I'm a landlord and I had my property re-rendered earlier this year. I was very careful to let the tenant know the plans in advance and anytime a contractor was coming to look and bid for the contract, plus when they were starting work etc. I bent over backwards to keep them informed and check every date suited them, although being outside work they didn't need to be in obviously.
Before the work started, I said I'd like to give them a cheque for £300 because of the inconvenience. I didn't offer a rent reduction as it goes through an agent and it would have been complicated to give a 1-off reduction. The skip was on their drive and scaffolding up for about 2-3 weeks. Luckily it was all over before the lockdown issue started. The tenant was really pleased by the offer and said they hadn't expected anything.
I felt it was right to offer something. The scaffolding didn't impact access or create a particular problem for them, but the skip meant they couldn't use their drive and there will have been some noise and dust, even though the workmen were excellent at cleaning up. Importantly, when they signed the contract, we did mention that the rendering needed doing and would significantly improve the building, and we would be doing it during the year.
What I gave was nowhere near 20% of a years rent. Did they actually want 20% off the months' rent? I wonder if it was that and not off the year. I was giving them about 25% of the months rent off. I thought it was right to offer something, but didn't feel I needed to offer more than £300 and they seemed really pleased with it.
I think pre-emptiness is a good move as a landlord. Always inform tenants of planned works and consult with them about timings to suit them. Recognise inconvenience caused and offer either a rent reduction or a one-off gift. It's important to smooth the way and build good relations. If you don't, tenants might become disgruntled,mperfeclty reasonably and then you might be faced with either reasonable or unreasonable demands. If you cause inconvenience you should expect to pay something, although for external work, this would be less than for internal work I think, if the property and all its facilities remain fully habitable.
Pre-emoting builds a sense of tenant being respected and valued. It encourages good feeling and makes tenants more likely to stay. It also builds positive relationships about communicating about items that need mending etc - tenants more likely to say early if there is a leak etc, which means it can be fixed before it gets too bad. It's always better to be on the front-foot building good relationships, not doing things which annoy the tenant and build poor relationships and annoyance....that's when tenants hand in notice, or start asking for rent reductions.
20% of a months rent - very fair. 20% of the year - that's more than 2 months rent - not justifiable when the property is inhabitable and the work is short term like that.