A single mother who pays $830 a week for rent says she received no notice that she would lose hot water, internet and driveway access after her front yard became a muddy construction site.
Jessica Mudditt said she was not told about the extent of the works at her home in Condell Park, south-west Sydney, which were organised by her landlord.
“My estate agent told me via text that a plumber was coming for two days and would be working on the front area,” Mudditt, who runs a publishing business from his home, told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The plumbers came and tried to start subdividing, (but) there had been no word about it.’
She said the construction crew “came back a week later without telling me they were starting that day, they told me people would come the next day.”
‘Then at 7am my phone rings (and they tell me) “get out, move your car”, and there are excavators, loads of menAnd from there it became a construction site before my eyes.”
When she walked out the front door to take her children to school, Ms. Mudditt said there was a detour sign and “we could no longer access any front yard.”
Ms Mudditt has also been unable to access her garage, which contains gym equipment and also serves as storage.
Jessica Mudditt (pictured), a single mother who pays $830 a week for her rent, says she didn’t realize she would lose hot water, internet and driveway access after her front yard became a muddy construction site.
She said she was given “no warning” about the extent of the work at her Condell Park home (pictured) in Sydney’s southwest, which was organised by her landlord.
He also claimed that the builders were powering their equipment from his electricity supply through the garage, so he locked it.
“And they tried to force the door and they broke the garage door, so they gave me a key to lock it,” he said.
“There has never been any communication. We have never known when the work would be finished or what they were doing.”
She said her real estate agent told her the work does not affect her rental, but rather the property behind hers on the same block.
“All indications point to a subdivision,” Ms. Mudditt reasons.
She moved into the property just six months ago and said she “would never in a million years have moved, would I have moved in my entire life, would I have put my daughter in the local school and my other daughter in nursery if I had known this was happening.”
Ms Mudditt said a text message (pictured) was the only warning she received of what was about to happen at her home.
Ms Mudditt is pictured outside her rental property in Sydney’s southwest.
Construction work is shown at Jessica Mudditt’s rental home in Condell Park, Sydney.
One of her Her daughters were injured when she fell at the scene. “It was distressing for all of us, aAnd she’s only three years old and waking up every day (because of the noise) was really very difficult.’
Because I had to park at the end of the street and I had to… grocery bags, she couldn’t hold her daughter’s hand as she normally would.
“She fell and cut her hand and knee, and she was crying a lot. She was in a lot of pain,” he said.
Seeing her distress, a neighbor approached and found out that there was a Subdivision that enters through the rear.
Ms Mudditt also claims that at one point she was left without hot water for six days and without internet after the connection was allegedly damaged during construction work.
He said the lack of communication has continued. “The only thing we get from time to time are messages saying we’re not going to have water for three hours. I wasn’t even given any notice.”
To make matters worse, the landlord wanted to increase the rent. She had asked for a one-year extension of the lease, but was only offered six months, which she believes may have been an indication that the landlord knew that major works were coming.
“I just turned off the power and gave notice,” Mudditt said. “They’ve left the property in a mess.”
She said Safe Work arrived at the scene earlier this week and placed plastic tape that says danger on the inside, but completely surrounds her neighbor’s mailbox.
“So he’s not going to be getting any mail for the foreseeable future, and they’ve left it like that and it’s still a dirty mess because they dug up the concrete driveway and just put some gravel on it.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Mudditt’s real estate agent, Tony Roumanous, of Ray White Bankstown, for comment but has not responded.
The tenant said she was not informed of the scope of the work.
Mrs. Mudditt is so furious about the situation that she is moving out of the property.
Workers are seen digging in the front yard of Jessica Mudditt’s home in south-west Sydney.
But in a previous comment on the situation Yahoo NewsWe are sorry for the inconvenience. The tenant has already given notice that she will vacate the house and the owner has offered her a week’s free rent as compensation.
‘The tenant was informed in advance of these works and the landlord was also on site just to check on the progress of the works, which is within his rights and does not constitute a violation of privacy at all.
‘We deeply regret that the tenant has not been able to enjoy her home this week, but she had already been informed of the works in advance. We regret the inconvenience.’
Ms Mudditt said “one week’s rent is not proportionate to the breaches” and she will take her case to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.