Nightmare!!

[emmajacques161]

Me and my boyfriend moved in a flat in February this year and about a month after the management company started renovation work on the building (it's a listed building). since then it has been continous banging from 8 in the morning till about 6 at night, no hot water because they have been changing the main boiler with what seems like forever. Normally they give us a couple of days notice if no water is going to be available, usually from about 10 due to the number of office types in the building who get ready for work. yesterday we had such a form stating that the water was going to be off again at 10 however at 8.30 whilst my boyf gets into the shower he finds that it ice cold!!

i have tried calling them to find out what they are playing at, but low and behold they aren't answering, i have left 2 messages suggesting that they call me straight away!!

what i want to know is because they didn't inform us about the work, and the fact that we have been contiously disrupted, and to be honest had we had known i would have thought about asking for a decrease in rent or something.
is there anything I can do about this? any advice would be fantastic!!!

[Joa]

You are entitled to rent reduction but in reasonable circumstances: did the l/lord know about the works? Are these works essential? Did you have any warning? Is the managment company working on behalf of the landlord?
Use the test of fairness; if the managm comp is working to l/lord's instruction then the l/lord should have warned you about it. If this is out of l/lord's hands but he knew about it- he should have told you. Etc.
Write a letter describing the sitution. Propose reasonable rent reduction. Withhold rent only as a last resort.

[demon_x_slash]

Originally Posted by Joa

Withhold rent only as a last resort.

Argh. Never withhold rent. It pulls the legal rug out from under your feet - your situation may be dodgy, but you must be spotless and beyond reproach for the duration of this mess. They'll be quicker than whippets to point the finger at you and say, "Well, you broke your contract by refusing the rent, unreasonable behaviour, blah blah blah..."

Here:

"If you can't seem to get any action you should inform the landlord of his agent in writing of the nature of the problem and request urgent attention. Do not stop paying your rent. This is unlawful and you will be in breach of your tenancy agreement."

Barber, Patricia: First Time Tenant, p103 - 0716021692

[watccoe75]

As a tenant you are legally entitled to 'quiet enjoyment' of the property. If the landlord is preventing this he is committing a criminal offence and also making himself liable for civil proceedings for damages and/or an injunction. I would contact your local CAB or local authority private tenancy team.

[Joa]

The principle of never withholding rent is fine in an ideal world where the l/lord is at least a little bit reasonable and responsive. In reality, I've been few times with clients in front of the judge who decided that it was the l/lord who breached the contract by not ensuring basic reasonable standards. Sometimes the conditions are so awful and l/lord ignores all requests for compensation/rent reduction, that the tenant is excused. The judge would however want to see if all reasonable steps were taken by the tenant before rent was withheld.
The amounts of letters I wrote to l/lords and agents, throwing all kind of statues and regulations at them- occasionlly to no avail and experience in assisting clients in courts allowed me to write what I wrote previously.

[Rich44]

I agree re withholding the rent sometimes you just have to make a stand the point you have to make is that you are not refusing to pay but that you will pay only when whatever the problem is is rectified.

Our bathroom ceiling has black mould on it etc and its been nearly 3 months sometimes it just helps concentrate the mind if you hit them where it hurts BUT it really is a last resort