Is this acceptable?

yamaha4life

Hi all me again!

The landlord of the property im renting is having some work done to the outside of the property, drive way entrance moved and widened and the boundary walls were raised up. We have no problem with this in general.

The problems we are having
A) landlord gives us no notice of day/time

yesterday (Saturday) the guys turned up at 7:30am and had a cement mixer going full chat.

C) this isn't a first offence either same guy turned up at 6:20am another day and started plastering.

I have said this to the landlord about the 6:20am start and giving some form of notice of when these people will be turning up and got nowhere not even an apology!

Previous to this while they where doing the entrance we received no notice again and they had basically stranded my car in the drive, not even a knock on the door from the workers to say do i want move my car out before they start only for the person i share the house with left before they came both of us would have been stuck without transportation. I missed an appointment over this to boot.

Anyway to add to this we recently had a water leak and it ruined some of the timber flooring and it turned out to be behind a press and that got very wet and its after losing its shape and is gone very bowed looks like it may collapse in the near future, the backing has come off too and theres a big gap in the rear of the press from where its bowed.

This was mentioned to landlord and in a roundabout way said they wont be replacing it as for the floor that will be put right at the moment there is only half a floor and its been that way for 6ish weeks, they are only replacing that half and it wont be a colour match but im not bothered about that.

In the run up to the floor being done about two weeks after the leak was fixed we got a knock at the door, you guessed it the landlord just rocked up in the evening to see how it looked. No phone call no text even.

There are some more bits and pieces but i guess this is enough for now.

Grumpypants

Tell him you need notice or you will send his guys packing/not give him access. And then follow through.

grassylawn

We had builders work on the property we own and live in. We had very little influence over what time they worked, and they did make themselves a nuisance. Had other workmen who were very well-mannered. It is something your landlord might have limited control over. You can say something to him or to them but you might not get anywhere. The weather is likely to be a factor in a lot of outdoor work. (Heavy machinery on wet soil is bad, some plaster finishes aren't possible in wet conditions etc.)

If he shows up unannounced again then I would ask him politely to give notice in future.

Rows Grower

Be thankful you have a landlord who is investing money in the house and is able to source professional people to do the work in these hard times.

DoozerT6

Rows Grower wrote: »

Be thankful you have a landlord who is investing money in the house and is able to source professional people to do the work in these hard times.

Fair point, but I think a little notice to his tenants would be courteous. Put yourself in the OP's shoes.

MarkR

Rows Grower wrote: »

Be thankful you have a landlord who is investing money in the house and is able to source professional people to do the work in these hard times.

Can't they do that, AND be notified when something that affects them is about to happen?

DoozerT6

DoozerT6 wrote: »

Fair point, but I think a little notice to his tenants would be courteous. Put yourself in the OP's shoes.

Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. This possibly isn’t money the LL needs to spend, so if the works benefit the op, might be better to put up with the inconvenience for a brief period rather than trying to arrange hard got builder to come another time that won’t suit them.

I’m struggling to get an electrician to do something in my house, if he rang the doorbell at 6:30am, I’d let him in if it meant he would sort the problem rather than waiting another month to come at midday.

DoozerT6

OP has said they don't have an problems with the works per se, just a little notice of random workmen turning up unexpectedly at 6.30am. Surely all the landlord has to do is drop a text saying "Just a heads up, brickies coming tomorrow at 7am, only time I could get them for. Cheers". I might be pissed off at the early time but at least I would KNOW what was happening.

I don't think any tenant in this market is going to complain too much to their landlord about improvement/maintenance works to their home. It's just about basic courtesy from the person in the position of power (the landlord).

DubCount

Maybe the LL was not aware of exactly when the builders would turn up. Especially for small jobs, they tend to squeeze in the work between other jobs etc.

It would be better if OP got notice, but ...

