Landlord didn't tell us about work to house - advice please?

nightsong

Hi all,

First off, this is a most informative and useful place and I've enjoyed reading many of the posts here so thanks all

We recently became tenants for the first time for many years, having sold our house in Kent in order to move to Gloucestershire. We're renting for, initially, six months while we get our bearings and look around for our new home.

The problem we have is this. We agreed to take this flat, and paid a deposit. At some point before we moved in, I can't quite remember when, it was mentioned that the flats were going to be externally redecorated. We are in the basement of a big Georgian villa which is subdivided into four flats. We were told that the work would take a few weeks.

Then, afetr we'd moved in, the landlord said that some repairs would be done to the outside as well as the painting and it would all take about six weeks. Two weeks ago some very noisy workmen arrived and put up scaffolding, then disappeared.

Yesterday we had a letter from the landlord. The work will now apparently take eight to ten weeks. The man in the flat upstairs tells us that last time it was done it actually took FOUR MONTHS.

One of the things we were looking for when we came here was some peace and quiet. I admit that we were told about the work before we moved in, but do you think the landlord should have told us exactly what was involved at an earlier stage?

I'm feeling pretty upset about the prospect of workmen around for months, peering in the windows, making a noise and generally disturbing us, not to mention the scaffolding blocking out even more light in what is already a pretty dark flat. And even more fed up with the landlord!

Any advice much appreciated!

bumpoowee

I believe under the right of 'quiet enjoyment' you can veto any attempts from the landlord to conduct work to the flat.. i presume this is still the case if the work is on the outside only, as this still inteferes with quiet enjoyment. At this stage though you'd !!!! off the landlord quite a lot and probably have to look for somewhere else to live after the initial term is up.

I'm sure somebody more knowledgable will be able to say for definite one way or the other whether this is right.

clutton_2

"" it was mentioned that the flats were going to be externally redecorated.""

you signed an AST knowing that external works - needing scaffolding - would be done. you cannot now say you dont like it

why are you believing the neighbour rather than the LL on the time frames for the work ?

nightsong

clutton wrote: »

"" it was mentioned that the flats were going to be externally redecorated.""

you signed an AST knowing that external works - needing scaffolding - would be done. you cannot now say you dont like it

why are you believing the neighbour rather than the LL on the time frames for the work ?

We signed the AST on the basis of the work taking "a few weeks". It is now clear that the landlord is covering hmself for at least twelve weeks. I just re-read the letter and note that it says "Timescales may be affected by weather conditions". Presumably this is to cover themselves for delays and explains why it took four months last time.

You would think they might think of having it done in the summer ... anyway, I think there is a very significant difference between "a few weeks" which I think in normal parlance would be three or four, and "up to twleve, plus weather delays".

Oh, and I believe the neightbour because a) he owns two of the flats, b) this was a completely unsolicited comment from him - I didn't ask how long it took last time and c) our landlord didn't own the flat last time it was done but the neighbour has been here for decades. Since you ask.

Running_Horse

nightsong wrote: »

You would think they might think of having it done in the summer

Why would you think that? Builders work all year round. I would be grateful to have a landlord who properly maintains the fabric of the building I am living in. Stop moaning about nothing and get on with your life.

roses

If it's a flat then it will be the freeholder who controls the work, not the landlord (unless they are the freeholder). Do you feel they were being dishonest with you or was your landlord misled by the freeholder?

casper_g

Remember the landlord probably only owns the lease on the flat you're renting, and may only be telling you what the management company/freeholder is telling him.

Maybe if you're lucky the work won't take as long as the neighbour says it took last time. After all, there are a whole range of jobs that might or might not need doing. Maybe they spent a long time last time because they were sorting out some structural issues, but this time it'll be more a question of a bit of cosmetic rejuvenation. You can only hope!

Welshwoofs

nightsong wrote: »

We signed the AST on the basis of the work taking "a few weeks". It is now clear that the landlord is covering hmself for at least twelve weeks. I just re-read the letter and note that it says "Timescales may be affected by weather conditions". Presumably this is to cover themselves for delays and explains why it took four months last time.

It's not rendering by any chance is it? If it is, the weather absolutely has to be dry and not below a certain temperature...that can delay things considerably.

Oh, and I believe the neightbour because a) he owns two of the flats, b) this was a completely unsolicited comment from him - I didn't ask how long it took last time and c) our landlord didn't own the flat last time it was done but the neighbour has been here for decades. Since you ask.

If your neighbour owns two of the flats I'm guessing your LL owns the lease on yours alone and not the freehold on the whole building? If he doesn't own the freehold then what he's doing is passing on the information about works he's getting from the freehold owner and the schedule will be very much outside his control.

nightsong

Thank you to those posters who have posted constructive and helpful comments.

The landlord is the director of the management company. The letter is from him on behalf of the management company. I don't know whether he owns the flat leasehold, or freehold.

the following work is scheduled (I quote) - and bear in mind this is a very large, four-storey detached property, and Grade 2 listed

# Hacking off and repair of defective render in a number of areas
# Repointing work at lower ground level
# Roof work to include replacing broken roof/ridge tiles
# Render repairs to some chimneys
# Painting of all exterior wood work
# Painting of all elevations
# Render repairs to the garages
# Repair of common areas windows and door
# Repair of garden flat entrance steps
# Replacement of external security lighting
# Cleaning of guttering, downpipes and low-level spaces

this is the sceduled work - if anything else crops up they will presumably deal with that too.

The point is that this is not at all the same as a few weeks of decorating, which is what we were told would be happening when we took the flat. We are at home all day and months of this work is going to be extremely intrusive. If we had known this was going to take place we would not have taken the flat. During the brief time the men were putting up the scaffolding we have already been treated to being the exhibits in a goldfish bowl as they gawped through the windows at us. I do not appreciate the idea of months more of the same.

Our objection is that the landlord must have known all this was going to take place and gave us a totally misleading impression of what would be involved. In effect he has taken money under false pretences as far as we are concerned - we could easily have rented another property and not been exposed to this hassle.

clutton_2

the weather is bound to have an effect, this is why there can rarely be specific time frames for outside works....

sorry i dont think you can do anything about this and i dont think the LL is in breach of his obligations as he told you in advance about outside works and you still signed the contract

i think most tenants would be delighted that a landlord was willing to spend so much money to bring a property up to a good state of repair for his tenant's comfort ...

but - us LLs can never win......

nightsong

clutton wrote: »

the weather is bound to have an effect, this is why there can rarely be specific time frames for outside works....

sorry i dont think you can do anything about this and i dont think the LL is in breach of his obligations as he told you in advance about outside works and you still signed the contract

i think most tenants would be delighted that a landlord was willing to spend so much money to bring a property up to a good state of repair for his tenant's comfort ...

but - us LLs can never win......

Thank you for your professional opinion in your first two sentences.

We have taken the property on a six-minth lease (for which we payed in full before we moved in). The landlord was previously trying without success to sell the flat. We have every reeason to suspect that he is doing the work now in order to sell in the spring, and that we will be given notice to quit. So despite your heart-warming feelings that he is only acting in our interests I think the truth may possibly lie elsewhere.

Sorry to be such an ungrateful tenant :rolleyes: