A tenant who says he moved into a noisy flat is suing both his landlord and letting agent.
Nick Hatter is claiming thousands of pounds in damages from agents Marsh & Parsons and the landlord, Mariana Visintin, over ‘excessive noise’ at the flat in Notting Hill, west London.
The case could potentially raise concerns for letting agents as to what they have to disclose to prospective tenants under Consumer Protection Regulations.
Sales agents have clear duties under CPR to proactively point out at the earliest opportunity ‘material information’ including possible drawbacks to properties to prevent consumers making transactional decisions – for example, whether to arrange a viewing – that they might not otherwise have done.
Consultancy Compliance Matters tells us: “Material information is a very subjective topic but both sales and lettings agents are held to the same standard under the Regulations. Material information will differ slightly from sales to lettings scenarios but the obligation to provide material information applies to both areas.”
Hatter’s claim is that he was mis-sold the rented flat, according to a story in the Telegraph at the weekend.
He moved into the property earlier this year but found that there were noisy neighbours in the flat above.
He said that as he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, he had specifically requested a quiet property.
He said: “Marsh & Parsons showed me this really nice ground-floor flat but I said I was concerned that noise from above would be a problem.
“The agent assured me that noise wouldn’t be an issue but from the day I moved in it was quite loud. Within the first week I was being woken up at 2am by the neighbours.”
He said he could hear people walking around and talking, and could also hear the London Underground, and said that he could neither live in nor work from the flat.
He moved out after ten days.
Hatter, a life coach, is now demanding that all fees and moving costs be refunded by Marsh & Parsons.
Altogether he is seeking over £9,000 in damages from Marsh & Parsons and his former landlord. This includes all the money and fees that he paid, plus £5,000 in lost earnings.
Yesterday, a spokesperson for Marsh & Parsons told EYE: “An agent cannot be held responsible for the tenant’s decision to rent a property nor guarantee the level of noise that will be experienced by a tenant and whether this is deemed acceptable or not to the tenant.
“Marsh & Parsons and the landlord have, however, been sympathetic to Mr Hatter’s situation – waiving all contractual fees that would be payable for early withdrawal from the tenancy agreement whilst continuing to operate in accordance with their legal obligations.
“As a result of the ongoing litigation, we are unable to comment any further.”
Comments (16)
…..FFS!
A question I’m often asked by viewers is-
What are the neighbours like?
I don’t know, they’re not my neighbours! Is my reply.
I’m visiting a property for a short time during working hours, between tenancy’s, and unless the last tenant reported specific problems to us we have no way of knowing who lives where, or what they’re like.
I’ve always tried to get along with my neighbours without being in each other’s pocket. If we have cause to be upset by something, we can always speak to each other about it. Yes, I said “SPEAK” I know that’s old fashioned and it’s easier to try to ruin someone’s business or reputation than to pluck up the courage, but I would think that someone who professes to be a life coach shouldn’t find it too difficult!
Unless there’s an ulterior motive?
No, surely a court would see through that?
When is nosiy, noisy? There is no such thing as a quiet flat and I have no doubt that any hearing will adopt the “what the layman would be likely to hear” as acceptable living noise. No mention of loud parties or over exuberant lifestyle of other occupants to the building. Reminds me of the people who buy near a school and then complain about the parking at school times. If he expects the agent to sit in the building all night with a noise meter to gather material information before marketing .. get real. A different matter if the agents is made aware of persistent excessive noise from a reliable source. The agents would be wise to adopt “I don’t live here myself, non-one has complained of noise issues before and YOU are enquiring about a property that has others living in it” (if correct).
If he wins this, I’m gunna sue the government over Brexit. Nobody told me, when I was born that we were coming out. I would not have become and estate agent if I had known.
if it is ‘tube effected’ then yes he should have been told. if its just noisy neighbours then its not really the agents fault.
Surely he has to take some responsibility for the fact that he was looking for a quiet home and then decided to book a viewing for and subsequently move in to a ground floor flat!!! It makes no sense!!!
Life coach. PTSD. Weird combination.
I don’t want a chef to teach me how to cook if he’s afraid of fire.
Meanwhile, could Mr Hatter have found a quieter area. We can’t account for noisy neighbours as prospective tenants, but we should know enough about the Tube to know that it passes by every 8 minutes and every 12 minutes after 1am and on Sundays.
A life coach who can’t control his life if it is a bit noisy. Or decide not to live in a flat that was noisy on the viewing.
Not sure I’ll be booking any coaching with him any time soon.
Very Odd…….. If one is sufferings currently from PTSD then they should categorically NOT be working as a life coach. If Mr Hatter had previously suffered, then this should no longer be an issue. Mental Health is very complex, however one should be mentally stable to operate as a life coach. Whilst a Letting Agent has a right to disclose problems if they are aware of them, I’m not sure an agent would know every neighbouring flats occupants or their habits.
Surely working as a life coach you would have clients visiting you regularly, most tenancies don’t allow businesses to be run from a domestic property. Can’t the agent and landlord counter sue for that?
Headlines should have read ” Mad Hatter complains” !!
quiet flat in london?
Good luck on that one
Mad as a . . . .!
Great life coach when he can’t even make an informed decision on where to live. Worried about noise from above then take a top floor flat. Worried about noise from tube then don’t live next to the line. What a joke of an individual.
I have never met Mr Hatter but I just know I wouldn’t take to him.
Typical compo hunter .. the U.K. hasn’t plenty of them around.