DoozerT6

DoozerT6 wrote: »

OP has said they don't have an problems with the works per se, just a little notice of random workmen turning up unexpectedly at 6.30am. Surely all the landlord has to do is drop a text saying "Just a heads up, brickies coming tomorrow at 7am, only time I could get them for. Cheers". I might be pissed off at the early time but at least I would KNOW what was happening.

I don't think any tenant in this market is going to complain too much to their landlord about improvement/maintenance works to their home. It's just about basic courtesy from the person in the position of power (the landlord).

Have you had many builders/tradesmen turn up at the exact time they said they would? Any I’ve known march to the best of their own drum, and I know/have worked with lots, best I can get is either morning or afternoon. Plastering/piller cement work needs dry weather, so they take whatever opportunity there is.

ted1

Rows Grower wrote: »

Be thankful you have a landlord who is investing money in the house and is able to source professional people to do the work in these hard times.

Probably an indication he will try to sell it or move in himself.
OP prepare for an eviction notice

Deeec

The landlord probably has no idea if the builders are going to start at 6.30 or 10 and has no control over this. It is often weather dependent and what other jobs they have on. Just be greatful that they are there and trying to get the job finished. It sounds like a small enough job and you just need to put up with the inconvenience. You could have a chat with the builders yourself and try and explain your issues re early starts. Im sure the builders would have moved whatever was blocking your car in you had asked. Getting any building work done while living in a house is always inconvenient.

Sleeper12

Construction is shut for level 5. Only emergency /essential work can be done. You can report it & it will be shut down. You will only be pushing the problem further down the road through.

Deeec

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Construction is shut for level 5. Only emergency /essential work can be done. You can report it & it will be shut down. You will only be pushing the problem further down the road through.

If the op does this I expect one of two things to happen:

- The builder will never return to the job and it will be left unfinished
- If they return to the job they will go out of their way to annoy the OP as much as possible.

Best to just let them finish the job and get it the job done ASAP

yamaha4life

I understand that its good the landlord is investing in the property no problem there, these improvements IMO are cosmetic and were unnecessary. The other things that need doing in my mind are more important like the floor and some dampness that he knows about.

I cant multiple quote as on phone so but it was mentioned that i could have asked the builder to move the what was blocking me, it was wet cement across the whole entrance of driveway.

I understand that an exact time would be difficult but a day or a this week expect builders to be around? Too much?

Also as i said the landlord tends to turn up unannounced also so theres s bit of a trend not sure what he would do if say neither tenants were at home not knowing theres someone coming to put a key out for them?

In the 18 months ive been here there has been more inconvenience's / landlord kind of randomly access the grounds of the property than the last 6 years at my previous address.

Also someone mentioned get ready for eviction not the case my LL owns approx 5 other rental properties and a profitable business, landlord told me during a short conversation we had while inspecting a problem with the property that he no longer needs to work but still does 3 days a week.

I think when restrictions ease i will be keeping an eye on daft for a new rental. Hopefully get a little bit more courteous landlord.

Going by the replys it would appear acceptable enough from the tradesmen. Thanks all who replied.

Mic 1972

ted1 wrote: »

Probably an indication he will try to sell it or move in himself.
OP prepare for an eviction notice

Alright, so if LL doesnt do works then he is neglecting the property and only cares about collecting rent.
if LL cares about improving the property then it's because he's planning to evict the tenants.


And you wonder why LL are less and less interested in renting out properties

Mic 1972

Rows Grower wrote: »

Be thankful you have a landlord who is investing money in the house and is able to source professional people to do the work in these hard times.

Exactly, also when you hire professionals they show up whenever they can, it's not like you give them a specific time or else.

sharpish

yamaha4life wrote: »

Also as i said the landlord tends to turn up unannounced also so theres s bit of a trend not sure what he would do if say neither tenants were at home not knowing theres someone coming to put a key out for them?

In the 18 months ive been here there has been more inconvenience's / landlord kind of randomly access the grounds of the property than the last 6 years at my previous address.

I think it would be fair enough to address this with the landlord, in a polite but clear boundary-setting way.