Landlord failed to notify of impending construction work

[tenantlou]

Dear All

 

I moved into a residential property with my family in August 2010.

In early March 2011 we were told by our neighbour that there will be substantial building work starting next door ( 2 storey extension, knocking down and extending a garage which is a party wall to our garden, etc,) and that the work will carry on for at least 3 months.

 

Neither letting agents nor landlord told us about this planning application and we would not rented property had we known. Both letting agents and landlord claim they did not know, however neighbour has confirmed they have mentioned matter to agents and discussed party wall with landlord in person between January and June 2010. Previous tenants have also confirmed forwarding planning permission letters to agent to forward to landlord.

I have contacted agents to let them know they and the landlord are in breach for not disclosing this in tenant’s agreement and have given 2 months notice to move out, I have cancelled standing order for next month's rent but they are holding one month’s rent in advance plus a security deposit equal to one month. We are having a meeting to discuss the matter.

What opinions are re claim for compensation? I feel the building work will severely limit our use of the garden and the property in general, and there will be extensive noise and other pollution. I feel I should only pay 50% of rent at the most for the next 2 months. We will most definitely move out to a relative’s house for the initial week or two of the construction.

Also can they force payment for full 2 months in advance ( ie treat security deposit as different to rent’s payment) If so what recourse will I have in retrieving the deposit if they try to be difficult. I have a full check in report and of course I will leave property in the same condition that I found it.

Thank you for your help and advice.

Lou

[MrShed]

You have none I am afraid its as simple as that.

 

The agent and landlord cannot be held responsible for third party works on third party property. Nor are they obliged to tell you.

 

You have zero LEGAL grounds for compensation.

[tenantlou]

thanks for your quick response. Since they are holding 1 month 's rent and 1 months' deposit and I have cancelled next months rent can I just tell them to take that as rent for the outstanding 2 months? Also I am responsible for maintaining the garden area, I am about to contact letting agent to let them know what due to the construction work I am no longer liable to do so.

Lou

[MrShed]

You can do that but I would advise against it, and I would also advise you that forgoing the deposit for rent does not remove any liability from you for damages/dilapidations, which you can still be persued for, deposit or not.

 

BTW - I should stress that I understand the frustration of the situation. My outlining of the legal position does not neccessarily mean that I believe it is wholly fair.

[tenantlou]

thanks mr shed. thanks also for the sympathetic footnote.

I fully intend to leave the property as I found it. And my reason for using the deposit is that, in view of the agent and landlord less than transparent moral stance on this matter, I prefer to respond to any claims re damage to property ( as mentioned I have a extnsive check in report ) rather than having to chase my deposit. I believe the conditioin of the garden will be severly affected by the work.

In you opionon , legally where do I stand re cancelling standing order , having paid rent in advance. What can the letting agents or landlord do and how quickly can they do it?

Thanks again

Lou

[Steve__M]

When does the fixed term of your tenancy end? Is there a break clause you can use?

 

I think that most two storey extensions and garages should be built without too much noise and pollution. The work will likely happen between 8 and 6. You may be over-estimating the impact. I lived next door to a major building site for over a year, and only got disturbed once when the workman put his radio on at full volume one saturday morning at 8am.

[mariner51]

Lou

You moved in Aug 2010 on a 6 or 12 month fixed term AST. When did/does fixed term expire?

Why should recovering your deposit worry you if you have been given the 'required information' for the deposit?

 

Tidy the garden, cut grass etc before the building work starts and take dated photo's before & after construction. Builders should ask permission to access your garden if required but I would not refuse. Builders should also return the garden to previous state ie clear rubble, cement and replace any damaged plants.

I would not withold rent, as deposit cannot be used for rent during T, only for unpaid rent after T ceases so cancelling your SO would put you in breach of Contract during T, not helpful if future LL asks current one for ref.

[tenantlou]

Hi All

Thanks for your responses.

The term was for 6 months, and we were told we can give a 2 months' notice after 4 months. The work will begin at 7 am. I have checked with local council and they told me from a planning point of view, there are no limits on when they can start or stop work. I may have recourse through Environmental Health but as we all know that is a drawn out process.

