Horror! Landllord running havoc! Please help

[gavroni]

Dear all, I really hope to find help here as my situation is depressing.

 

My landlord's employee turned up at my doorstep on 27th June accompanied by an electrician. He told me that the electrician had to start work immediately, it was a very important job and it had already been booked and they forgotten to let me know. He also said that the work would take 1-2 weeks to complete and during this period the electrician would need access to the flat several times. I was also told on the day that not much disruption would cause, only a hole on the ceiling and a few wires would hang down for a little while.

The electrician started coming in and out of the flat several times per day many days a week with a key (presume the landlord given him a key)

It was to my complete horror that as the work developed they put 12 big thick black high voltage wires hanging out of the ceiling and resting on the middle of the main corridor - entrance hall.

Next the electrician stalled big box for electrics, isolators for each of the flats upstairs (i'm in the basement), fuses ... I don't know the names of all those things .... the works! (Is there a way to place a picture here?)

Whilst the other flats only require one hour to have the work done and some switches changed I am left in a horrendous situation.

They have been working on the electrics for three weeks now and still are unable to tell me how long until the end.

This is causing a great amount of stress, disruption, I am unable to carry on my daily tasks, etc and it looks dangerous!

I spoke to a landlord's employee and proposed that I pay half of the rent during the time they are still doing the work as this is close to not liveable conditions. He refuses.

Please help :help::help:

[MrShed]

I think half the rent is a bit much. You have had some incursion into your right to quiet enjoyment of the property, and a small portion of the flat is effectively out of bounds. I would have said a 20% reduction for the period in question, no more. (Personal opinion). It is highly unlikely that the installation is being left in a dangerous state - yes, there are some cowboys, but from the images the standard of work generally looks good, so I would be surprised if he is leaving live bare cabling.

[maroondevo52]

Thread moved to Residential and Commercial Lettings Forum.

[raydetinu]

Make sure they are competent and registered/qulaified electricians; NIC EIC registered contractor etc.

Also all work is sibject to building regulation notification and approval unless contractor is competent to check and certify the installation.

they must be a memeber of the Competent Person self certification scheme!

Also as the works are extensive as you have said it may be that the LL works would have had to be notified to the HSE and come under the CDM regulations.

Your LL has behaved badly by not giving sufficient notice and explianing the scope of the works and you should certainly ask for compensation.

[Cyberprog]

They may also be notifiable works that building control should have been sent notification. At the very least, you should have been given notice that this was the case, and the LL should not have given out keys for your property. Whenever I've rented property, I've always made sure to change the lock barrels and keep the old ones to reinstate at the end of the tenancy...

[Sk1ppy]

Hi sorry to hear of your plight.

 

This work is notifiable under Part P (as it is a domestic electrical installation) of the building REGS but if the Electrician is a paid up member of the NICEIC, ECA, NAPITS (these all have no teeth) then he is self notifying and must inform Building Control, usually via the internet, that the work has been carries out, if he is not then inform building control. This work is not of a minor nature (for example; adding a socket to a single circuit) so a Full Installation Test test certificate will be required as he may be working on existing unsafe electrics. This should (rarely is) on site for inspection. Also the work is subject to the 'The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989' effectively health and safety.

 

if you fancy annoying the landlord then this is the way to go

 

i don't know anything on your rights as a tenant but the above is an outline of the electrical regulations.

 

O and very very importantly make sure he leaves the electrics in a safe condition when he leaves, even if he nips out to the local electrical factor. someone could get killed if he's a cowboy/mate of the landlord.

 

cheers

Sk1ppy

[45002]

Hi gavroni

 

Looking at those picture,your LL/electrician is renewing the mains supply to the rest of the house/flats,with main switch's/circuit breaker to each flat

 

I'm a bit confused,Is this room in the pictures,part of your flat ?

 

If your Answer Yes,what the hell is your LL/electrician doing putting All that lot in your home in the 1st place.

 

Mains supply like that in the picture,should be in a Hall way/communal area,where every tenant has access to them encase of emergency...

 

how many flats are there ?

 

May i also ask where are the electric meters are,do you pay a utility company for your electric (a bill in your name),cash meter or via you rent,this will give me more of a idea of want your LL is up to ?

Edited July 20, 2011 by 45002

[gavroni]

Thank you everybody for answering. I still look for more answers as I have the feeling this is not right. Starting with the fact I wasnt given notice for this work, then I wasnt told about what it actually involves and how serious this is!

45002 - yes this is inside my flat! This is my entrance hall. There are 12 flats in total and I am in the basement flat. The flat has its own independent entrance. We all have individual meters (measuring units only) as the electric company send one bill to the LL and he works out by units used.

There is space upstairs at the main building entrance for this and I think it should not be inside my flat.

 

:nono::nono:

[raydetinu]

suggest you speak to building control at the council for advice on this.

