Managing Company stopped Lifts - Help - Advice Welcome

MonSaveHelp

I am in renting in an block in London near Hyde Park. I am on the top 6th floor and been paying rent on time for the last 8 yrs (freaking fortune) - but doing it as is has been close to my work around London.

The large Landlord announced a month or two back that the lift is going to replaced and it would take 2 months to fix it.

That means from mid-Oct to Dec there will be no lift (!!!). I will have to climb 6 floors and many of the other residences will suffer having to use the stairs.

The lift seems to be working okay at the moment, I have tried to get the residence together in order to fight this. But its proofing difficult to get it happening and time has slipped by.

I am on a standard AST tenancy with the large Landlord company that owns the whole block - which is rented by either AST tenants or elderly residents tenants on older protected tenancies.

Is there anything I can do to postpone these works or insist that the some kind of lift is available at some time during the day or week?

Do I have any ability to do anything when I am on a AST? Can I ask for them to pay while I find alternative accommodation? Are they in breach in any way and could I walk away from the AST agreement?

Really welcome any views or questions.

Comms69

No, you are being totally unreasonable.


If the lift needs work, either due to maintenance, or even more worryingly, safety concerns, then the work needs doing.


Given you've been there for 8 years I'd suggest you may be on a periodic tenancy so check. - if so, simply serve notice and leave.


But you aren't entitled to any compensation.

fairy_lights

Why on earth would you want to fight it? Surly if the lift needs replacing then it's in all of your best interests to let the work go ahead, you wouldn't want to continue using an unsafe lift, would you?

MonSaveHelp

Comms69 wrote: »

No, you are being totally unreasonable.
If the lift needs work, either due to maintenance, or even more worryingly, safety concerns, then the work needs doing.
Given you've been there for 8 years I'd suggest you may be on a periodic tenancy so check. - if so, simply serve notice and leave.
But you aren't entitled to any compensation.

The older residents may not be able to cope with this as easily as others and don't seem to have any voice.

Some of the apartments have not rented in the block and therefore the LL have thought it is a good time to get it done prior to raising up the rents for the potential new tenants.

They may have been able to provide a serviceable lift during out of work hours. There are also no guarantees that the work will be completed on the dates provided. Also, they may have opted for a low-cost contractor that will take their time - as opposed to a contractor that applies more resources and gets the work done quicker.

We have no insight to the decision making or know if they have considered the residences genuine concerns and it feels like an arbitrary decision. They don't have a great track record.

MonSaveHelp

fairy_lights wrote: »

Why on earth would you want to fight it? Surly if the lift needs replacing then it's in all of your best interests to let the work go ahead, you wouldn't want to continue using an unsafe lift, would you?

No issues of safety have been raised about the lift. It most probably an decision around the cost of maintenance versus fitting a new one. It always is a £££ decision by the LL.

Comms69

MonSaveHelp wrote: »

The older residents may not be able to cope with this as easily as others and don't seem to have any voice. - What do you expect them to do? These things need to be done. The LL isn't responsible for their needs to be blunt

Some of the apartments have not rented in the block and therefore the LL have thought it is a good time to get it done prior to raising up the rents for the potential new tenants. - So? It still clearly needs doing.

They may have been able to provide a serviceable lift during out of work hours. There are also no guarantees that the work will be completed on the dates provided. Also, they may have opted for a low-cost contractor that will take their time - as opposed to a contractor that applies more resources and gets the work done quicker. - You still aren't entitled to anything, regardless of how they choose to carry out the maintenance.

We have no insight to the decision making or know if they have considered the residences genuine concerns and it feels like an arbitrary decision. They don't have a great track record.

Why should you? Sorry but seriously you don't have any say on the matter. As I understand your fixed term expired in August, so you can be out by Nov/Dec

G_M

I'm afraid this is a matter between the leaseholders who own the flats, and the freeholder who employs the management company to run the building.

You have no (legal) relationship with either the freeholder or the management company.

Your contract is wth your landlord, who is, most probably, a leaseholder. You could contact your landlord and ask him to intervene by contacting his freeholder (or the management company acting on that freeholder's behalf). However he may well be of the view that maintenance to the lift is important and thus he may not wish to attempt to delay or cancel the work (even if he could).

The only other option is to rely on your contract with your LL which presumably specifies that in return for rent he wll supply, amongst other things, the use of a lift. This may be explicitly stated in your contract, or implied.

On the basis that this service is not being provided for 2 months, you could claim a small reduction in rent.

aneary

How many lifts are there?

Have you asked if they can replace one at a time. I don't think you have claim for compensation but I would be concerned about the older people, they could end up stuck in their flats. Maybe you should drop a call to age concern.

MonSaveHelp

G_M wrote: »

I'm afraid this is a matter between the leaseholders who own the flats, and the freeholder who employs the management company to run the building.

You have no (legal) relationship with either the freeholder or the management company.

Your contract is wth your landlord, who is, most probably, a leaseholder. You could contact your landlord and ask him to intervene by contacting his freeholder (or the management company acting on that freeholder's behalf). However he may well be of the view that maintenance to the lift is important and thus he may not wish to attempt to delay or cancel the work (even if he could).

The only other option is to rely on your contract with your LL which presumably specifies that in return for rent he wll supply, amongst other things, the use of a lift. This may be explicitly stated in your contract, or implied.

On the basis that this service is not being provided for 2 months, you could claim a small reduction in rent.

Thanks. The LL owns the whole block freeholder (I think) as they own other buildings around London. Would not be sure how to check it specifically for this building?

Good advice to check through the AST to see if anything is stated about the lift (I doubt it - as AST documents are generally heavy on the tenant responsibilities and very light and ambiguous on the LL responsibilities).

I wanted a periodic AST and the LL insisted on a 2m either way clause in the contract (probably knowing that the works will take that long). It was signed and sent back - although I now believe 2m either way terms are not really enforceable. Is this the case? If its not fixed term, then it has to be periodic - and if that is the case - is should be just 1m notice to the tenant?

steampowered

MonSaveHelp wrote: »

No issues of safety have been raised about the lift. It most probably an decision around the cost of maintenance versus fitting a new one. It always is a £££ decision by the LL.

Surely fitting an entirely new lift would take just as long? If not longer! And if that is even physically possible!

saajan_12

MonSaveHelp wrote: »

I wanted a periodic AST and the LL insisted on a 2m either way clause in the contract (probably knowing that the works will take that long). It was signed and sent back - although I now believe 2m either way terms are not really enforceable. Is this the case? If its not fixed term, then it has to be periodic - and if that is the case - is should be just 1m notice to the tenant?

That sounds like a Contractual Periodic Tenancy (CPT) - perfectly enforceable and legal. This is a periodic tenancy where the terms are agreed ie 2 months notice. Note, check your contract whether this is 2 calendar months or 2 tenancy periods.