 

As for not being disturbed, I don't share your optimism, The back of the garage is half our garden wall, and once that is knocked down, ( this Monday , I believe, there will be missing wall between our garden and the building site until new garage is built. And based on my experience of past building work by neighbours, I am amazed by your good fortune with your neighbours extension.

 

As for the deposit, I suppose I am becoming paranoid as both Landorld and Agent insisted that they did not know about this and now it has transpired otherwise so I would have preferred not to rely on their word that the deposit will be returned in due course.

After hearing what you say, I will most proably make the payment for the second month. But there is a very angry part of me that feels ( proably irrationally so) I should be as difficult about this as possible. So if I am in breach of contract , the landlord will have to take legal proceeding against me? And we can argue this in court? How long will this take? I am ranting now.

On a different note, when the agent shows prospective tenants round is there anything preventing me sharing my experience of landlord and agent with them?

Thanks again

Lou

Edited March 23, 2011 by tenantlou
forgot to leave thanks at end

[MrShed]

There is nothing preventing you from sharing your experience, but I would be extremely careful of saying anything that is a) not absolutely factual b) not provable.

 

OK - its unlikely - but you could find yourself in civil court for loss of earnings due to slander.

[NewSAHD]

Sorry to come in at the tail end of a thread, but there's a thought niggling away - trust OK to share and in no way do I wish to offer false hope

 

In no particular order

 

- is the Agent a member of any professional governing body? RICS would be useful, NAEA, ARLA, and ARMA are others to look for...

- is the Agent a small independant, or part of a larger chain i.e. one with a potentially more 'useful' complaints procedure

 

- Misrepresentation Act 1967 ? How much can you document, or prove though?

- Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 does not apply to rentals, as I recall (although, personally, always acted as if it did)

 

Personally, I'd document what I can with regards the 'misrepresentation', but use it to negotiate your way to an earlier leaving date

 

Not sure, typed at speed, but hope this may help

 

Good luck in whatever you do

 

 

PS With regards "there are no limits on when they can start or stop work." - and only from personal experience - it really does depend on the Local Authority

[mariner51]

Lou, dates could be important, so please answer my earlier Qs

1 Date T commenced

2 6 month fixed term

3 Date intention to leave notice was served

4 How served verbal or post

5 Date you intend to vacate

[tenantlou]

Sorry to come in at the tail end of a thread, but there's a thought niggling away - trust OK to share and in no way do I wish to offer false hope

 

In no particular order

 

- is the Agent a member of any professional governing body? RICS would be useful, NAEA, ARLA, and ARMA are others to look for...

 

- is the Agent a small independant, or part of a larger chain i.e. one with a potentially more 'useful' complaints procedure

as far as I can tell from website they have 2 offices only.

 

- Misrepresentation Act 1967 ? How much can you document, or prove though?

- Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 does not apply to rentals, as I recall (although, personally, always acted as if it did)

Sounds good.

 

Personally, I'd document what I can with regards the 'misrepresentation', but use it to negotiate your way to an earlier leaving date

 

Not sure, typed at speed, but hope this may help

 

Good luck in whatever you do

 

 

PS With regards "there are no limits on when they can start or stop work." - and only from personal experience - it really does depend on the Local Authority

 

Have looked on website they are part of NAEA and ARLA and ARMA and a few others, no RICS. Will a complaint carry any realistic weight?

They seem to have 2 offices only.

Property Misdescriptions Act 1991sounds interesting.

Our council plannning dept told me no time limits under planning.

Edited March 24, 2011 by tenantlou

[tenantlou]

re Slander as to sharing my thoughts with prospective tenats, thanks for the warning.

Of course all I will say is the truth, ie we took the property only to find out there is construction work going on, in spite of being told otherwise, neighbours told us they had contacted both and that I am not happy with service provided by agents. No slander there, I think.

[tenantlou]

Lou, dates could be important, so please answer my earlier Qs

1 Date T commenced

2 6 month fixed term

3 Date intention to leave notice was served

4 How served verbal or post

5 Date you intend to vacate

 

HI mariner

Thanks for your help

 

1- 20 August 2010

2 - yes 6 Month fixed term

3 Intention to leave was served on 17 March

4 Served verbally, email, Hard copy to be deliverd later this week.

5 As soon as we can, but notice was given for 2 months.

 

We have to meet the agents later this week to discuss matters. I am not sure what to say if they insist on payment for the second month in advnace.

