Getting out off a tenancy agreement early

robinson1982

Hi

I am new to this but hope someone can offer some advice, sorry for the LONG post but here goes ...

We moved into a 2 bedroom end of terrace house on 16th April 2011. The property was advertised on Right Move by an agency as having extensive corner plot gardens and off road parking for several vehicles.

When we viewed the property the current tenant showed us around. The property had a huge garden, half of which was completely overgrown but the tenant informed us that the landlord was planning on building another house in that part of the garden which is why it hadnt been kept, but he hadnt recieved planning permission as yet as he had put in planning permission for two houses but it had been refused.

We loved the house for the fact that it was end of terrace so we wouldnt have noisy neighbours either side of us and the house had lots of parking for our 3 cars.

We put an offer in which was accepted. Before we signed the 12 month contract the agent informed us of the below in our contract:

"The tenants have agreed with landlord moving position of entrance door from the side of the property to the front of the property and also to block in windows to either side of existing front door and the ones above".

"The landlord has agreed that when work starts on the property next door the tenants can have a reduction in rent of 200 for the duration of the work".

I requested that work on this house be done before I am due in November as I didnt want the noise and dust when the baby comes and the agent informed us that the landlord would be in touch to arrange to meet us at the property to talk us through everything.

When we got to the property the house was in a filthy state and hadnt been cleaned from when the last tenants left. Carpets were stained, faded, wallpaper and paint hanging off the walls etc. I emailed the agency and attached photos of the filth. I said we would be happy to redcorate if the landlord would pay for materials. The landlords PA called me back to say this was OK.

We heard nothing more from the landlord regarding the building works and we commenced work on decorating the house. We even found a bin with used needles in whilst doing the clear up!

On Monday 22/8/2011 at 8am I had a knock at the door and rolled out of bed thinking it was the postman. To my horror and embarassment it was the landlord with 2 workers and a digger informing me that works were due to commence immediately and all the works they were planning on doing while im stood there in my pyjamas! He said that he had apparently dropped by on Friday but no one was home. He left no note, no card, no letter, nothing! I asked him to come back when my husband was home to go through everything property. When he returned he informed us that:

• He needed to start the works immediately as he DID have planning permission which runs out in November!

• He is not just moving the door but actually knocking off our whole porch area!
• The new house was not being built in the garden but it was being built off the side of this house!
• It would no longer be an end of terrace but would be a terraced house!
• We would no longer have a drive for several cars as the new house was being built on our drive!
• We would be left with 1 parking space!

I feel like we have been lied to and if we were made aware that the new house would be coming off the side of my house I would never have moved in here! I have a baby coming in November and the noise building a house off the side of this one is going to be too much! We have been given no notice of the works commencing, we should have been notified of all this work before we signed anything. There was no mention in the contracts we signed about the house coming off the side of this one or about the drive being taken away. I am annoyed that we planned to spend years here, have put our time and effort into decorating this house and all I want to do now is move before the baby comes! They have started by putting a fence up in the garden and left us with a tiny garden compared to what the tenant informed us would be our garden. We have worked hard to maintain the garden which now looks a mess with pot holes and mounds of mud along the new fence they have built and mud left over the patio area.

When the builders left last Thursday they left broken paving slabs in the garden which I fell over. The baby is fine but I now have a sprained ankle and bruising to my back!

Sorry for the long winded post but I just want some advice about our rights and if
(1) Are the estate agents allowed to advertise properties as being "end of terrace house ... extensive corner plot gardens ... off road parking for several vehicles..." when in fact they must have known that all these things would be changing within a matter of months! Surely this is false advertising?

(2) Even if the estate agents werent aware of where the new house was being built
(a) Is the landlord allowed to continue with the works after just turning up at my door and giving us no notice. We still dont know what dates he is due to return. Every other day I see someone walking through the garden, for all we know it could be a burgler!
(b) We signed into and end of terrace with driveway, both of which are going to be taken away. Can we get an injuction for him to stop the work?
(c) Ideally we would just like to move out and get the deposit back (which is held with the estate agent in a client account), can we legally do this if he is in breech of the contract point below:

3.2 not to interupt or interfere with the tenants lawful occupation, enjoyment or use of the premises other than in an emergency or in the normal and lawful process of excercising or implementinf the landlors rights and obligations under this agreement and having provided at least a minimum of 24 hours prior written notice.

I appreciate any comments or advice.

G_M

You have a right to 'quiet enjoyment' of the property you are renting. You can deny the LL (and his contractors) access. Completely. If you choose to take this course, put it in writing. If builders turn up, tell them to leave. If they refuse, call the police, tell them you are taking action to remove unwanted builders from your home and fear a breach of the peace.

However I suspect your LL/tenant relations will sour! If you can find a compromise, I would. This might be
*reduction in rent
* moving you to an alternative property while work is done
* agreeing an early surrender of the tenancy and you simply move out
*changing the date of the works to give you time to plan
*a combination of the above

Personally I feel a LL granting a tenancy just before undertaking works of this extent is mad - no court would have much sympathy for him if the dispute escallated to that point.

Turnbull2000

I'm afraid you've been mugged by your landlord. Legally, you could probably refuse him access to the land - but I doubt he'll take any notice.

lynzpower

You may not be able to stop him meccesarily, but Environmental health would want to be satisfied that the property ( and thats all of it, including the garden and perimeter is safe for you. Noise is a hazard under the HHSRS ( the tool EHOs use to assess housing)

You may want to call them on Monday and tell them what is happening. See what they say.

