Nosy neighbors and our broadband connection

We talked about this to the landlord earlier this week, but he refused to let us out of our lease, along with saying that he was 'disappointed in us', and not to contact him again. 

Then unless you can find somewhere that the landlord has breached the contract, you may well be stuck.


Vicky

Having broadband connection is so important to us, we actually considered having it written into our contract: if we couldn't get a line provisioned at 2Mbps speed at least, that would give us grounds to break lease.

We didn't end up asking about in the end, but now I wonder if we should for next time.

If they are entering your appartment without your consent...it is a breach.

If they are entering your appartment without your consent...it is a breach.

Not unless they are doing it as agents of the landlord, surely. And some people don't have restrictions for landlord entrances written into their contract.

However, if they are entering and are not agents of the landlord, I wonder if what they're doing is criminal.

I think LC has a good point about setting a trap. I don't think she means a mousetrap or anything physically damaging. As mentioned earlier, lots of webcams come with motion detection software nowadays and having photographic evidence would be pretty useful. But even something simple like placing a bit of paper somewhere they're likely to knock off, or some kind of powder on the floor. I know it sounds a bit too cloak and dagger but if it could possibly give you leverage to get the heck out of there, seems a small price to pay.

I'm pretty sure that even as agents of the landlord, notice has to be given.  If the neighbour's entering without that notice, then it's illegal.  Check out this pdf from communities.gov.uk on page #14:

You have the legal right to live in the property as your home. The landlord should
ask your permission before he or she enters the premises.

Also, if your landlord is constantly telling you not to contact them, I'd also be leery of that.  Tenants have the right to know the terms of the contract and if the landlord does not want to honor that obligation, I suggest speaking with a solicitor to see if that is a breach of contract as well.

Here is a good book explaining your rights.  Also the CAB should have some form of pamphlet for you too.



According to a few sites I have visited.  It is illegal in the UK for a landlord to enter the property unless he has been given permission and he has to give a minimum of 24 hour notice.  He can not even enter the property if he has suspected that you are in breach of your agreement.

With regards to you getting out early on your lease, the landlord can surrender the tenancy by mutual consent and "opt out" of the initial agreement. 

IMO:
If they are a pain in the butt, and you have tried to negotiate with the landlord to leave and surrender the tenancy and he is not playing......then you need to be a pain in the butt too    loud music..hang your pants from the windows to dry..stomp up your stairs...dance a lot with heavy shoes on......just be awful.  When you ask him to surrender the lease..he will be glad to get rid of you   

Hiya Dulcineah/GrumpyStrumpet

sounds as though it's both of you in this property... apologies if I'm reading it incorrectly..

Yes, we're flatmates.  Sorry about not being clear enough.

Virgin are offering a 50 MB internet service to certain areas/customers at around £51/month. Is that the package you are requiring ? In your first post you mention as it's due to your flatmate's high volume usage. Would you mind breifly giving an overview on needing such a (for the UK!!) high speed service?

I work for a foreign company and the files I receive are fairly large.  Right now, I've blu-tacked the mobile dongle outside the window and have a USB extension cord to my laptop, which is made of such fail (The connection point, not my laptop, of which I'm overly fond.) that it's almost funny.  I'm pretty sure I'll have someone in my hair soonish about defacing the exterior of the building.

I don't precisely need the 50 MB service, but a service of at least 25 MB would make work much less painful since I'd be able to complete more projects, faster.  I did check out the links you provided -- thank you.   Be looks like it might work for me, so I'm going to look into that.

Having broadband connection is so important to us, we actually considered having it written into our contract: if we couldn't get a line provisioned at 2Mbps speed at least, that would give us grounds to break lease.

We didn't end up asking about in the end, but now I wonder if we should for next time.

I wish I'd had the foresight to do that; I had two talks with the landlady about the broadband prior to renting the place, but obviously, it hasn't done me any good.  She seems to be a much more tactical player than her husband, who's just bullheaded, so I wish there was a possibility to have a chat with her instead of him.  Regardless, I'd recommend covering your bases in the contract, no matter what your needs may be.


I talked to the police today.  They were very nice, but basically only said that we need to talk to someone at the CAB since our lease stipulates that we can't change our locks without prior written consent from the landlord.  They suggested that we might add a lock, but we're not allowed to make alterations to the apartment, so I doubt that's something we can do.

Have you looked at AOL or BT Broadband?

We have AOL Broadband and are quite heavy users as well and have never had any probs with speed or connectivity. All you need is a BT landline which almost everyone has.

If you want to check it out:

http://www.myaolbroadband.co.uk/pages/productPages/customerMarketing/compareProducts.jsp

When we got home and opened our mail today, there was a letter from our letting company (which has been surprisingly absent whenever there was a problem regarding the flat) informing us that we were in violation of our lease and that if the problem continues, further action will be taken.  Said violation was undoubtedly reported by the nosy neighbor, whose mother accosted my flatmate a few days ago and accused her of banging on the wall, which she didn't do. 

The neighbors obviously want us gone, and we would be more than happy to leave, if we could just get out of our lease.  We're going to visit the Citizens Advice Bureau and talk to a solicitor, but are there any other suggestions as to how we might legally get out of this contract?

You have to appraoch the landlord and ask for a surrender of contract so that you don't have to pay for any remaining months.

You have to appraoch the landlord and ask for a surrender of contract so that you don't have to pay for any remaining months.

I wrote to the landlady, but I'm not holding my breath for a reply at this point.  They live in Texas and are hardly bothered by any neighborly disputes.

I'm still reeling from getting a letter saying I'm in breach of contract and 'further action might be taken.'  I've never caused a nuisance in my life!  What's to say she won't make up more things of which to accuse me?

I'm still reeling from getting a letter saying I'm in breach of contract and 'further action might be taken.' 

Everyone has crappy nieghbours at some point in their life.  Try not to take it to heart 

"Further Action might be taken" could be a good thing for you.  If they decide to break the contract and ask you to leave..then you won't need to pay for any remaining months that way either.  They have to give you a months notice anyway...so you wouldn't be on the streets.  Also if you do decide to do that..cancel your last months payment to them and tell them to use your deposit for that months rent instead.  That way you will have half the mony to put down straight away on your next house..versus having to wait for your deposit cheque back when you leave.  Its crafty..but your allowed to do it.

Also if you do decide to do that..cancel your last months payment to them and tell them to use your deposit for that months rent instead.  That way you will have half the mony to put down straight away on your next house..versus having to wait for your deposit cheque back when you leave.  Its crafty..but your allowed to do it.

Yes, but the landlord is "allowed" to say that you caused damage and sue you for the shortfall, such as deep cleaning costs if not worse...

Also, we paid the first six months rent in advance, which runs out at the end of April.  I'm not certain that we won't lose that money if we're found to be in breach of contract and evicted.  Ideally we would like to get out ASAP and get the difference refunded to us, although I don't know how great the chances are of that happening.