Advice: noisy neighbours, tenants want to leave
Discussion
I've just let out a flat I own in London, and the tenants want to leave due to a noisy neighbour despite only being 3 weeks into the tenancy. They are on a standard 1 year agreement with a 6 month break clause. Points that may (or may not) be relevant:
1) the neighbour is genuinely noisy (screaming at random points during the day and night, but it goes in cycles of a few months on, a few months off), I've seen video of it and neighbours confirm this when I spoke to them.
2) Apparently it's been going on for 10+ years - I've owned the flat for 2 years and had a set of tenants in for that time but they never said anything so it's the first I've heard of it. I'll start a separate thread about dealing with the noisy person, but suffice to say it seems there's no easy way to sort it i.e. I can't say to the tenants it'll all be sorted if you can just wait a few months
What's the legal situation here? I want to keep on the right side of the law clearly, and I do feel for them as I'd not like to be in their situation, but equally I'm not responsible for the neighbour and I don't want to be unnecessarily out of pocket.
They claim that legally they can basically move out due to the nuisance that wasn't disclosed to them (presumably by me or the agent even though we didn't know ourselves) and not pay any fees to exit the contract etc. Preliminary research by me indicates that basically, for want of a more delicate phrase, that's a load of b
ks and essentially the problem is their tough luck.
Can anyone provide info on what my legal exposure/obligations are? I'd like to know the baseline and then work from there to come to some sort of hopefully amicable agreement with the tenants.
1) the neighbour is genuinely noisy (screaming at random points during the day and night, but it goes in cycles of a few months on, a few months off), I've seen video of it and neighbours confirm this when I spoke to them.
2) Apparently it's been going on for 10+ years - I've owned the flat for 2 years and had a set of tenants in for that time but they never said anything so it's the first I've heard of it. I'll start a separate thread about dealing with the noisy person, but suffice to say it seems there's no easy way to sort it i.e. I can't say to the tenants it'll all be sorted if you can just wait a few months
What's the legal situation here? I want to keep on the right side of the law clearly, and I do feel for them as I'd not like to be in their situation, but equally I'm not responsible for the neighbour and I don't want to be unnecessarily out of pocket.
They claim that legally they can basically move out due to the nuisance that wasn't disclosed to them (presumably by me or the agent even though we didn't know ourselves) and not pay any fees to exit the contract etc. Preliminary research by me indicates that basically, for want of a more delicate phrase, that's a load of b
ks and essentially the problem is their tough luck. Can anyone provide info on what my legal exposure/obligations are? I'd like to know the baseline and then work from there to come to some sort of hopefully amicable agreement with the tenants.
Notwithstanding the legal obligations, these tenants don't sound like keepers. You might be better off without them.
Does the nuisance neighbour rent their property, and if so is it from the Local Authority? You might want to get together with the other neighbours to have this issue dealt with, or it might not be the last time you have this kind of problem.
Does the nuisance neighbour rent their property, and if so is it from the Local Authority? You might want to get together with the other neighbours to have this issue dealt with, or it might not be the last time you have this kind of problem.
selym said:
Does the nuisance neighbour rent their property, and if so is it from the Local Authority? You might want to get together with the other neighbours to have this issue dealt with, or it might not be the last time you have this kind of problem.
I know, I worry about what's going to happen going forwards. The problem neighbour is a council tenant. Like i said, will start a separate thread shortly for that as it's a whole other can of worms.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff