No Kitchen for 18 Days - Barely Any Compensation?

trioceros

Hi all,

I'm in a HMO in the south east, and there's been an array of issues but the current one is the fact that I am going to have no access to a kitchen for 18 days, due to renovation. This means no fridge/freezer, microwave, washing machine, and all my stuff (pots, pans, crockery, and frozen goods) need to be relocated and stored. I will be unable to cook, wash my clothes, or access drinking water in this time.

For this, I am being offered £50 compensation. If I don't pay to wash clothes, that's about £2.80 a day for food, as I will have to get food daily, or live off dry stuff. If I have to then use a laundrette (which is probably a mile from my house uphill) that money quickly diminishes to near nothingness.

I haven't said anything yet, because I'm not sure if I'm overreacting to this, or if it is as ridiculous as I think it is. Opinions and advice greatly appreciated!

theartfullodger

Move: Any landlord treating you this bad is a disgrace. There should be mandatory landlord registration and banning of rogue ones, as in sensible countries.


Artful: Landlord

gettingtheresometime

I use a launderette and it costs £9.50 for a large bag of washing washing & dried. There's 2 of us.

I have access to my own washing machine but at this time of year it's either use the drier - which will cost me more than £9.50 - or have piles of damp washing all over the place.

Water is about 17p for 2litres. (Could water be got from a bathroom?)

I'm not saying you're over reacting or being offered sufficient compensation, I'm just giving you some perspective.

trioceros

Move: Any landlord treating you this bad is a disgrace.

Not an option, unfortunately. I'd lose my deposit and right now, I can't afford to put a deposit down on a new place unless I got that back.

I'm just giving you some perspective.

The nearest laundrette to me quotes £13 - £25 per load. Plus I'd have to walk 1+ miles to get there with my bag. I do sports and work, so I have a lot of laundry that builds up very quickly. I'm not so fussed about the water, since I can buy it (but again, the nearest supermarket is 1+ miles away, and the nearest shop is a campus shop so it's not cheap) and I can get water from the bathroom, though it's not officially drinkable.

Ms_Chocaholic

Why can't you move the microwave to another room - bedroom, dining room, lounge and have soup or microwaveable meals. Water you can get from a bathroom tap.


When we had our kitchen redone we were without a kitchen for a number of days, can't remember exactly how many but we managed and we had children living at home at the time.

buggy_boy

I agree cant understand why the microwave cannot be moved and water from bathroom, its not ideal I get that but what a horrible landlord giving you a nice new kitchen, outrageous....

Bexgrossman

Having no kitchen for 18 days is going to cause you major issues and I feel for you. No ask for more compensation. Surely it’s illegal to without kitchen facilities?

Bexgrossman

buggy_boy wrote: »

I agree cant understand why the microwave cannot be moved and water from bathroom, its not ideal I get that but what a horrible landlord giving you a nice new kitchen, outrageous....

The tenant was happy with the kitchen when s/he signed the tenancy. Therefore a new kitchen isnt a particular concern. Living without a place to perform basic cooking and (clothes) cleaning for three weeks and for an extra £50 isn’t good. The food from the freezer/fridge will be thrown out - £ wasted. The tenant won’t have anywhere to store basic food like meats and milk, again, a lot more money spent than was necessary.

diggingdude

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

I use a launderette and it costs £9.50 for a large bag of washing washing & dried. There's 2 of us.

I have access to my own washing machine but at this time of year it's either use the drier - which will cost me more than £9.50 - or have piles of damp washing all over the place.

Water is about 17p for 2litres. (Could water be got from a bathroom?)

I'm not saying you're over reacting or being offered sufficient compensation, I'm just giving you some perspective.

Just how much drying are you doing, mine doesn't cost near that

Bexgrossman

OP is there anywhere the landlord can keep the current fridge/freezer? It won’t be legal to put it in corridors etc but is there a communal area it can be kept for the weeks the kitchen is out of bounds?

