Council changed the front door of a private property, without the owners consent

BioGeek

I purchased a purpose build flat off the local council over a decade ago and now rent it out. The local council have removed my uPVC front door and replaced it with a composit door which is defective.

This happend in 2014 and they took until september 2016 to replace the first defective composit door. Within 6 weeks the second composit door became defective!

The defects are as follows:

• The fixtures e.g. spyhole, lets in water and has become rusty/Mouldy
• The water leaks in when we have heavy rain
• The door is warped and is hard to open and close
• The warping allows slugs to get in through the gap between the door & frame
• The front laminate is peeling off the front side of the composit door
• The door is always wet - Although I have no damp in the rest of the property

I am have requested a uPVC replacement as this is what was originally removed and there were no issues with the one the removed, however the council are refusing. The contractors keep saying the compsit is the top of the range and most expensive, so I dont see why they would not fit a 'cheaper uPVC' door?

My points are:

1. The door was replaced without my consent as the letter was given to my tenent without my knowledge.
2. The tenant was lead to believe that it was a new uPVC door being fitted, by the councils contractor.
3. All the defects listed above

Where do I stand legally with regard to getting a replacement suitable door?

I am happy to pay the difference between what the composit plus fitting cost and the cost of the uPVC

MyOnlyPost

As you own the flat why were the council changing the door? I assume as owner you are 100% responsible for upkeep?

fairy_lights

Why did they change the door? What was in the letter given to your tenant?

Mossfarr

I own an ex council house and the council rebuilt the front wall, installed railings and replaced the fencing (with my consent). The reason they gave for doing it was to retain the 'look' of the area.
I wasn't complaining!

MyOnlyPost

Mossfarr wrote: »

The reason they gave for doing it was to retain the 'look' of the area.
I wasn't complaining!

This was the only reason I could think why the council would do it, and explains why they wouldn't revert to UPVC

AlexMac

fairy_lights wrote: »

Why did they change the door? What was in the letter given to your tenant?

If my experience is anything to go by ...

Your Council would presumably have changed the door as part of an estate-wide scheme of "improvements" to their tenanted and leasehold properties. In the case of my similar BTL ex-council flat
- the Council as freeholder know who I am and correspond regularly with demands for Service Charges and issue periodic statements about these
- send me (not the tenant) the required statutory notices of intent whenever they plan to issues contracts for works or even when they plan to renew contracts for repairs or insurances over a few hundred quid
but more crucially:
- they consult on tender prices (not that I can say no) and bill me for my share of such improvements. This meant I paid £4.5K a few years ago for new UPVC windows,and the same this year for external and communal decs and block improvements; which is fine, even though I can't say no.

After all, they are within their rights to do this as the freeholder. Ironically (given your experience) when my Council did replace the windows, they also fitted new UPVC doors to their own tenants' homes, but left crummy old original timber ones on the ones sold off to me and the other 4 leaseholders in the 12 unit block.

Your Council seem particularly incompetent in that they seem not to have done this; incapable of running a puss up in a freehold, so to speak? I hope they didn't twist the knife by charging you for the two new doors? (Which strictly speaking they could have done?)

But you are where you are now, so presumably all you can do is to take legal action against them. I'm no lawyer, so you could ask one (or the CAB/law centre?). This will probably require some independent assessment that the door is inadequate; maybe evidence of its earlier condition (photos? e.g on the EA prospectus from when you bought it, or receipts from when you installed the UPVC door?) and costs of re-instatement? Maybe you could get a survey, assessment of how carp the current door is, plus repalcement costs estimates free from your own specialist contractor on the promise of their getting the job? Otherwise its your word against the Council Housing Maintenance surveyor who ain't going to admit that they've specified incompetent kit, then engaged useless fitters or failed to ensure competent installation?

Maybe before gathering this dossier of evidence and taking legal action at your own risk (google "small claims") you could try going over the heads of the Council Officials with whom you've been dealing.

Ask for the Council Complaints procedure. Set out your grievance and the remedy you expect with as much back-up as possible. Maybe first go to the ward Councillors for the area concerned (find them by postcode from https://www.writetothem.com ). They may be less sympathetic if you are not keen on BTL and/or not one of their local electors, but remind them that your tenant is a constituent, and that they are experiencing the disbenefit. After all, the Housing officials you're dealing with are accountable to the Councillors who in turn are accountable to their constituents!

Good luck

BioGeek

AlexMac, you are correct.

The door was changed as part of a neighbourhood scheme, although my original uPVC door was perfectly inkeeping (several of the neighbours have very similar uPVC doors) with the composits being fitted. The composit doors have been done for free, however I would have refused the replacement (as did some neighbours) had I known that it was composit doors being fitted.

The council usually contacts me directly for any charges related to the property however, on this occasion the letters sent out informing of the replacement doors were addresses to The Occupier rather than to myself.

I have all the evidence, photographs, invoices etc, so I am happy to fight my corner as I feel they should have contacted me directly. I just would like an idea of where I stand legally before spending a fortune on legal cost when I need a new door ASAP.

BioGeek

The composits doors fitted have a laminated front to make them look like uPVC