Landlord wants to refurbish

[freshmicropig]

Hello chaps,

Just after a bit of advice if you don't mind. My landlord recently told me that he wants to carry out substantial refurbishments to my flat, but has yet to put a timescale on the development. My question is fairly straightforward: does he have the right to do this without my consent? If so, are there any measures in place to compensate me, for example, if I suddenly find myself with no kitchen or toilet facilities?

I've done a bit of searching, but it seems most peoples' problems go the other way – demanding that their landlord carries out work.

Any help would be much appreciated – I'd like to have a sound idea of my rights before we have another conversation.

Cheers
Micropig

[Wings]

The rental property is now your home, and under common law you can say who and when someone can enter your home, that includes even your landlord. Your tenancy agreement possibly states that your landlord or the landlord's contractor, may enter the property to carry out repairs, this after according the tenant 24 hours Notice, even though you can again refuse access, in that instance though a tenant could be in breach of their tenancy agreement.

If the works go beyond a repair, then the tenant would need to negotiate with the landlord prior to the works commencing, possibly alternative accommodation, reduction in rent, financial compensation, or a surrender of the tenancy with full refund of any Deposit. Failure to negotiate a satisfactory settlement, then the tenant has the legal right to refuse the landlord access to the rental property.

[Centurion07]

IANAL but I'm pretty sure that as a fully paid-up tenant, that property is essentially, "legally" yours in so much as he has pretty much no rights whatsoever to enter it without your permission unless under extreme circumstances i.e. burst pipe, gas leak etc etc.

And why the hell has this been moved to Homes and DIY when it's clearly a topic for SP&L?!

[BoRED S2upid]

This is true it's legally down to you or some negotiation however if you don't let him do the repairs you may find when your current agreement comes to an end you need to find a new flat.

Negotiate an agreeable time any holidays coming up?

[singlecoil]

Are the refurbishments necessary from your POV, or do you think he is looking to improve his chances of selling it?

[Spare tyre]

Ask her if she's planning on selling it

[andyt1320]

The landlord has the right to enter and carry out works with notice given and most tenancy agreements state that the tenant may not reasonably refuse. So as long as there is notice given, the tenant has little right to prevent this happening without being in breach of their agreement. It's all about being reasonable. The tenant has a right to the use of the property as if it were their own but it is not and the owner has the right to maintain his/her property. If the work is so major that it causes a real problem then talk to the landlord about how to handle the impact and remember that you will get the enjoyment from the improvements after they are made. If the landlord does this work as they are planning on a sale, this doesn't affect the current agreement as this would have to be either transferred to the new owner with the tenants consent or notice given and an agreement reached which may involve cash to move etc.

[MajorProblem]

Spare tyre said:

Ask her if she's planning on selling it

Or the rents going up.

[dazwalsh]

andyt1320 said:

The landlord has the right to enter and carry out works with notice given and most tenancy agreements state that the tenant may not reasonably refuse. So as long as there is notice given, the tenant has little right to prevent this happening without being in breach of their agreement. It's all about being reasonable. The tenant has a right to the use of the property as if it were their own but it is not and the owner has the right to maintain his/her property. If the work is so major that it causes a real problem then talk to the landlord about how to handle the impact and remember that you will get the enjoyment from the improvements after they are made. If the landlord does this work as they are planning on a sale, this doesn't affect the current agreement as this would have to be either transferred to the new owner with the tenants consent or notice given and an agreement reached which may involve cash to move etc.

I'm afraid you have that all wrong, a tenant can refuse access even if the landlord gives them the notice of entry, and its actually the landlord that can do very little about it.

Its a strange move by the landlord to do these works whilst tenant in place. I bet that he/she wants to sell the place. If i were you i would request alternative and like for like accommodation whilst works are being carried out along with a full return of deposit and early surrender of tenancy if it goes on market.

[Wings]

dazwalsh said:

I'm afraid you have that all wrong, a tenant can refuse access even if the landlord gives them the notice of entry, and its actually the landlord that can do very little about it.

Its a strange move by the landlord to do these works whilst tenant in place. I bet that he/she wants to sell the place. If i were you i would request alternative and like for like accommodation whilst works are being carried out along with a full return of deposit and early surrender of tenancy if it goes on market.

^^^^this or an increase rent upon completion of remedial works.

[andyt1320]

As I said , speaking from experience, many tenancy agreements will specify the obligation on the tenant to allow access or the tenant is in breach of the agreement. This will depend on the agreement that has been signed. The OP should start with re-reading the agreement to see what applies to them.
Anyway, why object to a landlord improving where they live? Why be so adversarial about it?

