I have just moved into a new flat in London, UK and there was planned construction work for a shop underneath that me and the other tenants were not informed about. What are my rights at this point? I have to wake up at 8 every morning including Saturdays and the noise is unbearable, sometimes over 80db.
Some things might have changed because of coronavirus that I am not aware of. Also, the council will not help at this point as I had a similar issue in the past and they did not really help.
You should contact your local London borough if you wish to lodge a complaint (and you never know, you might get a different result this time).
Depending on the nature of work being carried out, and the level of noise, this may fall within either s.60 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 or possibly under Part 3 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 if it is deemed a Statutory Nuisance
Taking the Royal Borough of Greenwich as an example, they say here:
General construction work should be restricted to the following hours:
Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm Saturdays 8am to 1pm Noisy work is prohibited on Sundays and bank holidays
Therefore it seems the 8am start is allowed.
As for the noise levels, independent readings will be required to see if your figure of 80db is accurate but if it is, and continuing with Greenwich as an example, it may be over the permitted levels stated at 6.3 of Greenwich's Code of Practice - assuming that the builders fall within the definition of conducting "major construction and civil engineering works".
I have not checked many other boroughs, but the above is consistent with those that I have.
You have the rights spelled out in your lease. Whether you are a tenant or an owner you can’t stop lawfully undertaken construction work.