How big is the HMO? Is there anyway furniture can be stored by the landlord so the fridge/freezer can be stored in the house? Do you get on with the other housemates and one could keep it in their room, or is there a spare room?

In the short term a microwave can be bought fairly cheap - what if everyone chips in? Also check out hobs from Argos etc. You would have to be careful but it’s something.

Also try Olio app for neighbours who could help provide stuff. Freecycle, Facebook market place for cheap stuff.

Give us more info if you can.

I would press to the landlord for them to provide the facilities, not money. I’m not sure if you can withhold rent, hopefully other people will know!

trioceros

I'll reply to this comment because I think it pretty much encapsulates what everyone else has said:

OP is there anywhere the landlord can keep the current fridge/freezer? It won’t be legal to put it in corridors etc but is there a communal area it can be kept for the weeks the kitchen is out of bounds?

How big is the HMO? Is there anyway furniture can be stored by the landlord so the fridge/freezer can be stored in the house? Do you get on with the other housemates and one could keep it in their room, or is there a spare room?

In the short term a microwave can be bought fairly cheap - what if everyone chips in? Also check out hobs from Argos etc. You would have to be careful but it’s something.

Also try Olio app for neighbours who could help provide stuff. Freecycle, Facebook market place for cheap stuff.

Give us more info if you can.

I would press to the landlord for them to provide the facilities, not money. I’m not sure if you can withhold rent, hopefully other people will know!

The only communal area is the living room. It doesn't have enough space for a fridge as is, and the old ones are (as far as I'm aware) being disposed of. Photos of the new kitchen show metal fridges, not the white ones we currently have, so I'm assuming they're going.

The HMO is 5 people, but there's not really any space for anything. I can keep my crockery in my room, it's not a huge issue, it's just an annoyance as I live up in the attic and have back issues, so carrying it all up and finding space for it will be difficult.

The microwave will be available. However, I'm paying £550 a month to be able to live off more than soup, and microwave meals will have to be bought every day, as there will not be any fridge/freezer facilities to use. I went to the nearest shop today to look, and they're all about £3-6, which the £50 doesn't really cover. Assuming it's to cover what I'd be missing while the kitchen is gone (food, laundry, tea/coffee, etc), £50 isn't enough.

Unfortunately I don't know my housemates enough to really ask them to chip in with a hob or something, and honestly, I don't have the funds. I'm an estranged student and money is very tight. I can't buy something for 3 weeks of use: money has to go on things that will be with me long term.

I paid my rent for this term (ie, up to December) up front, so withholding is not a possibility. I am currently in talking with my university and a housing service to break the contract as there have been other issues with the place (see: they blocked off the living room for a month so one of their parents could stay there, meaning 0 access to the paid-for communal area, plus the mother regularly used the kitchen during the day. Moreover, they had gatherings near-daily in the kitchen, so there were frequently lots of strangers in my house, leaving the front door open and making noise at night with no forwarning.)

I agree cant understand why the microwave cannot be moved and water from bathroom, its not ideal I get that but what a horrible landlord giving you a nice new kitchen, outrageous....

Why can't you move the microwave to another room - bedroom, dining room, lounge and have soup or microwaveable meals. Water you can get from a bathroom tap.


When we had our kitchen redone we were without a kitchen for a number of days, can't remember exactly how many but we managed and we had children living at home at the time.

I moved in under the agreement I would have access to a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and private bedroom for my tenancy. It's wonderful that they're getting a new kitchen - but I didn't consent to it. I had no choice, no say, and it's happening during peak deadline season at university. They had the whole summer to renovate the kitchen when they had no students living with them, but chose not to, and did not inform me of these plans until after I signed the contract.

This comes hot on the heels of having near-zero access to my kitchen/living room for a month due to the mother living there, and I'm sure you can see why I'm a bit miffed. Moreover, I do not want to live off soup and ready meals for nearly a month. I am having to pay a lot more for this than what I would usually cook, and it's not something that needed to happen. You had a choice in renovating your kitchen - I do not.