LL installed new kitchen

[Casperthefriendlygh]

We experienced significant disruption despite the promise of no 'lack of function':

• 3 days no oven, 3 days no hob
• 6 days no dishwasher, 6 days no washing machine
• 9 days no sink, 9 days of high noise
• 14 days of reduced living space due to storage
• This has led to health risks, unlivable conditions, and a breach of the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, with issues like damp, drainage problems, and difficulty maintaining sanitation.

OP gets free improvements to her home and wants to be compensated for it.

Building work is always disruptive - my kitchen took 3 weeks. Work from somewhere else if you want WFH although tbh I worked from home throughout my kitchen reno and it really wasn’t an issue (the take out day is noisy and the rest isn’t that bad at all).

Sounds like you need a reality check OP, how many renters get a new kitchen?

It also sounds like you made things more difficult for yourself by trying to wash up in the bathroom sink etc.

Why did you not just buy paper plates and through them away? Why did you continue to attempt to prepare food? Take away, picky bits and things you just add water to were your friend here.

We did our kitchen and dining room in 2016. The floor joists were rotted and had to be replaced so we didn't have a proper floor, there was dust in every crevice of the house for months, we had no cupboards, sink, oven, hob, hashing machine or anything except for a fridge and mini oven in the living room. My husband did everything himself to keep costs down so could only do evenings and weekends on it due to work. We also had a three year old. It took 8 weeks. It's what happens when you have work done on your house. At no point did it have an impact on our physical or mental well-being. You're being dramatic, difficult and just need to suck it up. It's life.

Get a grip OP. YABVU

I own my home and of want to install a new kitchen I have to put up with inconvenience AND pay for all the bloody work.

Are you one of these Gen Z idiots that have no empathy or critical thinking?

Imagine quoting human rights over this!

Bloody hell landlords can’t win can they. You’d have been on here wailing about the leak if she hadn’t fixed it.

two weeks disruption is nothing. We had five weeks for ours, no sink or hob for the whole of that time, no washing machine for three weeks.

If you want to keep being difficult, then you should start saving up for a deposit and checks and start looking for a new place to rent once your contract is up for renewal. As your landlord will probably not renew as you a difficult.

For what its worth, when we had our kitchen replaced it took 3 weeks and we had a 6 month old baby and a makeshift kitchen in the living room. And yes it was awkward and difficult but having a new kitchen was worth it.

There was a leak so she had to take out the kitchen? Honestly, I rent and I would be delighted to have a landlord who fixed a leak! So your other option was to keep a kitchen with leak damage? She has also replaced the appliances new.
I suspect this is a reverse and your the landlord moaning about your unreasonable tenants!

I am not the biggest fan of landlords but you sound like hard work...

Installing a new kitchen was always going to create noise and inconvenience and it is a big piece of work.

Also you can never predict exactly how long something is going to take with home improvement because as you start ripping things out you often discover new issues that need to be addressed.

Frankly be glad it is over and you have a new kitchen.

Mental health impact? get over yourself. This is disrespectful to people who have genuine mental health issues...

This.

My kitchen hasn't been renovated since the 1940s! I'd sleep in my car for two weeks if I were fortunate enough to get a new one at someone else's expense!!!

Are people really unable to see choosing to change your kitchen or replace joists in your living room is completely different from having it imposed upon you at a time, which may not be convenient?

This is completely disempowering and as a landlord myself, I’m aware of the precarious position good tenants can feel they are in.

@BettyBardMacDonald ooh I would love to see pictures of this! I’m sure it’s old but I would almost feel sad totally ripping out the vintage features. Must have been good quality to have stood for 80 years!

@Mummyoflittledragon but it was not on a whim. There was a problem and the landlord took action to resolve it!

Yep, on average there are 5-10 people after every rental property in The UK at the moment so you are very replaceable .
Having said that you could politely ask for some sort of compensation but I suggest you frame it better than you have here and if its a no then not kick up a fuss.
We had a new kitchen last year while 3 of us were wfh and it was awful but we survived

What would you have done @Mummyoflittledragon?

If, as far as you were aware, the kitchen was in reasonable shape when the tenants moved in (we don't know how long they have been there) and at some point during the tenancy, it became clear that the kitchen needed to be replaced in order to make it habitable and meet legal requirements with regards to mould.
It's not ideal for tenants to have remedial work done but what is the solution?

I own, and we had a massive leak during the first lockdown and ended up with a new kitchen installed (insurance claim) a few months later. We also had asbestos removal and the old one ripped out etc.

I managed to WFH through the entire work - I just wore headphones! The dog enjoyed the extra company of the tradies who were in and out all day. I set up a mini kitchen upstairs with a microwave, kettle and air fryer and we did just fine for 10days (small kitchen, didn't replace the tiles). I also managed weeks of deliveries of the various parts, nipped out to B&Q a few times to pick up more bits that hadn't been delivered, and built the cupboards myself.

I think you're all being a bit over dramatic. You just make the best of things and crack on. A nice new kitchen is worth it, and you no longer have a mouldy smell. Must be nice to have a decent landlord - I had some real scumbags over the years.

This has to be a wind up. I rented for over 10 years and think YABU. I now own a complete reno house and think YABU.

The cabinets weren't even brand new that's why it was quick, LL bought 'pre-loved

But you aren't even happy with how quick it was! You're both complaining about the length of time it took to fit, and the decisions the landlord made to ensure it didn't take any longer! I'm not surprised your LL won't negotiate a discount with you, your logic makes no sense. You seem to be jumping on any argument that will get you the outcome you want, rather than have a strong, logical argument linked to your desired outcome.

Things in properties don’t magically get fixed instantaneously. If you own your house you have to suffer or move out during renovations.

If you rent sometimes it doesn’t work out that renovations are done between rental agreements. I think you can ask again and highlight that services were indeed cut off, but you may not get much leverage and attempts to push further are most likely not cost effective.

what did you want the LL to do?

Wave a magic wand by the sound of it...

It's pine in a very small cottage. I hate it, after 20-plus years here.

The flooring is nasty tile that never seems clean. I can't afford to replace everything but have determined to paint the pine (i know, normally i think it's heinous to paint old wood) a sage green and get new flooring.

I drool over modern white Shaker kitchens. But it's not to be.

It wasn't done on a whim though was it? I mean the LL could just let the OP live in a shithole, doing nothing about repairs and leaving the leaking washing machine to damage even more of the property or she could have done what was needed, improved the kitchen meaning the OP & her flat mates had to live in minimal discomfort for a fortnight. When did people become so outrageously pappy.

This is just another bash a landlord thread, the calculations are probably part of a think tank paper to form part of the budget "the amounts LL should reduce the rent by, even if the proper is being improved".

No LL is perfect but the same has to be said of tenants.

In this case, OP has said that the repair required the total removal of the worktops to access the leak, and presumably the cabinets needed to also be removed to assess and treat the damp that OP said was present behind the cabinets. The fact the landlord chose to replace with new items not the originals is a bonus. It still counts as a repair.

Yes they are entitled to quiet enjoyment, but they also have to allow essential repairs. Leaving a leak would cause huge damage to both OPs property and potentially others if it's a flat.

I'm a renter and we lived here though a rewire. It's not your place you have to suck it up.