Landlord wants to do major work to the house

[Frosty66612]

I’m moving out of my rental early autumn as have bought somewhere. My landlord has been In contact to say he is putting the house on the market but will need access to do lots of work to it before I move out (installing double glazing in most of the rooms, painting the house, changing the whole boiler system, putting new carpets down etc). This is going to be incredibly inconvenient as I run my business from home and I also have a cat who would need to be put into a chattery whilst all this is going on.
I would have to move to my mum and dad’s for a couple of weeks while he gets people in to do it all. They will be having to move all my furniture and the whole situation is making me feel stressed just thinking about it.
I’m guessing I cant really ask him to wait until I’ve moved out and will just have to let him get on with what he needs to do? Thanks

Just to clarify I still don’t think he should subject you to living in a building site. I think he should give you notice so he could get on with his works in two months time.

OP, you have the right to "quiet enjoyment" of your rented property. The work your landlord wants to do sounds like it would definitely interfere with this, so you can deny access.

Personally, I would not have let the landlord know until one rental period before I wanted to leave (that's all the notice you have to give). He has to give you two rental period's notice (and this must be correctly dated), so I would try to be vague with him until August.

Landlords should be prepared for voids in their tenancy and they cannot assume they will be allowed access for major renovations! It sounds like he has done pretty well for the last six years, so just stand your ground and be firm. Many landlords are not aware of the law, so it may help to have a solicitor send him a letter on your behalf if he proves to be difficult.

@rlou88 moved into the house in 2012 and he’s definitely never bonded it.

Sorry, OP I was replying to Dontblameitontheboogie about the landlord not being able to evict.

If you wanted to go down the route of him serving you notice, letting it run out as it’s invalid and then have him repay the deposit and start the section 21 process again you could and it would buy you the time you need.

Absolutely you should say no. And I think you need to tighten up your "I don’t mind him doing minor things around the house" as if you give him an inch he will take a mile and claim each small step is "a minor thing" for months.

I've lived in my own home for 3 months while major work was happening and it was an utter nightmare and nearly broke me but I was able to get through it with the mantra 'it will be worth it in the end' - no way should anyone have to live like that for someone else's benefit.

No access at all except in emergency until you move out.

If he serves notice on you, sit tight. The eviction process takes months so even if he tries it you will still be fine to stay till October

Might be worth changing the tumbler barrels in the locks. It is legal to do this so long as you keep the old barrels and put them back when you move out. Takes 10 minutes.

If you don't get your full deposit back you can sue him for 3x the amount of the deposit for not using a deposit protection scheme. Plus any notice of eviction will be invalid if your deposit isn't in a registered scheme. Don't alert him to either of these last two facts before you need to - keep them as ammunition for if he tries to overplay his hand.

@imchlibob he doesn’t have a key for here as he lost his copy :-/ whenever he’s had to come over in the past he’s always had to arrange it so I’m there to let him in and lock up after he’s gone. He’s incredibly disorganised and scatty

Im a landlord - you can refuse access for anything for any reason you like (except things like gas emergencies).

Just so he doesnt bother you constantly, I would put it in writing politely but clearly - "due to running a business from home it is not convenient for me to allow access for building work".

Leave it like that. Dont mention when youll be leaving or give notice now, things may change. You can give one months notice when you're ready.

As for worrying that he will ask you to leave - without protecting your deposit he cant, so basically you can leave when you want. It also means he cant withold any of your deposit. But dont alert him to the deposit situation now, no point.

(as an aside all those moaning about private landlords, you need to make yourself aware of the law surrounding tenancy/deposit, or use Shelter or CAB and complain as soon as youre were presented with this sh*t, then it would gradually stop)

RLOU you keep saying two month time but the op doesn’t HAVE to leave in two months time she could wait until he’s evicted her through court which would probably take her up to October anyway. He can’t legally serve an eviction notice because he hasn’t protected her deposit he has no position here in the eyes of the law at all so the works wouldn’t be starting in two month anyway even if he does give her two months notice.

Sunnyshores

I’m sorry but the landlord can serve a section 21 if he pays back the deposit First. The OP can let it run with their mouth shut about the deposit but I can guarantee the lawyer drawing up the Section 21 will ask the question of the deposit to the landlord before serving. I do these forms weekly and have seen this problem come up a lot.

the first week of October is the absolute earliest the house can be in any state for me to move in. Possibly September at a serious push but don’t want to put my OH under anymore stress with it (he works full time and is also renovating the house from scratch by himself)

Then I would agree a date in late July/early August for moving out of your rental, store your furniture at your new house or in a unit for a month and stay at your parents until your partner has the house habitable. You get your deposit back and save two months rent so could maybe put that towards tradesmen to help your DP?

