Tenant requesting early termination and rent reduction due to neighbouring restaurant odours – advice from fellow landlords

Landlord Discussion Legal
1

Hello fellow landlords,

I’d appreciate some advice and perspectives on a situation involving a new tenant who moved into my London flat just over two weeks ago.

Shortly after moving in, the tenant began complaining about cooking odours coming from a neighbouring restaurant’s extraction system, which overlooks the residential courtyard.

The previous tenant lived in the property for several years and never raised any complaints about the odours.

The new tenant has reported that the smells interfere with his ability to open the windows and enjoy the property.

I have taken the matter seriously and contacted the local council, which is also the landlord of the commercial premises. The council confirmed that an officer had been assigned to investigate, with a response expected shortly. The tenant has also contacted various council departments directly, and Food Safety officers have already inspected the restaurant.

Despite these steps, communication has been challenging. On one occasion, I received approximately 20 messages within 24 hours concerning the matter, with repeated expectations of immediate responses during my working day.

The tenant has now indicated that he is considering moving out and has asked whether I would agree to a shorter notice period and a rent allowance for the disruption.

The tenancy agreement provides for two months’ notice. I am considering offering a mutually agreed termination on 12 December, which would shorten the notice period considerably.

The monthly rent was also already reduced by £50 compared with what the previous tenant paid.

While I sympathise with the tenant’s concerns, the source of the odours is a separate commercial property over which I have no direct control. I have referred the matter to the appropriate authority and am awaiting the outcome.

I’d particularly appreciate fellow landlords’ views on the following:

  1. Would you agree to a shorter notice period without offering an additional rent reduction?
  2. Have you experienced tenants requesting compensation for nuisance originating from neighbouring commercial premises?
  3. What additional steps, if any, would you take as landlord while the council investigation is ongoing?
  4. How have you handled unusually frequent communications from tenants while maintaining appropriate professional boundaries?

My aim is to reach a fair and amicable resolution while ensuring I fulfil my responsibilities as landlord.

I’d welcome your thoughts and experiences.

Thank you.

2

Let him move out . He will never be happy

3

I think you’re spot on! @Colin3

4

I’d let him leave early just to get rid of him but wouldn’t offer a rent reduction. You’d already be doing him a favour. If he’s that sensitive to smells he should’ve done more research.

5

I would agree with @Leo5

6

I think you should speak to the Council and the restaurant concerned saying that you are being financially penalised through their inadequate systems. I would also speak to the council about a a reduction in rates for whoever rents the place as that would be some form of compensation too, plus if you’re going to be paying rates while the place is empty you want some form of compensation from the council who owns the Commercial property.

It really depends how sensitive the tenant Is, I’m sure none of us would want to live over a property or near a property where you’re constantly smelling things like fish and chips or takeaways or things of that nature. One thing I would look at if you’re going to agree to let them go on December the 12th how long are you going to manage the voids as it’s not a particularly good time to get a tenant. If you agree to the two months you’ve actually complied with the new legislation. you also don’t know what state they’re going to leave the place in in case they decide to take it out on your property So you need to be very careful there. As the other landlords have said it’s best this person leaves as soon as possible but if they want to leave immediately have they not already found a place or even found a place better than yours After they moved in?. Your challenge now is how are you going to prevent this happening again and how the discussions with the Council are going to help you improve the situation.

7

Without knowing the physical layout of the courtyard it is hard to say but the whole arrangement sounds a bit strange that a restaurant is extracting into a residential courtyard. Whilst I agree you should let this guy go as it is now too far gone, you need to investigate this further yourself with the council as this problem will recur. Sometimes it is good tenants raise these issues as they can turn into long-term problems that need to be solved or it will repeat itself. If I was in this guy’s shoes then I would also be upset about this if it was not disclosed by you up-front, they can argue this was “Material Information” you failed to disclose if it is persistent. You should research into this because once you have the council involved then on all future marketing materials you will have to disclose this to prospective tenants, as council involvement is crossing a legal threshold which proves there was a significant issue needing council attention.

8

Clearly never going to happen.

9

Thank you all for your helpful comments and advice. I appreciate the different perspectives, particularly regarding the council’s responsibilities, potential financial losses and the need to establish whether the restaurant’s extraction system is causing an ongoing problem.

I thought it might be useful to provide some additional background about my dealings with this tenant, as my concerns about the landlord–tenant relationship began before he even moved in.

The move-in date

The tenancy was due to commence on 12 October. As the property would be vacant on the 11th, I offered him the opportunity to move in a day earlier.

I even arranged to amend my insurance accordingly. However, when I explained that the OpenRent agreement would also need to reflect the earlier commencement date, he resisted the change and sent multiple emails challenging my position.

He accused me of being unreasonable and potentially jeopardising our relationship over approximately £60. He eventually accepted my position, but I found the exchange unnecessarily confrontational, particularly as I had initially offered the earlier move-in as a goodwill gesture.

The LED lighting

Before moving in, he requested energy-efficient LED bulbs. I accommodated his request and purchased suitable bulbs from Screwfix.

Rather than being satisfied, he complained that I should have waited until he moved in so that he could select the bulbs himself. He apparently preferred more expensive alternatives, despite the bulbs I purchased meeting the energy-saving requirement.

The Wi-Fi outlet

He also raised concerns about what he believed was a missing Wi-Fi connection point in the property. This led to another unnecessarily prolonged and contentious exchange over an issue that could have been clarified more calmly.

Communication since moving in

Since the tenancy commenced, the volume and frequency of his communications have become particularly challenging.

