As a LL can I inspect my property?

tbs624

house184 wrote: »

section 6 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

(6) In a lease in which the lessor’s repairing covenant is implied there is also implied a covenant by the lessee that the lessor, or any person authorised by him in writing, may at reasonable times of the day and on giving 24 hours’ notice in writing to the occupier, enter the premises comprised in the lease for the purpose of viewing their condition and state of repair.

Erm - would you like to check your referencing on that one?

LL & T Act 1985 S6 refers to rent book provision AFIAA

Think you may want to try S11(6)

guppy

house184 wrote: »

section 6 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

(6) In a lease in which the lessor’s repairing covenant is implied there is also implied a covenant by the lessee that the lessor, or any person authorised by him in writing, may at reasonable times of the day and on giving 24 hours’ notice in writing to the occupier, enter the premises comprised in the lease for the purpose of viewing their condition and state of repair.

This doesn't mean you can simply let yourself in though IMO. This wouldn't override the common law right to quiet enjoyment.

If the tenant flatly refuses, breaking the implied covenant, then you'd probably have to go to court if they persisted in refusing you access.

Of course in practice, asking the tenant to agree a convenient time is probably best.

Gorgeous_George

SquatNow wrote: »

... If they want to move some walls, that's their choice provided they put them back...

I agreed with most of your post. That bit made me :eek:

If my tenant moved walls without my permission (and building control) I'd consider that outside of 'quiet enjoyment' boundaries. Possibly counted as criminal damage but certainly contravening my AST.

GG

Icey77

Thanks for the replies, I'll drop them an email to let them know I'm happy with the proposed new AST and I'll ask if there are any issues that need bringing to my attention and see how it goes from there.

Bungarm2001

tbs624 wrote: »

Icey - you're obviously on good terms with your tenants. If it's presented to them in the same manner as in your post I can't think that they'd have a problem with that, provided that its arranged for a mutually convenient time.. It gives them the opportunity to highlight any areas of concern too.

(Have to say that I agree that Bungarm's two monthly inspections are way too intrusive IMO )

Yeah, I agree too...way too intrusive and definitely not appropriate for most tenants, and believe me, we have only done this once or twice where the tenants WEREN'T students.

We learnt the lesson the hard way years ago when we were first letting to students and left them alone for the whole 12 months. If we had gone in and inspected even at 6 months, we would have noticed the kitchen ceiling making a bid for freedom via the kitchen floor and saved ourselves £3000 in repairs. :eek:

house184

Oops section 11 not 6, getting my sections and subsections muddled up.

SquatNow

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

I agreed with most of your post. That bit made me :eek:

If my tenant moved walls without my permission (and building control) I'd consider that outside of 'quiet enjoyment' boundaries. Possibly counted as criminal damage but certainly contravening my AST.

I don't expect people to do it, but you see the point.

As long as they put the walls back then it's nothing to do with you.

If they damage the structure of the building they need to put it right before they leave.

It's the same with pets. Even if the LL says no pets, assuming the place is left as it was found less wear and tear, it's none of the LL business. If the tennants leave fleas or pet hair the LL is entitled to charge for cleaning etc.

Got2change

OP - I think you are being very fair and considerate to your tenants - and they should not be fazed by your wish to inspect your own property.

I rent my property privately; the LL lives next door. It is a nightmare situation - he has on several occasions been in the house when I am out and left me notes, so there was nothing sneaky about it. He took major offence when I finally said that it wasn't on.

If I ever (and I've stopped now) had a conversation with him, sooner or later reference would be made to sex or female anatomy (he is the age of my Father).

When he sees me in the garden, he says "Nice to see that you're looking after the garden for me". Totally destroyed my fragile love of gardening; I only do any if, weather permitting, he or his wife is not in their garden (they're retired so have lots of free time).

He refuses to be paid by bank transfer - MUST have cash. I put it through the letter box because standing there while he counts it and then tells me how he's going to spend it got boring/upsetting. When I went bankrupt and the Official Receiver got in touch with him, he said that I was three months in arrears - when I wasn't (the rent book proved it) - don't know if he thought he was going to get some money out of it. He regularly discusses me with the neighbours so they know my business and one of the neighbours told him he should charge me more rent and the other said the he "rents his house to some pecular people" and has shouted across the road to me to F Off.

Because there are grants available, he insisted that the loft insulation be increased and then stood over me - laughing at me - while I signed forms to say that I was on Housing and Inacapacity Benefit. He then hinted that I should try and cliam for a new boiler to save him the money - but I would have to be over 60 or disabled, he smirked and hinted that I should fudge some kind of claim (I'm 47)...?

The boiler that's in here at present is inefficient and quite possibly unsafe (1970's antique - no spare parts available - with faulty thermostat on boiler itself). There is no room thermostat at all and the radiators just get hotter and hotter as the water in the boiler has such a high temperature. The annual safety check is enough in his mind and he wouldn't provide a new CO detector when the last one died.

When I told him that the stair carpet was unsafe (I have fallen down it twice), he said that I should live downstairs like the previous owner did (she was very ill and died here) and certainly doesn't think it is his or a shared responsibility.

When I accidentally left my "snagging list" (4 things - boiler, stairs, 1 rotten window he was going to replace three years ago and CO detector) inside the rent book - as a trigger for me to talk to him when I had the courage - he took major offence and his wife now no longer speaks to me and he barely does apart from at the end of the month when he is out in his garden,washing his car from morning until night.

It's awful and I feel so horribly trapped.

msmicawber

As a long-time tenant, I'm used to 3-4 LL inspections per year and don't mind in the least. Can I suggest to the OP that you give more than 24 hours' notice, though, since you don't have an urgent reason for visiting and that will give the tenants time to decide whether they want to be present, and to ensure the property is as they'd like you to see it. I don't mean 'hide the evidence', but if they're at work all week and normally do their housework at the weekends, then you give them 24 hours' notice that you intend to visit on a Thursday or Friday, they may feel flustered - I would even though I always keep the house clean and relatively tidy. My LL normally gives me about 2 weeks' notice and asks me to let him know at the same time if I have any problems that he needs to deal with, which is great.

Got2change

msmicawber wrote: »

As a long-time tenant, I'm used to 3-4 LL inspections per year and don't mind in the least. Can I suggest to the OP that you give more than 24 hours' notice, though, since you don't have an urgent reason for visiting and that will give the tenants time to decide whether they want to be present, and to ensure the property is as they'd like you to see it. I don't mean 'hide the evidence', but if they're at work all week and normally do their housework at the weekends, then you give them 24 hours' notice that you intend to visit on a Thursday or Friday, they may feel flustered - I would even though I always keep the house clean and relatively tidy. My LL normally gives me about 2 weeks' notice and asks me to let him know at the same time if I have any problems that he needs to deal with, which is great.

That sounds like bliss to me - even though it should actually be a the normal expectation. I especially love that he asks if there is anything you want/need to have sorted out.

In addition to everything else above, my LL will come and hammer on the door when he wants to talk about something. Does not seem to understand the concept of ringing me check I am decent/available. Even if he does ring, he then only does it to say that he will be coming round in the next minute or so. He is always affronted when I say that he can't.