landlords want to install a pool.. whats our rights as tenants?

[PinkPalace]

we are still in lease.
not month to month

i guess it is a waiting game... i wonder what else they may throw at us?

[Just Me]

I was just going to point out that pools can be expensive to maintain by the time that you have to buy salt and chlorine etc ... if they install a pool while you are there, I would want a written agreement about who is going to maintain the pool. Surely they can't just put one in and expect you to be responsible for it's maintenance.

Probably doesn't make you feel much better, but I wanted to throw that out there and give you a chance to think about it before they install it.

Good luck with everything, I hope they don't get to install it.

ETA: *snap* Bon - posted at the same time

[Emma1979]

you can actually serve them a 'breach of duty' notice for entering the premises without former notice - that is if you want it to go down this sort of road...

as for installing a pool while you are occupying the premises, i don't see that they can, if you read your lease on quiet enjoyment etc etc..... if they want to start works prior to the end of your lease i would be claiming compensation, costs of relocation etc etc, or requesting a signficantly reduced rent...

depending on the type of pool, i don't think it would actually take very long to install, maybe a week or something, however its the principle of it, and also the fact that you have toddlers etc and its going to take your whole backyard...

you can get free advice from tenants union victoria

[Artechim]

We have had something similar happen to us - we rented a place with a nice big back yard, then the landlord decided to fence it off and put another house on the back section. The plans for the other house fell through and even though we were keeping the back yard tidy they still fenced it off so we had nowhere for DS to play except for a little strip out the front that he also couldn't play in because they wouldn't put in a gate.
I was told by the tenancy place that I could ask them not to put up the fence but it came under property improvements or something and I couldn't actually stop them. The best I could do was to negotiate hours with them so that the construction didn't interfere with my 'quiet enjoyment'.

They were also the kind of landlords that didn't bother to ask before getting tradies in - I came home one day to find my back door wide open and some electrician wandering around my house! And when the landlord arranged for someone to fit curtains on a day I was away and I asked him to reschedule for a time I could be home he yelled at me and did a huge burnout on the way out of the driveway lol

[AngelPunks]

if they put a pool in while it is tennanted it is a tax write off as an improvement to the property - that is why he is doing it while you are still living there

hope you can stall it until after you've left (and stop him from getting the tax break)

[PinkPalace]

he yelled at me and did a huge burnout on the way out of the driveway lol

pmsl charming!!! i hope he wont make you clean the marks off the driveway when you leave! haha

Angel - technically they cannot claim it as a deductino on tax as it is a capital improvement. you have to actually repair or replace an item to the same as before to claim as a deduction. They can depreicate it and claim the increase interest on their loan (if they extend it).

but it is a case of they have way too much money they need to put somewhere!

thanks for you support girls!

[AngelPunks]

Angel - technically they cannot claim it as a deductino on tax as it is a capital improvement. you have to actually repair or replace an item to the same as before to claim as a deduction. They can depreicate it and claim the increase interest on their loan (if they extend it).

it can be done - I've done it before - major renovation for a capital improvement as a tax deduction (damn I love my accountant!)

hopefully you can get it sorted

[kirsty_lee]

Yeah I agree with Punks, it can be done. Dp and I have done it with our place.

[danniellabella]

We have had something similar happen to us - we rented a place with a nice big back yard, then the landlord decided to fence it off and put another house on the back section. The plans for the other house fell through and even though we were keeping the back yard tidy they still fenced it off so we had nowhere for DS to play except for a little strip out the front that he also couldn't play in because they wouldn't put in a gate.
I was told by the tenancy place that I could ask them not to put up the fence but it came under property improvements or something and I couldn't actually stop them. The best I could do was to negotiate hours with them so that the construction didn't interfere with my 'quiet enjoyment'.

They were also the kind of landlords that didn't bother to ask before getting tradies in - I came home one day to find my back door wide open and some electrician wandering around my house! And when the landlord arranged for someone to fit curtains on a day I was away and I asked him to reschedule for a time I could be home he yelled at me and did a huge burnout on the way out of the driveway lol

That is a clear breach of contract. People are not allowed into the premises without your permission, even though the landlord owns the house, it is your home with your stuff. Your landlord broke the law!

As for the pool, I don't think they can do it while you are living there without consulting you. As far as I know, in order to get council approval to get a pool installed, the neighbours have to approve, and I think that as the resident, you can write to the council objecting and they have to take that into consideration before approving the work.

As for the gardener ripping out the trees while you weren't home, and without you being told, I think that if you have it written into your contract that the the house comes with a gardener then you probably can't do anything about that, if it was a once off gardener then I don't think that is allowed.