tenant rights during construction

pyo

Hello,

I just signed a 1-year contract to live in an ex-council flat on an estate.

The week after my tenancy started I got a letter from the council saying that the building would be refurbished and that the project would last 36 weeks.

Do I have any rights to request a lowered rent during this period? I feel a bit cheated since nobody mentioned this to me before signing the contract.

Thanks.

Pixie5740

What impact is this contraction work going to have on your day to day life?

pmlindyloo

pyo wrote: »

Hello,

I just signed a 1-year contract to live in an ex-council flat on an estate.

The week after my tenancy started I got a letter from the council saying that the building would be refurbished and that the project would last 36 weeks.

Do I have any rights to request a lowered rent during this period? I feel a bit cheated since nobody mentioned this to me before signing the contract.

Thanks.

Who is your landlord? Private?

If private why would the council be refurbishing the building? Are there council flats in the building?

noh

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Who is your landlord? Private?

If private why would the council be refurbishing the building? Are there council flats in the building?

Because the council is the freeholder of the block of flats.

pyo

Thanks for all the replies.

My landlord is private, but the council runs the block of flats.

The work is quite intrusive (scaffolding wrapping around the whole building, construction workers outside of my windows, heavy work and loud noise, etc.). It does not make life impossible, but I am basically living on a construction site.

lincroft1710

There is nothing to stop you requesting a lower rent, but your landlord is under no obligation to reduce it. It is possible (but probably unlikely) that the rent may have been pitched at a level to reflect the disturbance.

pyo

Thanks, that's what I am going to do. Just wanted to check if the landlord had any obligation to tell me about this since they knew about it.

dimbo61

What are they doing?
Putting in new double glazing, security doors with Video entry?
Better insulation and maybe outside cladding/Insulation.
New roof ?

pyo

They are re-painting the building outside and inside. They are also replacing floors and gutting common spaces. It's something like a once-in-every-20-years upkeep job.

Lord_Baltimore

On the bright side, they are enhancing your living environment in the long term. Might be worth the inconvenience if you stay longer?