rent compensation?

zppp

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

You clearly have some very strange ideas about friendship if your friends have charged you for helping out in an emergency.

Exactly my point. (However if I stayed for a week I would give them something) - maybe I'm too nice.

watchingmymoney

My friends have not charged me! The have been absolutely wonderful. I have, of course, made dinner, brought wine, and taken them out as a thank you. My point was that I had then found alternative accommodation, i can't live where i am paying full rent, and my landlord, who does/must have some responsibility about the flat being inhabitable, should compensate me the rent while I can not live there.

Wee_Willy_Harris

watchingmymoney wrote: »

My friends have not charged me! The have been absolutely wonderful. I have, of course, made dinner, brought wine, and taken them out as a thank you. My point was that I had then found alternative accommodation, i can't live where i am paying full rent, and my landlord, who does/must have some responsibility about the flat being inhabitable, should compensate me the rent while I can not live there.

So it hasn't cost you anything then?

watchingmymoney

What it has cost me is rent. I am paying full rent for a flat that I can not use because of the works my landlord is doing that have made the flat uninhabitable for 4 to 5 week period. I have had to move out due to the dust and noxious odours permeating the flat. I had thought that if the flat was uninhabitable and that great nuisance was created by the landlords activities then the tenant was entitled to some form of compensation as I am not able to live and enjoy the flat as I am entitled to according to the lease agreement. That is what I was asking throughtout this post. I do not think it is fair that I am expected to pay full rent for a flat I can not use and live in.

watchingmymoney

If the building downstairs belonged to a different owner I would expect that 1) I would have been informed about the works in terms of the extent of the work being done (knocking down walls, cutting pipes, etc. is not just "re-decorating") and 2) I would have been informed about the duration of the works. I was not informed of either of these by my landlord who does own the entire building. The most I ever got out of him was that it "may take a couple of months." I was NEVER told that the works would be anything more than redecorating. I do believe that even if the downstairs belonged to a different owner, if they negatively affected my flat (which is what the works are doing..in terms of dust etc. as well as the fact that they will need to cut my pipes in my bathroom to re-route them so it doesn't bulge in the ceiling downstairs and they will also cut my electricity for at least a day as they re-route the meters and supply for entire building) then legally they would have to pay compensation as their activities affected my being able to live at the flat. If this is not the case, if anyone can just do anything in terms of building works anywhere and just expect people to put up with it with no complaints, then I think this is very wrong. What everyone seems to be missing is that I am paying full rent for a flat that I can not use. The only reason I came on here was to ask if anyone knew of what the legal responsibilities were of the landlord were when the flat was made uninhabitable by his activities? Instead it seems I am being accused of asking for something I don't deserve. If you were paying full rent for a flat, you would expect that you would be able to live there, be able to breathe without coughing, without your throat being sore and your eyes watering from dust that was coming up from building works below?

Wee_Willy_Harris

watchingmymoney wrote: »

What it has cost me is rent. I am paying full rent for a flat that I can not use because of the works my landlord is doing that have made the flat uninhabitable for 4 to 5 week period. I have had to move out due to the dust and noxious odours permeating the flat. I had thought that if the flat was uninhabitable and that great nuisance was created by the landlords activities then the tenant was entitled to some form of compensation as I am not able to live and enjoy the flat as I am entitled to according to the lease agreement. That is what I was asking throughtout this post. I do not think it is fair that I am expected to pay full rent for a flat I can not use and live in.

So, you want alternative accommodation..... which you have..... with your friends.

Wee_Willy_Harris

watchingmymoney wrote: »

If the building downstairs belonged to a different owner I would expect that 1) I would have been informed about the works in terms of the extent of the work being done (knocking down walls, cutting pipes, etc. is not just "re-decorating") and 2) I would have been informed about the duration of the works. I was not informed of either of these by my landlord who does own the entire building. The most I ever got out of him was that it "may take a couple of months." I was NEVER told that the works would be anything more than redecorating. I do believe that even if the downstairs belonged to a different owner, if they negatively affected my flat (which is what the works are doing..in terms of dust etc. as well as the fact that they will need to cut my pipes in my bathroom to re-route them so it doesn't bulge in the ceiling downstairs and they will also cut my electricity for at least a day as they re-route the meters and supply for entire building) then legally they would have to pay compensation as their activities affected my being able to live at the flat. If this is not the case, if anyone can just do anything in terms of building works anywhere and just expect people to put up with it with no complaints, then I think this is very wrong. What everyone seems to be missing is that I am paying full rent for a flat that I can not use. The only reason I came on here was to ask if anyone knew of what the legal responsibilities were of the landlord were when the flat was made uninhabitable by his activities? Instead it seems I am being accused of asking for something I don't deserve. If you were paying full rent for a flat, you would expect that you would be able to live there, be able to breathe without coughing, without your throat being sore and your eyes watering from dust that was coming up from building works below?

IF you can establish that the property is uninhabitable as a result of the LLs action, the you MAY have a right to alternative accommodation provided by the LL. That is about it.

watchingmymoney

Yes I have TEMPORARY accommodation with friends but I'm STILL paying FULL rent to the landlord for a flat I've been unable to live in for weeks. Would you pay full rent for place you can't live in? And isn't it the landlord's responsibility to provide alternative accommodatin (he did not offer any) when the rented accommodation is made uninhabitable? Asking him to pay me my rent back is a lot cheaper for him than having to pay for alternative accommodation for me (which legally he is supposed to provide but didn't offer..I had to find my own).

Wee_Willy_Harris

watchingmymoney wrote: »

Yes I have TEMPORARY accommodation with friends but I'm STILL paying FULL rent to the landlord for a flat I've been unable to live in for weeks. Would you pay full rent for place you can't live in? And isn't it the landlord's responsibility to provide alternative accommodatin (he did not offer any) when the rented accommodation is made uninhabitable? Asking him to pay me my rent back is a lot cheaper for him than having to pay for alternative accommodation for me (which legally he is supposed to provide but didn't offer..I had to find my own).

Your LL would have to provide TEMPORARY accommodation. Fortunately, you have done the decent thing and mitigated any losses by securing your own, which will be cheaper for the LL than also giving you some rent back. Of course, as a gesture of goodwill, he may yet do just that.

clutton_2

OP- i suggest that you write a very abbreviated version of your first post over on www.landlordzone.co.uk - there are property lawyers posting over there who can give you a definnitive answer..

the more i consider this the more i am inclined to think that the LL does have a duty to rehouse you - especially if you are in an environmentally dangerously dusty situation - which is why i suggested you contract Environmental Health at your local council and have a chat with them....