Aside from the question of renovations it sounds like your landlord will be arranging as many viewings as he can so you're not going to get the peace you need anyway.

Basically YANBU to say no to the next two months and your landlord would probably be thrilled you're going sooner so leave you alone for that time. YABU to refuse the works but also try and demand to stay with an indefinite timeframe for moving out.

Say no. State your right to "quiet enjoyment" during your tenancy. Say you will have no choice but to pursue legally if he persists ...that you will not hesitate. Put it in a letter. Get CAB to check it over. Send it to him and the agent recorded delivery.

It is also worth remembering that the LL has to give 2 months notice from the start of the next rental period, not just 2 months from whenever he feels like it. If you don't tell him that you refuse access until just after you next pay your rent, you will be safe for the best part of three months.

Btw ....you don't need to explain about your business or cat.

Firstly the work should be done after you move out. Secondly the only way he can evict you is to serve a section 21 notice which gives you 2 months notice, or a section 8 which has to have a reason ie 2 months rent arrears. In either case if you refuse to move out he must take you to court . The whole proceedure can take 4 to 6 months. As a landlord I would never do this typr of restoration with a tenant in. Alway between tenants. For less destructive works I often give tenants a month or two rent free. You will have difficulty refusing access for " essential repairs and maintenance" For the deposit, ring the Deposit Protection service. He has broken the law by not protecting it and you could be due a big payout. I think it can be three times the deposit. It should have been lodge two weeks after you paid it, although I can't remember exactly the year that came in. Take advice

Tell him to jog on.

He can do the work after you have moved out.

'Aside from the question of renovations it sounds like your landlord will be arranging as many viewings as he can so you're not going to get the peace you need anyway.'

The LL cannot arrange viewings without the tenants consent regardless of what it says in the tenancy agreement.

Aside from the question of renovations it sounds like your landlord will be arranging as many viewings as he can so you're not going to get the peace you need anyway.

You don't have to allow viewings. This is another thing which unscrupulous landlords and estate agents try to insist must be allowed but are actually up to the tenant. The right to "quiet enjoyment" trumps pretty much anything except essential / emergency repairs and periodic inspections.

Its threads like this which make me grateful for my current (excellent) landlord.

OP I am another one advocating the landlord zone forum. You will get plenty of accurate advice there but basically you hold all the cards and your LL is being cheeky and doesn't seem to know what his rights and obligations are.

I increasingly think there should be some kind of penalty for agents / landlords who put clauses in the tenancy agreement which are at odds with the law. Most people assume that the tenancy agreement is correct and you need to get specialist advice or really know your rights to understand you can just ignore sections. As it stands the system massively weighted against vulnerable people.

Since, he has not protected your deposit, as has been the law for quite some time and you are actually moving into your own home, you really don’t need a Landlord reference. I’d refuse any access for work till you actually move out. And I would deduct the amount from your last rent and recoup your deposit. Why stress over it and allow him to potentially hold you to ransom. He hasn’t got a leg to stand on legally either.

I can guarantee the lawyer drawing up the Section 21 will ask the question of the deposit to the landlord before serving

I highly doubt this landlord will go to a lawyer to get a S21 drawn up. It isnt necessary and as hes a cheapskate hes not going to spend money doing it. AND even if he does, AND even if he then sees the error of his ways and protects the deposit, he isnt going to get OP out by October.

I’m a landlord. I would in your place:

1. invoque the “Quiet enjoyment” clause in your tenancy agreement and refuse to allow any works apart from urgent and necessary work.
2. tell him you have no intention of moving out until you serve him the one months notice. If he gets arsey and threatens you with eviction, consider doing the same in return by threatening court for not securing the tenancy in a deposit scheme.
3. when you move out, leave the house empty but as is. No cleaning. He’s changing everything in the house and you have no inventory. If he threatens to withold any amount of your deposit, threaten court as per no 2.

These sort of lls give decent and caring people a bad name. No way should you have to put up with this crap. The only sort of thing I would ever do have done when a tenant is in situ is necessary work, such as recently changing double glazed windows (almost new when I bought the house) which broke on the long term tenants or new worktops, necessary repairs etc.

The other thing I meant to ask is whether your landlord has given you written permission to run your business from his property and if there could be any problems with that.

You say you don't want to put pressure on your DP but he needs some sort of deadline to work to or you moving in could slip to Christmas or beyond.

@cup of tea yes got proper permission for my business and the cat when moved in.
The deadline has already been made with my OH. We have agreed on the first week of october (possinly the last week of sep). He knows that’s when I need to be able to move in by and he’s assured me he will make sure it’s no later than that