Tenants' rights during disruption

Yorkie1974

We rent a lovely big farmhouse, and pay a very reasonable rent - the back of the house looked out over all the barns and farmyard, which wasn't the prettiest, but we liked it. We had a cottage front garden, orchard at the side and an enclosed rear garden, with an allotment area, fruit trees and bushes and a lovely big lawn - perfect for the kids to play, private, and secure for the dogs to run around.

The owner is currently redeveloping the site. As a result, we've gained a garage (he previously used for storage), but we've lost the enclosed rear garden and the orchard. During the construction work, the builders have also dug up the mature front garden - today it looks like the Somme, a muddy wasteland, although the builder has promised to re-landscape it. We've lost dozens of plants that we've bought or collected over the last few years, including unusual ones from a specialist nursery 100 miles away that I've not seen in a garden centre anywhere.

We've been very accommodating so far, despite losing so much land (especially the orchard - we lived on apples the year before last!), but the mess they have made of the front garden has really upset us.

From the landlord's perspective, I guess the loss of the land is 'compensated' by the much nicer area around our property (the barns adjacent were derelict, and we often had rats in the loft who had come through the barns), but we do feel as though we have given up an awful lot - this isn't the property we chose any more. That said, our rent is still very reasonable for the size of house, and the location is perfect, so we are unlikely to find a better house to rent - the rent would be higher, and the expense of moving would be huge.

Should we complain, or are we better to let things lie? We wouldn't want to be kicked out for being troublemakers, but it does feel as though we're getting a raw deal with all the disruption, and the damage to a garden we, and our parents, have spent so much time cultivating, is huge.

Just to add, I work from home so am here pretty much all day every day. I regularly step out the front door to find workmen wandering around our garden - don't we have a right to 'quiet enjoyment'? Shouldn't they ask permission each time they want to enter the garden?

moromir

Are the gardens included in your let?

princeofpounds

If the whole property is 'demised' to you then you could chuck the builders out tomorrow. Suspect you'll be evicted at the earliest opportunity though. Are you in a fixed term?

It's great for the LL, getting paid for his building site.

If it is getting intolerable, your trump card is to threaten to leave if you don't get some kind of concession and you can. He may well not want to try to find new tenants with the place in its current condition.

Expect your rent to go up when the work is done!

Kynthia

You need to decide what it is you want. Do you want compensation for the disruption and lost plants, reduced rent as it's no longer worth what you are paying, the works to stop, advance notice and permission sought before visits and work, etc? Then write a letter to the landlord and be clear on what you want and why you are entitled to it.

olly300

1. Were you warned that the building work was going to happen?
2. Are you paying market rent or under market rent for the area?

If you are paying under market rent then don't complain.

However if you are paying market rent as for a rent reduction.

In regards for the builders asking permission to enter the garden if they are making too much noise go and have a word with them yourself while you are calm:
1. Find out what they are doing in what order, and,
2. Come to some arrangement that will decrease the disruption to you.

And yes in a previous property I rented I lived on a building site but I was paying under market rent, didn't have my rent increased when the work was completed, I moved out myself 8 months later of my own accord, and the builders told me what order they were doing the work.