You might also want to talk to the planning department and see if it really is true that the work must be completed by November.

the other issue is that technically he is breach of contract as the garden you expected is no longer going to be there for your use ( if they build a house on it) Do you have a 6month break clause?

And just for anyone else reading this: NEVER, AS A TENANT, OFFER TO DO RENOVATION WORKS TO THE PROPERTY: many people get stung massively for this.

Benji

How is the property described on the tenancy agreement? Is it....

123 High Street; or
123 High Street, excluding an area of garden measuring blah blah blah?

If it is 123 High Street, pay £4 on the land registry website and download a plan of the property. What is on there is what is demised to you. He simply can not build on it. Talk to the tenancy relations officer at the local council for help - it is possible that his actions could constitute illegal eviction, or harassment at least. The TRO may go under another name "Private Rentals Officer", "Tenancy Support Officer" or something similar - he'll be in the housing department.

ruggedtoast

This makes me blood boil. Why are these parasites allowed to operate as a business?

robinson1982

Thank you for your feedback G_M.

By "agreeing an early surrender of the tenancy and you simply move out" does this mean we get the deposit back or do we forefit that?

We have sent the landlord an email on Wednesday which he hasnt replied to. I resent it Friday and text him today (Saturday). Still no reply. I have now left a voicemail on his mobile and I am going to hand deliver a letter this evening also. In the email/ letter I have set everything out politely and asked that either:
1. We continue to rent the property until the end of our tenancy. During this time the works to build the new house on the drive does not go ahead so we can continue to enjoy the full property and driveway as advertised
2. We are aware your planning permission runs out in November so you need to get the works underway. We are more than happy to relocate before November so you can continue the works if it is agreed that:
(a) our deposit is returned in full
(b) our removal costs are covered

I await his response. How long is a reasonable time scale for him to make contact with us?

Thanks for your feedback also Lynzpower. I am going to contact Environmental health on Monday as you suggested. I am also going to visit Citizens Advise and talk to the planning department and see if it really is true that the work must be completed by November. Unfortunately I cannot see a break clause in the tenancy agreement

Thanks for your feedback Benji. In the tenancy agreement It has the full address, nothing saying "excluding driveway, garden and soon to be a terraced house!". I also still have the original advert from rightmove which says "end of terrace, extensive corner plot gardens and off road parking for several vehicles. I am going to seek advice from the council as you suggested also.

Thanks again for all your help everyone, really appreciate it.

G_M

If you agree to early surrender, the terms of that serrender would be.... whatever you agree!

However, on reflection, I believe you are in a strong position. I mentioned your right to 'quiet enjoyment', and Benji mentioned the right you have to the property as described. As said before, you could simply deny the LL and his contractors access.

I believe your letter is polite but firm and well-thought-out. Make sure it is delivered to the address on the tenancy agreement whatever that is, even if it is NOT his home address (by all means send a copy there too).

Reasonable timescale? 5 working days? You could then either do nothing on the assumption that no work is progressing, or perhaps better still, pre-empt by writing again, more firmly, saying that as you have not received a reply you assume he is not agreeable to early surrender and so you will stay for the remainder of your tenancy, but must stress that you cannot accept or allow any works to take place until you the tenancy ends.

Best of luck!

kmmr

lynzpower wrote: »

You might also want to talk to the planning department and see if it really is true that the work must be completed by November.

V minor point, but planning permission usually says that the work must be started by a certain date, not completed. What constitutes 'started' has been argued in the courts and I think it has to be a substantial start - which is probably why he has begun now to make it clear that the work has officially 'started' by November.

Building a whole house is going to take a lot longer than a few months, and will be noisy, dusty and dirty. The LL really has taken you for a ride, and I would be as difficult as I could be if I was the tenant. Refuse access, complain to the builders about the noise, get EH involved etc. Complain about every crack etc that appears on your side of the wall until the LL lets you out of your contract, with your full deposit back.

If you have rented the whole place, including the garden, complain about loss of this. I wouldn't accept a rental reduction as this would imply you are ok with the noise dust dirt etc, I'd just try to get out.

robinson1982

GM - We hand delivered the letter this evening to the address on the tenancy and by the time we got home the landlord had left a message on the house phone saying he had been away all weekend and will call again in the morning so I will fill you in tomorrow once we have spoken!

KMMR - "I wouldn't accept a rental reduction as this would imply you are ok with the noise dust dirt etc, I'd just try to get out". The problem is that because we were told when we were showed around the house that the new house was being built on the far side of the back garden, we were happy for him to do this as the back garden is so huge it wouldnt have affected us. It states in our tenancy "The landlord has agreed that when work starts on the property next door the tenants can have a reduction in rent of 200 for the duration of the work", so really we have already agreed to a new house being built as we have signed the tenancy. Our problem now is that we were never informed WHERE the new house was actually being built or that it would be built off the side of our house and that the driveway and front garden would be taken away, if we were told this or shown the plans, we would never have signed.

Im just hoping Ive got a leg to stand on considering GM's point of right to 'quiet enjoyment', and Benjis point to have to the property as described.

I guess I will just have to wait to see what the landlord says tomorrow, wish me luck!

samroo

This is a tricky situation for you. You have signed an agreement which stipulates a rent reduction during the period of the works. Whether this overrides your quiet enjoyment will need proper legal advice. I know it's too late now but didn't you think to ask about the new house before you signed the agreement.