Couple of queries

JaMarcus Hustle

Hey guys, just a quick question I was hoping you could give advice on.

We live in an apartment block that is in receivership, and is currently being managed by the receiver (a bank). We got a letter in our door today to say that works will be carried out on the Gas supply in 2 weeks that will leave us without gas (and thus, hot water, heating etc.) for 3 days. It also says that to facilitate this, the bank will be giving keys to the company who will be carrying out the works.

The only thing I can find on our lease that is applicable here is under tenant covenants, where it states:

3.11. The Landlord, or a person authorised by the landlord, or the Landlord's agent, may at reasonable times, on giving 7 days notice (unless in the case of emergency) enter the property for the purpose of viewing, inspecting it's condition and state of repair, or for the purpose of repair, maintenance or repainting.

(i) Can the management company give keys to our apartment to someone else without our permission?
(ii) In the above extract, it says "at reasonable times" - can this be interpreted as "convenient to the tenant" - i.e. we don't want anyone entering our apartment when we are not home, and we don't want to have to take time off work to be here for when they do come.
(iii) If it does go ahead, we would be without heating and hot water in the middle of winter. There's no substitute for showers, but would the landlord/receiver be obliged to provide heaters for us during this time? The apartment has been getting very cold lately when we don't have the heating on.
(iv) Though the letter we received states that it is "works being carried out", our neighbour - who acts as a mediator of sorts for the receiver/letting agent (i.e. hands out any letters that needs to be distributed to residents, holds keys for prospective tenants/storage rooms etc.) - has told us off the record that it is because the building does not comply with a certain fire safety standard.

I should probably state for the record that we are not entirely happy with the apartment, and more specifically the management of the apartment (i.e. what was advertised as secure parking is anything but, security gates with no locks, CCTV cameras installed but not switched on (we recently needed them to check something for us) - I could go on...). So re: query (iv) - if the apartment does not comply with fire safety standards, do we have a case for legally breaking the lease and getting our deposit back? I understand we signed up for a 12 month lease and must honour that, and we have no problem doing so - a contract is a contract - but just wondering if they have fulfilled their end of the agreement? I'm fully aware that I'm looking for a reason to break the lease. If we can, then great. If not, we're happy to stay.

Thanks very much.

fasttalkerchat

Be thankful you didn't buy!
I would contact them to say they do not have permission to enter in your absence and give a range of suitable times.
Ask how they will make showering facilities available.
I believe you have a right to hot water.
With regards heating, ask what expenses will be covered.

If it was me I would have no problem demanding a hotel room for the 2 nights.

Pawwed Rig

If you are willing to hire an expert that will give you a report outlining that the building does not meet fire safety standards or have some clear evidence that this is the case then you may be able to rely on that.
You cannot rely on 'my neighbour told me'.

miezekatze

If you don't want anyone entering the apartment when you're not home, contact the agency to let them know! We were in a similar situation earlier this year - the landlord also wanted to do some (non-essential) work and sent us a letter that they will be doing this over a couple of weeks and if nobody's home the contractor would just access the apartment. Enough people complained and they ended up arranging appointments.

Santa Cruz

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Be thankful you didn't buy!
I would contact them to say they do not have permission to enter in your absence and give a range of suitable times.
Ask how they will make showering facilities available.
I believe you have a right to hot water.
With regards heating, ask what expenses will be covered.

If it was me I would have no problem demanding a hotel room for the 2 nights.

I am aware of an apartment block renovation, a small two storey complex, where work had to be done on individual apartments which took four days to do. Stripping walls, plastering and paint job. The landlord covered a stay in a hotel rather than lose the tenant.

Lantus

If you are a tenant your relationship is with your landlord. What you need to refer to is the contract lease document that the owner entered into with the management company. This will usually give the management company full rights of access to undertake works with sufficient notice to the owner. No secondary lease with a tenant can override this.

I would say you are all very lucky that they are doing this work. Obviously it must be needed and could alleviate an even bigger problem later on.

The works may be unobtrusive and I would suggest you obtain further clarification as to what will be done.