*previously posted on Property, but the situation has evolved into an AIBU...
We’re in the middle of building works and have rented temporary accommodation at a neighbour’s flat.
We have an informal agreement done via WhatsApp (I know, I know..). The owner lives in another country. They mentioned they have long covid / memory problems.
We agreed to stay 4-6 weeks, with the caveat that we may need to extend due to the nature of building works. The flexibility was vital to us, and the owner fully understood and was ok with that.
At 4 weeks she tried to kick us out, giving 5 DAYS notice. We pushed back as our place won’t be inhabitable until the 6 week and 2 day mark absolute minimum (when the flooring is laid) - even then, we’ll have no kitchen. She now wants us gone by 6 weeks (2 days too early for us).
It transpires she’s desperate to sell her place (threat of repossession) and thought she could market it whilst we’re here but has decided it’ll be less hassle with us gone.
During our stay she’s caused endless disruptions, including having the place painted (specially fun with our toddler). She stayed for 6 days - claims we are lodgers, though we were not told of this in advance and assumed we’d have exclusive use of the place. She tried to get US to arrange for estate agents to take pictures and viewings of the place (again - no mention of this in advance).
I feel sorry for her as she’s clearly not well in the head but she’s the one who’s dropped us into this mess.
I think the fairest would be to honour the flexibility of our agreement and let us stay until our kitchen is ready - which would be 7-10 days longer than she wants. I don’t see how that would make a huge difference to her sale but would save us a world of pain. AIBU?
(BTW I don’t want to ‘just’ move to an Airbnb - moving, with a toddler, whilst juggling a job, and overseeing building works is a huge headache in itself. And Airbnb’s are 4x the price)