Rental Law: Your Kitchen Problems Solved

Questioner

I have been living in a studio apartment on a student campus for four years now (I have a campus lease). Before I moved in, water damage had already been discovered in my kitchen. I was told that in the coming years the kitchens would be renovated. After four years I thought it was time for a new kitchen, or at least new base cabinets so that I would no longer have to deal with water damage. After I sent an email I was told that they would send someone over to replace my cabinets. Now my cabinets have been replaced, but I still have a number of problems. The 2 base cabinets, (together 110cm) have been replaced by 1 80cm cabinet. Plates have been placed on the sides so that there are 2 empty spaces that I can do nothing with. My already small kitchen has become even smaller. Due to this narrowing, my combination oven no longer fits in my kitchen. The place where a drawer used to be has also been closed off, so I no longer have a drawer in my kitchen. There are no shelves in my base cabinet, so I can store very little in it. Furthermore, the finish is very poor, and the handyman threw away one of my skirting boards. I may be a student, but that doesn't mean I want to live like the stereotypical student. Technically they solved the water damage problem, but the way they did it, my kitchen lost a lot of its function. Do I have the right to have something done about this?

Lawyer

You are entitled to what you signed for in the lease. That is, a kitchen that must be just as large after renovation. Now that this is not the case and you are stuck with a combi oven that no longer fits, I advise you to put the landlord in default in writing to properly renovate to the size in which you found the kitchen. If you cannot reach an agreement, I would be happy to look at your case.