I have been renting a 3bdrn house in Auckland for the last 5 years. It is the standard weatherboard house, possibly built in the 1950's. It was advertised as a 3bdrm house with a double garage and sep laundry. We were told by the Rental Manager that the house had a small 1 bdrm unit downstairs with a tenant living in it but this detail was not included in the ad for the house. She showed us where the internal stairs to the downstairs area used to be before the conversion. The stairwell had been sealed off and was covered with floor laminate. Only the banister remained. The unit consists of a small lounge area with a single bedroom. The bedroom area has divider doors that can be shut to close it from the lounge. The kitchen is a small separate room with a sink, a bench top stove and a microwave, there is no oven and no extractor fan. There is a small area under the old stairwell that has been converted to a toilet and shower. The laundry is by the front door to the unit. There is only one entrance to the unit. It looks like it used to be a downstairs rumpus room with a small bedroom before the conversion.
We were told that the unit had its own external access, a separate power meter, and separate hot water cylinder but we had to share the back yard area. The unit does not have off street parking. The water and lawns were paid for by the landlord. We also discovered that the double garage had been partitioned off to make a large laundry and 2 small rooms at the back. This meant that you could only fit one car in the double garage as long as it was parked on an angle. (see comments about LIM report below).
Interestingly, our house is numbered 1/33, the unit is 2/33 and the house next door to us (which is as old as our place) is 33A.........go figure.
The kitchen in the unit downstairs is directly underneath our master bedroom. It has no sound proofing or insulation what soever, so we can hear everything very clearly. It is also a very damp and cold unit as it faces the south and gets little sun. I am also fairly certain that the walls and ceiling are not lined with fire proof materials either due to how much the sound travels through the floor. I was told by a previous tenant of the unit that he's fairly sure it does not comply with the building code or fire safety codes and that it is an illegal separate dwelling (he works in the building industry and also pointed out the that the unit was a possible fire hazard to us upstairs tenants).
The property was sold by our landlord to an investor who has kept us on as tenants. He mentioned to us when he took over as our landlord that the LIM report had thrown up some interesting additions to the house that did not comply with Council requirements i.e the garage had no consent and also the unit downstairs. I do not know how long ago the garage was built or when the unit was converted. I am only guessing based on the information I have gathered that it is an illegal dwelling. And that poses concerns about insurance in the event of a fire.
I have read with interest the threads in here about converting basements to separate dwellings and the legalities around illegal dwellings etc. The information has been very informative and helpful so thank you for all the advice.
My question is around my rights as a tenant when renting a property such as ours. I have huge concerns about the risk to us sleeping above the kitchen and with my son's bedroom right next to ours.
Because the unit does not have any sound proofing between our floor and their ceiling and we can hear everything that goes on downstairs. If it was properly insulated, this wouldn't be such an issue.
In the 5 years we've lived here, the unit has been tenanted 4 single tenants, 3 couples, and 3 dogs. The previous landlord only rented the unit to single tenants, our current landlord rents it to singles or couples with pets.
I'm thinking of talking to landlord about the unit because I'm fairly sure that even if he is aware that the unit is an illegal dwelling, he will not understand how serious the situation is from a legal stand point, and how costly it will be to fix it.
I'm sure that when I also mention the risk to his insurance should the house burn down, he will definitely take notice.
Should I also notify the Council? Or leave that to him? And I'm certainly not a disgruntled tenant who's complaining to the Council in order to make trouble for the landlord....... but I think I have some very valid concerns about our safety.
Sorry if this post is really long but I needed to give my question some context.
We were told that the unit had its own external access, a separate power meter, and separate hot water cylinder but we had to share the back yard area. The unit does not have off street parking. The water and lawns were paid for by the landlord. We also discovered that the double garage had been partitioned off to make a large laundry and 2 small rooms at the back. This meant that you could only fit one car in the double garage as long as it was parked on an angle. (see comments about LIM report below).
Interestingly, our house is numbered 1/33, the unit is 2/33 and the house next door to us (which is as old as our place) is 33A.........go figure.
The kitchen in the unit downstairs is directly underneath our master bedroom. It has no sound proofing or insulation what soever, so we can hear everything very clearly. It is also a very damp and cold unit as it faces the south and gets little sun. I am also fairly certain that the walls and ceiling are not lined with fire proof materials either due to how much the sound travels through the floor. I was told by a previous tenant of the unit that he's fairly sure it does not comply with the building code or fire safety codes and that it is an illegal separate dwelling (he works in the building industry and also pointed out the that the unit was a possible fire hazard to us upstairs tenants).
The property was sold by our landlord to an investor who has kept us on as tenants. He mentioned to us when he took over as our landlord that the LIM report had thrown up some interesting additions to the house that did not comply with Council requirements i.e the garage had no consent and also the unit downstairs. I do not know how long ago the garage was built or when the unit was converted. I am only guessing based on the information I have gathered that it is an illegal dwelling. And that poses concerns about insurance in the event of a fire.
I have read with interest the threads in here about converting basements to separate dwellings and the legalities around illegal dwellings etc. The information has been very informative and helpful so thank you for all the advice.
My question is around my rights as a tenant when renting a property such as ours. I have huge concerns about the risk to us sleeping above the kitchen and with my son's bedroom right next to ours.
Because the unit does not have any sound proofing between our floor and their ceiling and we can hear everything that goes on downstairs. If it was properly insulated, this wouldn't be such an issue.
In the 5 years we've lived here, the unit has been tenanted 4 single tenants, 3 couples, and 3 dogs. The previous landlord only rented the unit to single tenants, our current landlord rents it to singles or couples with pets.
I'm thinking of talking to landlord about the unit because I'm fairly sure that even if he is aware that the unit is an illegal dwelling, he will not understand how serious the situation is from a legal stand point, and how costly it will be to fix it.
I'm sure that when I also mention the risk to his insurance should the house burn down, he will definitely take notice.
Should I also notify the Council? Or leave that to him? And I'm certainly not a disgruntled tenant who's complaining to the Council in order to make trouble for the landlord....... but I think I have some very valid concerns about our safety.
Sorry if this post is really long but I needed to give my question some context.
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