Leave rental contract early as neighbours smoking week constantly?!

avstar

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice really. My DD and her BF are 3 months into a 6 month private rental contract on a flat and would like to leave early, but how to go about it?

DD has found out she's pregnant and is worried that the tenants downstairs have constantly smoked weed since the day they moved in. DD's flat smells of it constantly and it seems to be travelling through the air vents. Whereas before it was a nuisance now she's obviously worried about the health impacts on the baby.

DD reported this to the police twice, to the caretaker and to the landlords agents twice. Nobody seems willing to do anything about it and the downstairs tenant is still smoking away :mad:

The land lord agent said they can leave early if the agent manages to find new tenants before their agreement is up, but the agent hasn't even advertised the flat. I think they're just saying that to DD, they're not going to rush to find new tenants when DD is going to have to pay up for another 3 months are they?

DD and BF really need the deposit back etc and don't want to end up with legal action or bad references either. But she really doesn't want stay in the flat any longer, she's been staying at ours while paying rent on an expensive flat. And thinking of buying an air purifier but they really can't afford it while trying to save for the baby.

Is she able to break the agreement on medical terms/nuisance neighbours/antisocial behaviour anything of that nature? I've never private rented, just housing assoc and then mortgage so I'm not very clued up on private renting.

Thanks for any help
avstar x

pmlindyloo

No, your daughter will not be able to leave the tenancy early without the permission of the landlord as they have signed up for a 6 month contract.

The LL seems to be in agreement that they can leave early if the LA finds new tenants.

So, you need to contact the LA (and the LL once you have spoken to the LA so he knows what is going on) and ask them to advertise asap.

It is then possible that they may have some fees (for advertising/credit checks)for terminating their agreement early. Whatever is agreed should be put in writing.

As regards the actual issue it is an offence to smoke cannabis and an offence for the landlord to allow it to happen. Having said that, the police are likely to have issued a warning and the landlord probably doesn't give a ****.

I would treat this as if someone was smoking (cigarettes) and try to deal with it. If relationships are still fairly OK then she could talk or write to the tenants downstairs and ask them to smoke outside or open windows to air their place because.......... There is no need to go into the effects of smoking on unborn babies.........just say that the smell is horrible and making her feel sick/ruining clothes/furniture etc etc

You could speak to the LL/LA and ask if anything could be done about the air vents - you could ask for someone to visit to see (smell!) the problem.

It is a pity (if that is the case) that this couldn't have been sorted out with the neighbours themselves. It might be that they are totally unaware that the smoke is going through the air vents and would be more aware of the problems it is causing your daughter.

Good luck.

[Deleted User]

I was pregnant in a maisonetter with shared vents. Next door neighbours liked to cook some really smelly meat .., dried sheep guts or something really smelly. I was pregnant, and it wasn't dangerous to my health but I constantly felt sick and ended up staying else where as often as I could.

The LL told me there was nothing he could do as well. They agreed the smell was atrocious but the vents were shared and that was that. They tried having a word with the neighbours but they didn't change a thing. I was able to move out just before the baby was born. Thank goodness.

anselld

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I would treat this as if someone was smoking (cigarettes) and try to deal with it.

It is still legal to smoke( cigarettes) within your own home.

Having said that, there must be a building defect of some sort for the smell to travel between flats to that extent with the windows shut etc.

If the L refuses to address the building defect then there is a case to involve Environmental Health who can enforce on any safety issues. The trouble is that the whole thing is likely to tak months to sort out unless downstairs co-operates so negotiation would be best as suggested above.

fairy_lights

If the smell is coming through the air vents could she not block them up at her end, perhaps by taping a bit of card over them?

avstar

Thanks all,

DD is reluctant to speak to the tenant direct as the caretaker said he wasn't very pleasant about it when he spoke to him and just denied it. The caretaker has refused to speak to the tenant again saying he doesn't want to get further involved in the matter and the landlord or agent should do it.

She has taped plastic sheeting over the vents but that makes the flat stuffy and when they open the windows the smoke rises from downstairs window anyway.

DD has sent an email over the weekend to the LL agent saying they wish to leave early without financial loss due, to the ongoing problems with the weed smoking neighbour, health concerns and the agent's failure to do anything about it.

She also quoted the following legislation after the police dealing with the case told her it was the landlord's responsibility.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/38/section/8
...And is forwarding a letter from her midwife about the flat being unsuitable from a health point of view.

Still, the law is on their side I suppose and I'm doubtful they'll release her from the contract. Just waiting for a response.

Pixie5740

Does DD and the stoner have the same LL?

anselld

avstar wrote: »

She also quoted the following legislation after the police dealing with the case told her it was the landlord's responsibility.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/38/section/8

Funny how the police know the law inside out when it gives them an excuse for not doing anything!

avstar

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Does DD and the stoner have the same LL?

No unfortunately, different letting agents and landlords.

anselld wrote: »

Funny how the police know the law inside out when it gives them an excuse for not doing anything!

Indeed, I thought that too. The police have actually been round and have rung the letting agent about the problem too, but they're basically saying unless they catch the neighbour actually smoking (he said to them he'd had friends round a couple of evenings who were smoking but he doesn't....) there's not much they can do but issue a warning, it's upto the landlord to be strict about it.


Update - DD has had a response from the letting agent today basically saying you've signed the tenancy agreement and are liable for the rent until the contract runs out. That the smoke maybe a nuisance but is not their responsibility and does not make the flat uninhabitable. They said the vent system is a closed system so smoke could not be rising through the vents, and that the smell must be just wafting around the building generally.
Pretty much the response I knew they would give.

Pixie5740

The neighbour smoking weed isn't the responsibility of your DD's LL. It's the stoner's LL that should be dealing with their tenant. DD's LL has no authority to do anything about the stoner as there is no contract between DD's LL and the stoner.

DD can go back to the police or contact the stoner's LL. She should be able to find out their details from the Land Registry for £3.

FBaby

So if it is different landlords and agency, what does you DD expect her LL and the LA to do? They can't kick a tenant that is not one of theirs. It has nothing to do with them whatsoever.

Your issue is with the police. You need to get an answer as to what they have done and what they will do since the issue isn't resolved.

Saying that, I very much doubt it is a health and safety issue if she covers the vents and all she is getting is some smell up an open window.