I'm in the same situation as B&Y, housing wise. Except I'm on top, with the controls (and I must say I'm a lot more respectful than your people
). Our place is a duplex with half the basement a seperate suite. Its rented out by a real estate company, and is a legal suite.
In Canada at least, tennants have more rights than the owner, so I think you should look them up and start taking action. About the lease, I've talked to a friend, within the realtor/property value world, and she said that most rental leases have no legal binding. As long as you give 1 months notice, you can leave within your year. I had her take a look at mine, because I had concerns and she said that even though I locked in for a year, all it was preventing was: owner can't raise the rent within that time, and to say that the owner doesn't need to replace our appliances if they break due to misuse.