9 month refurbishment

Sprinkly

Hi I need some advice to mainly straighten my head out on this issue in what I can and can’t do about this.

I bid on a housing trust property ground floor flat small one bedroomed and got accepted. I was made up to finally get out of private rented. I was on a starter tenancy. In a lovely area. 5 months into the tenancy I was told in passing by the old tenant who was vacating the property that the flat above me would be refurbished. My heart sank as I’ve experienced this before in another area and became nearly suicidal as it was drawn out for 7 months and I ended up leaving the flat in the end.

I contacted the HT back in March 2019 when I learned this from the ex tenant and the HT just poopood my concerns at the time and said I was worrying over nothing. However logic told me it needed to be done so I was accommodating at the start. The refurb took place from the end of March this year and is still ongoing in December, every bank holiday, weekends, as well as during the week throughout the year. The noise was horrendous with bricks crashing to the floor tools being dropped drilling and hammering etc I began to suffer severe depression and had absolutely no downtime from this. I went to have treatment for it. The landlord never knocked re the work. I recorded the noise. I began to dread coming home. I snapped one Sunday in September after several hours of sanding and asked the landlord when is this going to end? He never answered I complained to the housing trust who contacted the landlord who told a pack of lies when he was doing the work. He also told them it’ll be finished in a couple more weeks it was still ongoing in November. I contacted the HT who said they where disappointed to hear it hadn’t finished but still did nothing about it. It’s still going on in December last Saturday more drilling. I was referred on to the tenancy enforcement team who did nothing. I was supposedly moved here on health grounds. NOTHING could have prepared me for the building site conditions I’ve lived under for the last 9 months of my tenancy. It has nearly destroyed me. The flat above is leasehold while mine is rented. Is there any redress about this and if there is from whom?

dimbo61

So the Landlord has the property empty for over 9 months.
Is he paying double council tax.
Have you put your complaints in writing or email to the council and environmental health people.
Sorry to hear this is causing you stress but it may only get better.
Hopefully the new tenant when they move in wears slippers in the upstairs flat.

Sprinkly

Yes it’s still empty. Don’t know about the council tax. Do I have to write to the council? I thought this housing trust was council? I have not involved the environment health and I could kick myself for that. I did email the housing trust several times. I did speak to the tenancy enforcement team once and they told me to ask the landlord to put carpets down and he hasn’t he’s laminated the entire flat.

G_M

So you are renting a privately owned property, let to the Housing Trust and sub-let to you?


The HT is your landlord, so all your concerns should be addressed to them. Always in writing. Each time you write, you should recap the problem, the history of noise, and the history of your previous complaints. You should also ask for their respone within a time limit (7 days?).


If no response, or not a satisfactory one, you immediately follow up ith the next letter.


Given thelength of time, you might ask to be re-housed.



Your council will also have a department to deal with noise complaints. Check their website. Contact them and again give all the details.


You will need to keep a written record, day by day, logging the date & time noise starts, type of noise, how long for, time it ends etc. They may give you a machine to record the volume of the noise to keep in your flat for several weeks.


There is no harm in also contacting the owner of the flat above, although you seem to have done so and he does not seem to have been helpful.

Sprinkly

Thank G_M yes I’m renting a housing trust property. My rental is in mixed rental and ownership. When I have contacted the HT it’s been by email. They initially responded the first time around by email. I even put Stage two complaint in the subject line in a further email due to disputing their first reply ( as recommended by their website) and they did not acknowledged that but did respond ages later by email with an apology and a sorry to hear it’s still ongoing etc so they are well aware of what I’ve been put through. I perhaps didn’t follow the right procedure in the right way but I was corresponding with them. While I was having treatment for the depression I kept a mood diary and the noise was featured within this. I know it’s a dodgy area around refurbishment of property and there might be nothing at all I can do about any of it but I’m going to try.

I just didn’t expect it all to go on for so long. Just when I thought it had all finished it would start up again.

cattie

I've no helpful advice to give but really empathise with you & once lived through a similar exprience that pushed me towards a breakdown.

I know some local authorities limit the hours tradesmen are allowed to do noisy work, which in my borough shouldn't go on after 6pm weekdays & only mornings on a Saturday & not at all on Sunday. Check with your local council if they have similar rules. The other thing I'd do in your shoes is contact your local mp as they often have a lot of sway where councils & housing associations are concerned. Keeping a log of the noise etc. is an excellent suggestion too.

