Liz Hodgkinson joins the
laterlife team to share her experience in buying and letting
 What’s the neighbour cooking
tonight?
Brenda has
lived in a fifth-floor flat for over 40 years, and until a year ago had never had any
complaints over the behaviour of other residents.
Then one
day she became aware of a strong, spicy smell both in her own flat and in the common
parts. “It was horrible, and my whole flat stank. At first I thought it came from the
block next door, then I realised it was coming from my own building, but I couldn’t
work out which flat was responsible. I put up with it for six months, hoping it would go
away, but eventually I collared our live-in porter, who has been here for years.
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“He had noticed it
too, and thought it was coming from a particular flat on the second floor. Friends who
visited also smelt it. Because there are so many different people coming and going
these days, I had no idea who lived in the flat, or whether it was owner-occupied or
tenanted, so I contacted the managing agents and asked them to write the occupants a
letter.
 “At first the property
manager said that the occupants would just bin any letter, and also that their human
rights must not be infringed. But she did write a very good letter, saying a number of
people had complained, and sent me a copy. As a result, the cooking smells subsided and I
thought: good, that’s it.
“But then it got dreadful again over
Christmas, so I contacted the agents again, who suggested I got in touch with the
council’s environmental health people. |
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Liz Hodgkinson is a prolific author
and journalist contributing to many publications. She has written over 40 books on a wide
variety of topics and has a background in national newspapers. She now falls into the
'later-life' age category and in recent years has started writing for this 'older' market,
and contributes to Saga magazine, among others.
Liz has two sons and four grandchildren. She is divorced and now
lives in London and on the SouthCoast. She has written three books on property matters and
her interests include snooping round other people's houses and viewing showhomes. |
| “The problem is, that the place where
I’ve been perfectly happy for so long is becoming impossible to live in. The smell
always starts at around noon, when I imagine they cook their lunch. I now know that the
occupants of the flat come from Karachi, and I certainly don’t want to be considered
racist, so what do we do now?” |
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THE MANAGING AGENTS’ VIEW
Richard Taylor, a director of managing
agents Haywards Fineman Lever:
All leases state that no lessee should
cause a general nuisance.
The agents should go to the property and
confirm that the smell is pungent, bearing in mind that being offended by cooking smells
is a personal thing.
The agents should write to the culprit in
a helpful manner and suggest the use of extractors, filters or other technical apparatus
to reduce the smell.
We always try to be positive, and we
would never identify the complainant, in case of reprisals.
Sometimes in blocks of flats smells can
run up service ducts or through floorboards, and it’s very common for there to be a
tunnel effect, whereby a cooking smell on the ground floor is noticed most strongly on the
eighth floor.
If the nuisance persists, the offender
can be served with a Section 146 notice, whereby lawyers are called in.
We often advise complainants to speak to
the environmental people.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
DEPARTMENT’S VIEW
 Complaints over food and
cooking smells are becoming extremely common, but there is considerable difficulty over
enforcement.
The Council’s Environmental Health
Officer would have to be physically present to confirm that there is a severe problem, and
nothing to do with a personal vendetta. There’s also a cultural issue these days, in
that some people may not like the smell of Indian or Chinese food, for instance.
But if the Environmental Health
Department gains proof of material interference to other residents, as the jargon goes, we
would suggest solutions to the offender.
This could include improvement of the
extraction and ventilation facilities.
As a last resort, if the problem persists
in spite of our intervention, the Environmental Health Department can serve a legal notice
under the Environmental Health Act.
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