Leaving property during repairs - LL's responsibilities?

scottishblondie

My friend is renting a house in York, in which she lives with her OH and 2-month old baby, which has some damp problems (rising damp in bathroom, utility, kitchen and half of dining room) which have been ongoing for a few months. The LA has said that someone will be coming in to fix this mid January. Whilst it's not ideal that it's taken this long, she's ok with this as at least they now have a date for it getting sorted out.

The problem now is that the house will be pretty much uninhabitable while the work is being done. She's been told they'll be ripping out the kitchen and the bathroom will be unusable for the duration of the initial work to install damp proofing, and because it has to dry out for 6 weeks before redecoration the kitchen will not be properly restored until then. After asking about alternative accommodation the LA has said that it's up to them to sort it out, and also that the LL does not want to give a rent reduction for the upheaval.

I always thought that the LL had a responsibility to arrange accommodation if they had to carry out works that made the house uninhabitable, but a quick look at the Shelter website didn't really confirm that for me. So I'm here to pick the brains of the experts - should the LL arrange alternative accommodation, for at least the initial period when there will be no use of the kitchen and bathroom? What are my friend's rights in this matter?

Thanks.

BitterAndTwisted

Yes, if the property is uninhabitable then the LL should make appropriate alternative arrangements for their tenants.

925dancer

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Yes, if the property is uninhabitable then the LL should make appropriate alternative arrangements for their tenants.

What he (?) said.

Geenie

Absolutely. This is appalling and I would get your friend to contact CAB straight away. Paying rent for a place they can't live in, and not being offered an alternative?!!! Dreadful behaviour by the LA's and LL. I am a LL and this sickens me.

theartfullodger

Beware the dodgy landlord trick of "oh yes, please move out... oh dear the repairs are more complicated than we thought... oh dear it's taking even longer... oh look, you are no longer resident, so your tenancy has ended, goodbye...

Get advice from CaB or Shelter!! 0808 800 4444 but expect a wait on the 'phone - Shelter have too many demands & not enough resource...

Hope it works out

Artful

G_M

If the property is uninhabitable, it is debatable (and I mean in the legal sense) whether the LL has to provide alternative accommodation (subject to rent payments continuing), or whether the contract is 'frustrated' (ended due to inability for it to continue).

Painsmiths solicitors have a factsheet.

There is an explanation of 'frustration' here.

As I said, this is debatable and though lawyers may be along to express views shortly, at the end of the day only a court can decide.

clutton_2

ask on www.landlordzone.co.uk - there are some property lawyers post on there

if the works are an "insurable risk" he could claim on his insurance..... - but if it is down to lack of maintainance it may not be

tbs624

The good thing is that the LL is actually doing to be getting the work done but LL/LA cannot simply say to a T "the property will be unavailable to you from x until y" and that T must continue to pay full rent during that period. LL has to supply what s/he is contracted to supply.

Sounds like amateur LL working with ignorant LA.

As Artful says, your friend should try Shelter's helpline plus Community Legal Advice.

Your friend could also get in touch with York Council's Housing Standards Team and ask for their advice/support.

scottishblondie

Thank you everyone for your responses, I'm glad to hear she does actually have some rights. As I've never rented myself, and I live in Scotland, my knowledge on the subject is pretty much all gleaned from this forum!! I've sent her a link to this thread, she says she's going to get in touch with Shelter and talk to the council first thing on Monday.

What she absolutely doesn't want to happen is to end up without the property - it's in a great location close to their families where rental properties don't come up very often, so she doesn't want to rock the boat too much. Now that they're on a periodic tenancy she is a bit worried that the LL might just decide to give them notice and find a new tenant rather than deal with the bother of alternate accommodation etc.

BitterAndTwisted

While the landlord is supplying alternative accommodation they will be receiving rent from their tenant. If they give your pal notice the property will be empty during the all the time the works are being carried out and then the LL will have to spend time finding a new tenant once it's completed. That could be quite a long void-period with no rental income whatsoever. I know which I would find the more sensible option. Depends on how sensible this landlord is.

If your pal is willing to negotiate spending as little time out of the property while the work is going on, there is the risk that the LL will give them notice to quit at the end in any case especially if they think that they can get another equally reliable tenant in on a higher rent once completed.