On one occasion, I received approximately 20 messages within 24 hours. He has also criticised me for not responding immediately to his WhatsApp messages, despite my having already acknowledged his concerns and taken appropriate action.

I work full-time and take my responsibilities as a landlord seriously, but I cannot be available continuously to respond to non-emergency matters.

The restaurant complaint and layout of the properties

To clarify the physical arrangement, the restaurant occupies a ground-floor commercial unit in a separate building that backs onto my residential block.

Between the two buildings is a relatively small outdoor area comprising a garden, car park and driveway. The restaurant’s extraction system discharges towards this area, which is close to the residential windows.

Camden Council is the freeholder of my residential building and, as I understand it, also owns the neighbouring commercial premises.

There were occasional cooking smells around lunchtime when my previous tenant occupied the property, but I did not experience the prolonged evening odours now being described. My previous tenant lived there for several years and never raised the cooking smells as a concern.

I recognise that the current tenant may be experiencing the smells differently, and I am not dismissing his complaint.

I have contacted Camden Council, which has assigned an officer to investigate. I am cooperating with that process and will consider any findings requiring action on my part. I notified him of my findings that the matter will be dealt with by 2nd November and he will be contacted directly it is clear that he doesn’t want to wait for this He was particularly upset because hr invited me to write to multiple departments within Camden and I refused because I don’t live there I can only follow up his complaint to ensure it is dealt will

The environmental health department visited the commercial premises yesterday, and found areas of concern, so this investigation is ongoing.

I am particularly interested in whether the extraction system is appropriately installed and whether the commercial premises are complying with any relevant planning, environmental health and leasehold requirements.

Where matters now stand

Interestingly, the tenant indicated only yesterday that he liked the property and did not wish to leave. The following day, he contacted me proposing early termination, a shorter notice period and a rent allowance.

I have offered an agreed departure on 11 December, shortening his contractual notice period, but without an additional rent reduction.

My concern is not that a tenant has raised a legitimate complaint. It is the repeated disagreements, confrontational exchanges and expectations of immediate attention that have characterised our dealings from the outset.

I would now prefer an amicable conclusion to the tenancy, even if that means the inconvenience and expense of finding another tenant.

I will also pursue the matter with Camden to establish whether remedial action is required to prevent similar issues arising in future.

Thank you again for your advice. I particularly welcome your thoughts on managing the potential financial impact of an early surrender and the best way to approach Camden as both freeholder and commercial landlord.

10

@Joanne51

Well done.

Agree to the shorter notice but not the rent reduction, explain that the facilities you have provided are exactly as advertised and if the smell was an issue then you could and are seeking to deal with via the council and moreover the location of the restaurant was unchanged from when viewings happened. The tenant could have asked neighbours or previous tenant.

  1. But to mitigate the loss to yourself, agree only on the basis of the following conditions

-a clear valid notice provided in a single email (in writing so cant later be disputed), setting out the proposed end date, the tenancy that is being ended (address, tenant name, date it started), and confirming it will be left in the same good condition as at move in date.

-rent paid up to the agreed end date

-access provided for viewings to minimise the loss to yourself through any void (in practice new tenants will need to give notice of a month so expect a void)

Explain you will be booking a check out inventory so once the end date is set, tenant cant keep changing their mind.

  1. Tbh the tenant sounds like a nightmare and I’d be pleased they are leaving as v hard to evict now s21 has ended. Suggest a conversation indicating you will review all messages from tenant once a day. If there is a genuine emergency they should call. If they want instant replies for non-emergency matters, they need to book themselves into a hotel and pay the higher amount. Even if you have to give them a discount it will be worth it to have them gone

Good luck

11

Thanks @David240 thats was quite helpful points that I will incorporate in my response to him. I’ll leave out the hotel bit to avoid another round of incessant text messages :blush:

1 Like
12

if I had that many text messages I would assume the person has a bit of a mental problem

13

But now this is a known problem and the council have been involved then you need to see it through to its conclusion, and it is “Material Information” that if you don’t disclose up front then any future tenant (if problem persists) can use to unwind the tenancy and have a full refund of the rent paid. I am surprised this tenant has not cottoned on to this yet. Sounds to me that what could have happened is that the restaurant changed hands and the new owners are doing lunch and dinner.

14

@Graham

Thank you for your comments. I agree that the council investigation needs to be followed through to its conclusion, particularly before I consider reletting the property.

However, I think it’s important to distinguish between a complaint being investigated and a statutory nuisance actually being established. At present, Camden has not provided any findings confirming that the extraction system is defective or operating unlawfully.

I was aware of occasional cooking smells around lunchtime, but not the prolonged evening odours the current tenant describes. My previous tenant lived in the property for several years without raising any complaints about the restaurant.

I certainly wouldn’t knowingly conceal a serious, persistent nuisance from a prospective tenant. However, I don’t believe that awareness of ordinary lunchtime cooking smells from a neighbouring restaurant is necessarily the same as knowing that a property has a significant nuisance problem.

I also understand that the legal position concerning material information is more nuanced than an automatic entitlement to unwind a tenancy and recover all rent paid.

Your suggestion that the restaurant may have changed hands or altered its operating hours is interesting. I don’t currently have evidence of that, but it is something worth establishing.

My intention is to pursue the matter with Camden, obtain its findings and establish whether remedial action is necessary, both to protect the property and prevent a recurrence with future tenants.

The flat is based in the heart of Central London, and many restaurants are in the area.