Landlord wants to do maintenance

Wassa123

Hello all,

I have just received this email from our landlord where we've been staying for a few months and our AST ends at the end of March. We haven't had a lot of contact with the landlord but they seem fairly nice to us to far. We did offer to pay the rent upfront for the duration of the tenancy (and we did) as we were desperate to move in somewhere within a few days due to a minor crisis and we could skip the credit checks.

"You may recall that before Christmas we had a damp survey undertaken. This revealed that we had an issue with rising damp in the bedroom wall of Flat 1 where it adjoins Flat 2 and it is proposed that this is remedied by the injection of a chemical damp proof course. To do this will require the skirting and plaster on that wall to be removed to a height of about 1meter, the chemical DPC injected and then the plaster reinstated. This will take 2 consecutive half-days to complete. The work will be dusty and noisy and therefore the room should be as clear as possible before starting. The contractor will cover anything that remains with dust sheets. Thereafter, the wall will need redecorating.

The work will probably be undertaken in the 2nd or 3rd week of February and we are writing to see if there any days in this period when it would be less inconvenient to you for it to be done.

We are sorry that you will suffer this inconvenience but you will appreciate that it is essential that this type of maintenance on a property is carried out promptly."


I understand that they need to fix the issue soon to prevent further damage to the property.

There isn't enough room in the flat to move out our bed, computer equipment, furniture (2 chest of drawers, beside table, cupboard), things on the shelf into the living room and honestly it's just quite a big hassle. We'd have to move the stuff out, find somewhere to stay (else sleep in a dusty room) , and move it back again. Chances are we'd be stuck with cleaning up the dust that the tradesmen left or did a half effort of cleaning up.

Any advice?

atolaas

Ask if the work can be delayed until after you move out at the end of March. It would make much more sense for the work to be done whilst the flat is empty.

Wassa123

Yes that was my first thought.

Alternatively if they refuse is it unreasonable to ask that they put us in a hotel/travelodge thats down the road for the duration?

I assume we'd be at work while the work is done so it's mainly the moving and dust issue.

Ideally they'd be responsible for moving our stuff but I can't imagine the tradesman being too careful with it

Guest101

I'd say you could ask for rent refund for those two days.

Are u actually moving at the end of your lease?

Old_Git

if you intend to stay I cant see a way around it .If you intend to move tell the LL to wait .

Wassa123

We plan to,

Theres 2 of us in 2 rooms and my girlfriend wantd to move in but is also paying for her room elsewhere so it's better (bigger and cheaper) for us all to move together. Whether we'll find another place by then is a different story. Tenancy auto rolls montly after that

Old_Git

as you plan to stay ,at least short term .You need to point out the the LL that you will have no bedroom for at least one night and see what they say .

phill99

Op: if this was your own flat and you had to have the work done, how would you deal with the incomveniemce?

Would you expect some one else to pay for a hotel? Would you rxpect a reductin in your mortgage repayments?

Wassa123

If I were a landlord it were my flat i'd put them in a hotel at my expense while it was done to be honest.

Mortgage would be the same? Don't see how that's relevant.

m0bov

phill99 wrote: »

Op: if this was your own flat and you had to have the work done, how would you deal with the incomveniemce?

Would you expect some one else to pay for a hotel? Would you rxpect a reductin in your mortgage repayments?

Bit of nonsense post that. The op is a tenant and has entered into a contract.

camptownraces

It is going to be a real nuisance for you when the job is done, even if you do get a night in a Travelodge (possibly at landlord's expense). There will also be subsequent painting of the wall when the new plaster has dried out.

The amount of dust generated by removing that amount of plaster will be horrendous. If you leave your stuff in the room, even under dust sheets, it could be very dirty. Hard wooden furniture you can wipe down with a damp cloth. but clothing, mattresses, books, and anything electrical could be spoilt.

Of course the best option for you is for the work to be carried out when the place is unoccupied.

Whoever owns the other flat mentioned in the message, it's going to be difficult to get two flats unoccupied at the same time.

Nevertheless, the person living in the flat with the damp has the bigger incentive to co-operate. Is that you?