Landlord allowing builders access to my property

[Lwitty]

Right so here is my problem.

 

I've got a one bed studio flat in york. It's a 6 month contract of which I'm 5 months in to it and is run through a letting agency. I have no direct contact with the owner of the property. The owner also has two other flats in the building and owns the property underneath. Currently, building work is going on in the underneath property to convert it into a cafe and builders have been in from 8am - early evening every day for two weeks. I was not informed they were going to be there.

 

Since arriving, they have repeatedly turned off the power to my flat (without notice) and on occasion I had to call up the letting agency and request they come and turn it back on after the builders left for the day having not turned it back on. The noise of the building work has been excessive meaning I've been unable to work from home and had to leave to work in the library as it has been too noisy to concentrate in the flat.

 

My studio flat has the toilet situated on a common corridor. I was told I was the sole user of this toilet and that the others in the flats would not have access to it as I was the sole key holder for the lock. I keep this toilet locked and only unlock it when I go to use it. It is the same key that locks my washing machine room (also on the corridor) and my main flat. In the past two weeks I have noticed that there has been mud on the floor of the toilet, the light left on, and sometimes the door left unlocked. This morning when I went to use the toilet, there was someone in it! Having phoned the letting agency to inquire as to why someone was in my toilet and why did they have access to it, I was informed that the owner of the building had said that the builders could use it.

 

What rights do I have? I was not informed that there would be builders in the building, let alone that they would have access to the flats and access to my toilet. And surely if they have access to the toilet, they also have the key to my flat? I have tried to argue with the letting agency but all they said was that it was owners choice and that it was nothing to do with them and suggested I talked to the builders. Obviously it is not the builders fault that they were told to use this toilet and obviously have no idea as to who the toilet belongs to. What further action can I take to rectify this?

[MaxxPower]

Was the toilet included in your contract or not? Could be tricky as you may not technically be the 'tenant' of the toiler room as it were.

If however the toilet is included as part of your contract, you would be perfectly within your rights to change the locks on the door (provided you put the originals back at the end of your tenancy) to prevent it from being used without your permission.

 

Or you could just be sneaky and take all the toilet paper out of it

[Steve__M]

Do you have an address for your landlord. If not, then the agent have to take more responsibility. If they won't then arguably you are entitled to withhold your rent till you have a proper way of contacting your landlord (Google Section 48 notice).

 

Environmental health may be able to help with noise nuisances.

 

What you do partly plans on what you hope to do when your current contract ends, of course.

[Ed999]

My comments only apply if the premises are entirely within England, and you were granted a shorthold tenancy (under which you have exclusive use of a separate dwelling, and the landlord does not live in the same building), and you were over 18 years of age when the tenancy was granted.

 

Bear in mind that if you are a shorthold tenant, you can be evicted from the premises by simply being given 2 months notice, in writing, taking effect after the fixed term ends (and, if given after the end of the fixed term, 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.