The housing association does not want to cooperate with this. The reason is that they want to demolish the building (at some point). There is no date for this yet, the estimate is that this will take at least 10 years. Because they want to buy the house from us (before they can demolish it) at some point, they do not want us to invest in the house, because then they would have to buy a house that is worth more. Are they allowed to prevent us from using the attic on the basis of this argument? The individual tenants have no problem with the renovation. Can the housing industry reason from its own commercial interests, or should they take into account the housing needs of residents, and see the investment as an increase in the value of their property and also the neighbourhood? What is our position? Can we challenge their refusal?

Lawyer

If insufficient account is taken of the interests of the co-owners, a VVE decision can be swept aside by a judge or an obligation can be imposed on a VVE that does take that interest into account. The law offers starting points for this, but it is a cautious test. It really has to be unreasonable before you can force something. I doubt a judge will agree with you on this. Preventing future damage and being open about the future plans of this co-owner will also be taken into account by a judge.

Lawyer

I find the housing association's position incomprehensible. That they might want to buy your home in the future is uncertain. They cannot expropriate you and also have no position on other grounds to impose their will on you. If this is the only argument the VVE has, it seems to me worth submitting to the court. The fact is that if you want to add the space to your home, all fractions of everyone's share in the building will probably have to be adjusted and therefore also the deed of division. That does cause some red tape and I can imagine that the housing industry is not very keen on that. However, this is not currently used as a ground for refusal.