I recently moved to a new apartment in a town that is notoriously hard to find a place to live in due to the high rental prices.

It’s not a great place but it’s fine, it has a small balcony, is quiet and is quite central relevant to the price which are the 3 main things I was looking for when I moved in.

I also have a great landlord, the apartment came furnished and when I asked if he could take out the TV as I was going to buy a 4K one he turned up with a new 4K TV because he thinks I shouldn’t have to buy that, he also brought me a sofa bed from his own home so that I didn’t have to buy one for visiting guests.

He’s a really decent person who seems to care that I have a good time living here.

I signed my 2-year lease starting August 1st and moved in.

Less than a month after I moved in I got notification from the company that manages the building that a 12-month-long construction project would soon begin, followed by a 12-month rewiring and replumbing of the building.

A few days later the scaffolding went up, my balcony doors were sealed shut and my windows are boarded up for 70 hours of the week. There is constant drilling and hammering and builder conversation outside my window from 7am – 7pm Monday – Saturday. My peace has been shattered and my balcony sealed off from me, cutting off 2 of my 3 essential factors of my home.

This was not mentioned to me at all by the landlord, he acted surprised when I brought it up to him. When I contacted the construction company they showed me that the plans were published in 2015 and this work has been postponed since COVID with property owners receiving regular updates.

He maintains that he didn’t know and reminded me I committed to a 2-year lease so I can’t just leave.

The contract states that if I moved out before the lease ends I will lose my deposit which is a huge penalty as the rental is not cheap. The landlord says this will be devastating for him and he won’t be able to meet his bills until he finds a new renter and was shocked that I would even consider doing such a thing.

I am autistic and very bad at aligning my moral compass in situations like this so it’s very possible that he’s right and I’m just being a bad person here. I’m losing sleep over it as I do not want to be a bad person, so am I wrong here?

Or is the landlord trying to guilt trip me?