Hi there,
My housemates and I were recently informed by our letting agents that they need access to our house for building work.
The work requires 5 bedrooms to be evacuated (the house is 8-bedroom/8-person occupancy) for 12 days (they are plastering/knocking down walls etc.) and for there to be intermittent power cuts as well as throughway access to the rooms (which are on the higher floors of the house).
The letting agents thought our lease was ending earlier than it in fact was, so they have given us no notice about this work.
I have successfully requested compensation from this letting agents (and the landlord they represent) once before when due to building work we had no kitchen access for 2 weeks. This time, however, when I met them they were far more pressurizing and awkward - they were asking for 'verbal agreements that we were "happy with the work to take place"' and so forth and using scare tactics where they claimed if we tried 'asking for too much from the landlord we wouldn't get anything'. So I am now unsure about how to proceed.
I was wondering particularly the two following things:
1) what compensation can we claim - I currently am inclined to ask for a full rent rebate for the period of the building work, as well as around £40-£50 compensation per night of building work for each of the tenants that have to evacuate their rooms so they can pay for a B&B/hostel etc. Is this a feasible amount and should I ask for more given there will be other costs such as travel/food/change of plans (some housemates are working in london and will have major disruption at having to come back to move their possessions).
2) Should we be careful about agreeing to letting the building work proceed? I was worried that if we say it's ok for them to do the work, they will later claim we agreed to their requests and have no basis to claim compensation. Also I was wondering the legal position if we refuse to, or are unable to, empty out all the rooms in which they want to do work?
Thanks very much
Answer by Rebecca
You are not in the US but I will answer the way we handle this and that is to put you up in a reasonable hotel/motel for the time of construction and that is about it. Doesn't have to be luxurious and I have at times given a 25 dolar allowance for eating out since the person has to buy food anyway.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Orignal From: What compensation can be claimed for unplanned building work which requires tenants to evacuate the house?
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