Think tank

I am a leaseholder in a council flat, which I bought in the early 1990s under the right to buy. It has large windows that let out a lot of heat in the winter; they also make the flat intolerably noisy due to recent huge increases in noise from planes, helicopters and road traffic.

Using legal aid I had an environmental health report done, which concluded the noise levels exceeded World Health Organisation recommendations and that the council should install secondary or double glazing.

But this would have to be custom-made – possibly costing around £10,000 to £15,000 for each flat – because the flats are in a conservation area. And this is not an amount I or other residents, most of whom also find the noise hard to live with, could afford.

If I sold up I would have £100,000 after clearing my £35,000 mortgage, which I could use as down payment on another flat. But I don’t have a full-time job, so I don’t see how I could find another place because I would not even qualify for a local shared-ownership scheme.

Sadly, I am not convinced you can force the council to install the double glazing. The Noise and Statutory Nuisance Act 1993 amended the Environmental Protection Act 1990 so as to exclude from the definition of statutory nuisance noise caused by traffic in the street. In some cases, councils will turn a blind eye to leaseholders installing their own double glazing even though the responsibility lies with the council under the terms of the lease.

But the terms of the right-to-buy lease will almost certainly make the leaseholder liable to pay for the cost of replacing the windows. The best I can suggest is that you talk to your local councillor and MP to see if they can lobby the council to do the work and defer payment for leaseholders who cannot afford to pay. NB

There is no legal duty on councils to change windows for sound reduction even if the environment has become more noisy. It is also very difficult to prove in law that the noise levels are injurious to health. You could consider secondary double glazing, which can have better noise reduction results than window replacement with double glazing – without affecting the external appearance. Near London airports, grants are available for noise insulation measures. In other areas the council may have discretionary grant schemes for such improvements. NM

I’d swap places any time

My wife and I are housing association tenants living in a one-bedroom flat on a central London estate. Our neighbours, who have two children and live in a three-bedroom flat, I've just bought their own home and are in the process of moving out of London. We’re thinking about swapping our one-bedroom flat for their three-bedroom place before they move. Is this allowed?

Sorry, but unless you live with children or other family members, so that your household justifies a three-bed, I think it is virtually certain that your landlord would block the exchange. It has a perfect right to do this if the property is too large for the incoming tenant. JB

If you are secure tenants the Housing Act 1985 generally prohibits assignment. One exception is an assignment by way of exchange. In that case a landlord can only decline to consent on one of the grounds in s schedule 3 of that act. But those include where the accommodation is substantially more extensive than is reasonably required by the proposed assignee.

For assured tenants, the Housing Act 1988 provides no right to assign without consent, and provisions implied by other legislation, that consent to assign is not to be unreasonably withheld, are specifically disapplied. If you are an assured tenant, whether you are able to exchange will therefore depend on your landlord’s policy. The policy is likely to mirror the position for secure tenants.