Lease - flooring

urv123

Hi all,
I need some advice please as I'm currently hitting a brick wall and at a bit of a dead end!

I've just purchased a ground floor flat, and for the past 2 months have heard kids running around, parents stomping around, people going to the toilet, and muffled voices from above me. I'm slowly losing my mind!

The council (landlord) have visited the flat above and they have hardwood flooring in the living room, and Lino flooring throughout without underlay. They were asked to change this but the tenants refused to lay carpet because their children have asthma, so the council agreed for Lino with adequate underlay.

They have supposedly since changed their flooring but I don't believe they have as the noise still persists & continues to wake me up throughout the night and makes me jump a lot during the evening when I want to relax.

In my lease it stipulates the following:

"Flooring - please be aware that under terms of the lease the property must be kept carpeted and hard wood flooring such as wooden, or laminate flooring is not permitted regardless of which floor the property is located on".

The tenants upstairs are socially renting tenants and my question is would their contract stipulate the same?? And does this mean that they CAN or CANNOT lay down Lino flooring?? The way I read it suggests it "MUST" be carpeted.

Any advice please let me know, as I'm at wits end.

Thank you!

Cakeguts

Record the noise from the flat above and then visit the council to explain that you don't think that anything has changed in the flat above you. The council may or may not do anything about their tenants.

robatwork

urv123 wrote: »

In my lease it stipulates the following:

"Flooring - please be aware that under terms of the lease the property must be kept carpeted and hard wood flooring such as wooden, or laminate flooring is not permitted regardless of which floor the property is located on".

It's not reasonable to ask someone to lay carpet in a kitchen.

By the same token it's also not reasonable for them to be in contravention of their lease by not carpeting any living or sleeping rooms.

Once you know for sure what floor they have in their living room (you may have to go and visit them for a friendly discussion). then it's time to put it in writing to the landlord,

It's a daft lease anyway not allowing you to put a laminate floor in but that's beside the point.

davidmcn

urv123 wrote: »

In my lease it stipulates the following:

"Flooring - please be aware that under terms of the lease the property must be kept carpeted and hard wood flooring such as wooden, or laminate flooring is not permitted regardless of which floor the property is located on".

Whatever you're quoting from there isn't your lease - can you find the lease and tell us what it says?

G_M

urv123 wrote: »

.....
"Flooring - please be aware that under terms of the lease the property must be kept carpeted and hard wood flooring such as wooden, or laminate flooring is not permitted regardless of which floor the property is located on".

I've never come across a lease that had a clause commencing "please be aware that under terms of the lease....."

What does your lease actually say?

It's likely (but not guaranteed) that the upstairs lease is the same.

You have 3 potentail avenues now:

1) complain to the council's nnoise enforcement department

2) write formally to the landlord (council) insisting they enforce the terms of the lease on upstairs (assuming theirlease does require carpeting)

3) go back informally to the council housing dept and explain the noise persists and could they check that upstairs really have
a) laid new lino and
b) used an 'adequate' (ie soundproofing) underlay

edit: Sorry. Forgot the most important option! Bake a nice cake. Invite upstairs neighbours to tea. Talk things over amicably. Find a compromise (eg no running or stomping after 6 pm).

Whoknowskt89

My lease does stipulate that carpet must be laid in the living areas (not bathroom or kitchen) most of the flats here don't have carpet anywhere and breach the lease in multiple ways but they never do anything about the breaches at all.
I doubt many companies or freehold owners would take action on breaching the lease that doesn't affect their income as it would cost them more to get a person out etc

eddddy

Whoknowskt89 wrote: »

My lease does stipulate that carpet must be laid in the living areas (not bathroom or kitchen) most of the flats here don't have carpet anywhere and breach the lease in multiple ways but they never do anything about the breaches at all.
I doubt many companies or freehold owners would take action on breaching the lease that doesn't affect their income as it would cost them more to get a person out etc

Leases typically have a "Mutual Enforceability Covenant". (If yours doesn't, your conveyancing solicitor should have waved a big red flag when you bought.)

That means that a leaseholder can insist that the freeholder enforces covenants on other leaseholders.

i.e. You can insist that the freeholder enforces the 'carpet rule' on other leaseholders.

urv123

Hi there, my apologies.
The exact wording is:
To keep the floors of the demised premises including the passages thereof substantially covered with carpets except that in the kitchen and bathroom a covering made of cork or rubber or other suitable material for avoiding the transmission of noise and which should extend over the whole floor may be used instead of carpets."

I was told by my housing officer that the wording in her contract is different, in that it says "adequate flooring" must be laid. It's far more vague than my lease so they've proceeding to lay down linoleum with underlay... Which doesn't help when you still have children running around a lady with a very heavy foot! ;( any other advice now that you've seen the wording of the lease?

urv123

I will most certainly be checking for this. My conveyancing solicitor did not mention anything about this to me so I'm hoping its in my lease somewhere. Thank you for the great advice!