[anonymous-user]

Wings said:

^^^^this or an increase rent upon completion of remedial works.

Reminds me of the council house wallahs near my mums, New Windows, kitchens, gutters, roofline etc and they played holy fook as the rent was going up approx 25p a week

The sense of 'entitlement among many is astounding.

[grantone]

andyt1320 said:

As I said , speaking from experience, many tenancy agreements will specify the obligation on the tenant to allow access or the tenant is in breach of the agreement. This will depend on the agreement that has been signed. The OP should start with re-reading the agreement to see what applies to them.
Anyway, why object to a landlord improving where they live? Why be so adversarial about it?

You can write whatever you want in a tenancy agreement and even if the tenant signs with full knowledge of what they're agreeing to, very rarely would a court allow those terms to override the tenant's right to quiet enjoyment, so they're effectively useless. It's the price to pay as a landlord for the (absolutely terrible) protections offered to landlords under assured shorthold tenancies.

The OP might object to the works because living in a house going through even a minor refurb is a pain when it's your own place. Now imagine going through it with no control over the contractors, no say in the design and in all likelihood a relatively limited time to enjoy the benefits.

[Centurion07]

andyt1320 said:

Anyway, why object to a landlord improving where they live? Why be so adversarial about it?

Do you honestly believe OP's landlord, or for that matter, any landlord, wanting to undertake a renovation/redecoration would do so purely for the benefit of the current tenant who is already living there and would continue to do so whether those works were carried out or not?

Landlords do not spend money without getting something in return. Where's the return in this case? OP's landlord is either going to put the rent up or is getting ready to turf him out so they can sell the property.

[98elise]

Centurion07 said:

andyt1320 said:

Anyway, why object to a landlord improving where they live? Why be so adversarial about it?

Do you honestly believe OP's landlord, or for that matter, any landlord, wanting to undertake a renovation/redecoration would do so purely for the benefit of the current tenant who is already living there and would continue to do so whether those works were carried out or not?

Landlords do not spend money without getting something in return. Where's the return in this case? OP's landlord is either going to put the rent up or is getting ready to turf him out so they can sell the property.

I'm a landlord and I'm current preparing my next rental property. Market rent for the area is £650. I'm putting in a new kitchen, new carpets, and its been decorated top to bottom. I'm also hoping I can get the gardens re-done before the tenant moves in. I'm going to charge £650 pcm.

The property before that got a new bathroom, new kitchen, carpets and decorated top to bottom. It also let for market rates.

Not all landlords are money grabbing slumlords! Some of use take pride in our properties, and will only let properties we would be happy to live in ourselves. It also means you can be choosy about your tenants.

[dazwalsh]

I agree Elise but the problem here is these works are being carried out mid tenancy, which doesn't make much sense at all unless the property is being sold or rent raised

Edited by dazwalsh on Tuesday 22 July 09:23

[98elise]

dazwalsh said:

I agree Elise but the problem here is these works are being carried out mid tenancy, which doesn't make much sense at all unless the property is being sold or rent raised

Edited by dazwalsh on Tuesday 22 July 09:23

Fair enough it could be an issue mid-tenancy. I tend to offer new carpets etc when I consider them at the end of their life, but a full refurb would only be done between tenants. When I do work like that I don't want to be working around other peoples stuff. It would only make sense if it was starting to fall to pieces.

[hornetrider]

Centurion07 said:

Do you honestly believe OP's landlord, or for that matter, any landlord, wanting to undertake a renovation/redecoration would do so purely for the benefit of the current tenant who is already living there and would continue to do so whether those works were carried out or not?

Landlords do not spend money without getting something in return. Where's the return in this case? OP's landlord is either going to put the rent up or is getting ready to turf him out so they can sell the property.

So?

[Foliage]

The place I rent was renovated 3 years ago by the landlord, took about a week. It was an inconvenience but by not making a fuss it gave me a lot of good will with my landlord, I had to shower at work and have takeaways etc for a week, not much of a hardship for me tbh, considering that im now in a flat that's like new, no increase in rent etc.

[freshmicropig]

Thanks for all your replies, very much appreciated.

I'm not against improvements, it's just that it will cause a great deal of problems if we had no recourse to ask to be temporarily housed elsewhere. For example, my other half's office is an hour and a half train/tube journey into town, so she would struggle to make do if the shower was out of action for a week.

I have almost two years remaining on my tenancy and we're on good terms with the landlord. It sounds like it's time for me to dig out the tenancy agreement.