 

Thanks again

Lou

[tenantlou]

Thank you all for your thougths.

 

As mentioned above we have to meet the agents later this week to discuss matters. Also as stated I have one month in advance and 1 month in deposit. I am not sure what to say if they insist on payment for the second month in advance. Second month is not due yet.

 

On a hypothetical note is there not a case to be made that the landlord knew in advance that the work would affect substantially our quiet enjoyment of the garden and the property and that he withheld this information as we would not have entered agreement if we knew this.

I appreciate there may be no legal standing to this from a property point of view, but surely this must constitute some kind of misrepresentation? Additoinally will my intention to take this stance, should we go to court, make the idea of taking legal action even more unpalatable for the LL.

 

Thanks again for all advice

Lou

Edited March 24, 2011 by tenantlou
spellcheck

[mariner51]

If my calcs are correct the fixed term expired 19th Feb and T reverted to statutory monthly periodic on 20 Feb which only requires T to serve 1 clear rental period notice to vacate. If we assume email Notice was sent 17 Mar we can assume it was 'served' next working day (18th) and would require T to vacate on/before 19th Apr

I detect some confusion over rent in advance. Can we assume OP paid 1 month rent in advance on 20 Aug and on/before 20th of subs months? If so then on 19th Apr T rental balance would be £0 and deposit remains intact

If T does not surrender T on 19th April he could be liable for rent until 19 Jun if Notice has to be re-served

Since I have just consumed a decent bottle of wine, I am open to correction.

As for #13 whilst any owner/LL may have been invited to make reps on any neighbouring planning application and I am not aware of any LL requirement to inform Ts. At start of T (Aug 10) was LL aware of said application?

[MrShed]

Mariner your calcs are correct.

 

BUT.

 

The OP has stated they gave TWO months notice. Unfortunately, this will stand if it is what has been specified in the email. As such, in any event now, my calcs reckon that earliest departure date is 19th of May.

[tenantlou]

Hi all

Once again thank you all for your thoughts

 

Update re Landlord being aware of the work.

After I contacted Agents few days ago , LL left a message on my answer phone saying he did not know of any work or any wall. I have since spoken to the neighbours who are carrying out the work, and they said they contacted the agents to find landlord’s address and wrote to him as this work involves removing a party wall. They then spoke to him about the project personally. They are trying to look for the letter but they are happy to confirm this to us in writing.

I don't think this is a clear cut case of landlord informing us about work that may or may not be disruptive. This is extensive work which will result in removal of a party wall and a fence which forms the only barrier between us and the other property. A new garage wall will be erected all along the boundary. This will all take place 5 feet from our living room patio door. So he was aware of this in Aug. We feel the landlord has misrepresented the property by withholding this information, knowing this would substantially reduce the quiet enjoyment of the property, hence its rental potential. How does this sound?

Pity about the notice via email. I felt reluctant to send it. It was the wife’s idea so I blame her.

Thanks again

Lou

Edited March 24, 2011 by tenantlou
added thanks

[tenantlou]

udpate re notice

I just noticed I did not mention 2 months in email. I said

As stated in our telephone conversation yesterday we hereby give notice to terminate our tenancy and vacate by 19 rd May 2011. ( adding the date was definitely the wife's idea)

But I have looked at the agreement again, actually it is 12 month agreement with a 6 month's clause. After 6 months we can give a 2 month notice. So I have to give 2 months anyway.

Sorry for the misinformation.

Thanks again

Lou

Edited March 24, 2011 by tenantlou

[raydetinu]

As an aside, legally the work cannot go ahead without the agreement of the LL to any work to a party wall, without running the risk of an injunction being served by LL stopping the work.

The neighbour doing the work should have contacted the LL to seek agreement for this work and obtained a Party Wall agreement under the Party Wall Act ( formally with a surveyor or just agreeing the works are not a problem and go ahead) Often overlooked though and can lead to a project being stopped in its trcks in some cases.

Will the building work require access to your side of the property; that will have to agreed and the builder/neihbour cannot take that for granted. In fact it can be refused, or payment required or some other concession negotiated such as Working hours!

Dont know if this helps or just a red herring.