Sprinkly

Thanks cattie I also sympathise with you and yes I was nearly having a mental breakdown. I’ll see what I can do and thanks for your suggestions.

G_M

Sprinkly wrote: »

Thank G_M yes I’m renting a housing trust property. My rental is in mixed rental and ownership. n.

Sorry. I misunderstood your reference to 'the landlord' and assumed he was the owner of your flat.

Do you mean the building is "in mixed rental and ownership." or do you mean your flat is shared ownership - you part-own and part rent?

But at the end of the day, there is little the HT can do about the noise if the flat above causing the noise is not in their ownership. It's basically a neighbour dispute, so as suggested, contact the council re noise and working hours.

Whether the HT can and will re-house you is a different question. Is that now your aim?

Sprinkly

Hi G_M

I live in a block which has renters and privately owned flats ( leaseholders). I’m renting, but the flat directly above me I got told by the HT is leasehold. (Something to do with the roof area belonging to the whole block. It’s one of those council ‘ courts’.) In a recent email from the HT they referred to their surveyors being happy about the refurbishments going ahead and are pleased about any refurbishment improving the property. So I’m assuming it all belongs to the HT but just that I’m renting and upstairs is leasehold.

I spoke to the landlord back in September and asked for an end date and told him I couldn’t cope with any more of this refurbishment noise. I got no answer to either. I also pointed out that I could see he was laying laminated flooring when I had asked him 3 times could he please lay carpets. He also acknowledged noise transfer throughout the building to the HT because he could hear me talking on the phone but still laid laminate flooring. So his tenants are going to hear me moving around below early hours because I get up at 4:30 am some mornings and I have insomnia.

I live in a really lovely area but don’t know how I’m going to cope with the hostility I feel towards the set-up upstairs it’s ruined my life here. so what would you suggest about asking to move?

AdrianC

Sprinkly wrote: »

I live in a block which has renters and privately owned flats ( leaseholders). I’m renting, but the flat directly above me I got told by the HT is leasehold.

Every flat is going to be leasehold.

The freeholder owns the actual building and land.
The leaseholders own each individual flat.
Some of them will let their flat out.

Yours may actually be owned by the HA who let it to you, or it may be owned by somebody who lets it to the HA who let it to you. The HA may or may not be freeholder of the building.

So there's three entities involved for each flat...
Freeholder -> Leaseholder -> Occupier.

Either way, your landlord is your HA. And they're the only person who you can really talk to.

I spoke to the landlord back in September and asked for an end date and told him I couldn’t cope with any more of this refurbishment noise.

If the refurbishment is going on during normal working hours, then there's not a lot that can be done.
Nine months to do a single flat, though... Even I'd have had it finished by now!

I also pointed out that I could see he was laying laminated flooring when I had asked him 3 times could he please lay carpets.

If his lease doesn't specify "no hard flooring", then that's merely a request that he's perfectly free to ignore.

so what would you suggest about asking to move?

Please don't misunderstand the way I'm saying this. There are two factors here - one is the noise he's making, the other is the way you're reacting to it.

Living in a flat always involves give-and-take with neighbours about noise, simply because of the realities of the way noise travels in a single building. Some buildings are better than others.
Is he extracting the Michael in the amount and duration of noise? Probably.
When somebody moves in there, will there be ongoing renovation noise? No. The work will all be done.
Will the flooring choices affect the noise transmitted to your flat? Possibly.
Can you do anything about that? Not really.
Can your landlord, as a leaseholder? Possibly.
Is it likely they will? No.

Sprinkly

Thanks Adrian

For helping me explore whether it’s worth wasting my time and effort not to mention stress on this issue. I’ve occupied many flats and apartments both here and abroad so am not unfamiliar with the many scenarios one can be faced with. I’ve lived in basements, top floors, in between flats, ground floor flats. I guess I’m just tired of it all. I’m too old to have a mortgage so at my age I’m stuck with it unfortunately.

Oh and the THT sent me a form if I wanted to undertake any soundproofing of my own and the only thing I can think of is false ceilings which I’m sure will be expensive and my ceilings are low enough as it is.