[Ed999]

My comments only apply if the premises are entirely within England and Wales, and you were granted a shorthold tenancy (under which you - and your spouse/partner/children, if any - have exclusive use of a seperate dwelling, which is not shared with another tenant nor with the landlord), and you were over 18 years of age when the tenancy was granted, and the rent is less than £2,083 per month.

 

This posting is supplemental to the information in this forum's "sticky" threads and is NOT to be read in isolation.

 

 

Bear in mind that if you are a shorthold tenant, with a periodic tenancy, you can be evicted from the premises by simply being given 2 months notice, in writing, taking effect after the initial six months ends (expiring on the last day of a rent period). No reason has to be given. Where a dispute arises, concerning any matter, the landlord can simply end the tenancy in that way.

 

 

Questions for New Posters

 

Will you please provide the essential information requested in the "sticky" thread Questions for new posters.

 

There are many other questions to ask:

 

• Are the premises in England and Wales?

 

• Were you provided with a check-in Inventory? Did you accept it?

 

• What is the landlord saying about the alleged damage, i.e. to the electrics?

 

• Have you paid a deposit? If so, how much? Is the deposit protected under the rent deposit scheme?

 

 

Access by the Landlord

 

Read this FAQ - Access to the Property by the Landlord

 

In summary it boils down to this: if you have a shorthold tenancy, the landlord only has a right of entry in order to carry out repairs, not for any other purpose.

 

A tenancy gives the tenant a legal right to exclude the landlord from the premises, which is an important right that lodgers/licensees do not have. If you are a tenant, you can change the locks, immediately, to keep the landlord and his agents out; but you must not cause any damage in doing so.

 

 

Disrepair

 

If there is disrepair, the tenant might be entitled in law to sue the landlord for damages (i.e. compensation) for the disrepair.

 

Read this FAQ - Disrepairs in privately rented accommodation

 

In summary, section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 imposes a statutory obligation on the landlord to keep the following in good repair and in proper working order:

 

• the structure and exterior of the dwelling, including drains, gutters and external pipes;

 

• the installations for supply of water, gas, electricity and sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and toilets); and

 

• the installations for space heating and water heating.

 

 

The landlord's obligation under section 11 is to keep the property in its initial state of repair, i.e. the state it was in at the start of the tenancy, not to put it into good repair. Thus there is NO statutory obligation to improve it. See Alker v Collingwood Housing Association [2007] EWCA Civ 343.

 

Hence, unless the tenancy agreement says otherwise, a landlord has no right to enter to carry out improvements; he can only lawfully enter to do section 11 repairs.

 

If the landlord enters without a legal right of entry, you can sue him for breach of his covenant (i.e. legal promise) to allow you peaceful enjoyment of the premises: the court can award you compensation. You have 6 years to start a court claim, so you can wait until your tenancy is over.

 

If you withold the rent, which you might be entitled to do if he has given no prior notice of the work or has entered illegally, he will probably evict you by simply giving you 2 months notice.

 

 

Any Health & Safety issue -

 

You can contact the Environmental Health department of the local District or Borough Council, and ask them to inspect the property regarding the threat to the occupier's health, e.g. from live electrical cables.

 

Calling in Environmental Health is the equivalent of "going nuclear", because it always sours the relationship between landlord and tenant. It'll do that even if the relationship was previously good.

 

A tenant who has a fixed term contract can, perhaps, cope with the fall out which this option is bound to produce. But it rarely makes sense with a periodic tenancy.

 

 

In a very serious case, the Council's Environmental Health department - who have some public health powers even in a private letting - can certify a property as unfit for occupation. If they do so, there is an argument that the tenancy might thereby be ended, by the contractual principle known as "frustration" of the contract.

 

But if you can't obtain such a certificate in your case, then the tenancy can't be ended by the disrepair.

 

The rent would probably abate (i.e. would not be payable) for the period the property was not fit for habitation.

Edited July 22, 2011 by Ed999

[45002]

Well,I was going to reply to this thread,

 

But as it's been spammed by The monopolists.

 

I won't bother any more...............

 

:evil:

[gavroni]

Thank You for the replies. Theres quite a bit of info here to digest, I'll look into everything and post a reply.

Cheers

[Ed999]

Sorry there was so much to go into, but it seemed best to try to cover all the possibilities for you.

 

I think a couple of points might bear close consideration -

 

a. If the facts establish that this work is a genuine repair, then the landlord has a statutory duty to do it, because if he doesn't you and the other tenants affected by the disrepair can sue him; and, also, he has a legal right of entry to do repairs.

 

b. If the facts establish that the work is not a repair, but - for example - is an improvement, then the landlord has no legal right to do improvements, and has no legal right of entry.

 

In situation b there would be a right for you to sue the landlord. He would be in breach of the landlord's covenant - a legally binding promise - to give you peaceful enjoyment of the premises, i.e. it would be a breach of his implied legal promise in the tenancy agreement not to cause disruption to your use of the property, roughly speaking.

 

It depends, probably, whether the electrics were in need of repair, or not. Only an electrician could tell for sure.