Do I have the right to refuse entry to landlords mate?

sams247

Question for you.....
We rent privately and our landlord has moved away. We now need some work done in the house but can't take any more time off from work to keep waiting in for the Gas people (etc). When the landlord moved he said he would appoint a local agent to manage the property but now he says he will send one of his 'mates' to stay in the house to let the Gas bods in. We feel really uncomfortable allowing a total stranger to sit in our house all morning but if the Gas people don't come we will have no hot water (been without it for a couple of weeks already). What right do we have, if any, to say no, we don't want a stranger in our home? We feel forced into a bad situation. Any advice welcome.

Plus, how long is reasonable to leave us without hot water (only in the bathroom, we have it in the kitchen)

Thanks

pjread

absolutely, ask someone you know personally & are comfortable with (relative, friend, whatever)

oh and strict answer to your question, of course you can, unless there's some crazy clause in the tenancy agreement. even then a 'let any random dude the LL wants enter your home' clause is likely unenforcable/unreasonable....

princeofpounds

there's some crazy clause in the tenancy agreement.

Even if there were such a clause, it would not be enforceable as the tenant has a statutory right to quiet enjoyment and contract law never trumps statute. Access can only be forced by those with statutory powers of access (eg police with warrants) or with a court order (eg the landlord getting one to enforce access for repairs).

You can say no, but it's hard to see how the landlord can do anything more to fix the problem so where you go from here will require some negotiation.

Jowo_2

How is a letting agent any less a stranger to you than the landlord's suggested representative? Yes you have the full right to refuse permission for any entry to your rental property because you are entitled to peaceful enjoyment of it, but how does this get your maintenance problem fixed?

"how long is reasonable to leave us without hot water" or is the question "how long am I able to frustrate its repair"?!

new_home_owner_3

If you want it repaired you either need to arrange to be in or have one of your friends wait, how can you moan about not having hot water, his mate is no different to a agent, im glad your not my tenants, you want to moan about not having hot water, you wont let anyone in your house to wait for the repairman and you wont wait yourself or for one of your friends to wait.

And then you ask whats a reasonable time to wait for it to be repaired, your taking the p!ss..

poppysarah

Jowo wrote: »

How is a letting agent any less a stranger to you than the landlord's suggested representative?

Hopefully a letting agent is a named and accountable person rather than just anyone.
Also should have some sort of insurance cover perhaps?

Do LA need to be police checked? Should they?

Jowo_2

poppysarah wrote: »

Hopefully a letting agent is a named and accountable person rather than just anyone.
Also should have some sort of insurance cover perhaps?

Do LA need to be police checked? Should they?

As you are probably aware, absolutely anyone can set themselves up as a letting agent with no requirement to have any skills, experience or qualifications in the area.

It is an entirely unregulated profession and membership of a professional body (the type that have insurance, protect client funds, have a code of ethics, etc) is voluntary. Most letting agents do not belong to a professional body.

I am not aware of any requirement for a letting agent to pass a police check.

The OP is worried about the character of the landlord's nominated representative, seemingly oblivous that there's little assurance that the agent is any better.

Also, he has to consider whether his landlord has got any appetite to pay a potentially steep management fee to a letting agent for the occasional repair as the OP desires versus having a friend to step in.

Clearly the current arrangement isn't suitable, the turnaround time in repairs is unsatisfactory, so the OP should consider finding himself new accommodation where it is better managed by a local landlord or agent and offers better security in terms of the people entering it.

tbs624

sams247 wrote: »

Do I have the right to refuse entry to landlords mate?
Question for you.....
We rent privately and our landlord has moved away. We now need some work done in the house but can't take any more time off from work to keep waiting in for the Gas people (etc). When the landlord moved he said he would appoint a local agent to manage the property but now he says he will send one of his 'mates' to stay in the house to let the Gas bods in. We feel really uncomfortable allowing a total stranger to sit in our house all morning but if the Gas people don't come we will have no hot water (been without it for a couple of weeks already). What right do we have, if any, to say no, we don't want a stranger in our home? We feel forced into a bad situation. Any advice welcome.

Plus, how long is reasonable to leave us without hot water (only in the bathroom, we have it in the kitchen)

You want the hot water back on upstairs, the LL obviously*is* trying to get it sorted for you

Do you really not have any friends or neighbours who could help you out?

Could you try to pin the gas man to a lunchtime appmt, end/start of day appmt, Saturday morning appmt?

You don't have to agree to the LL's mate being there ( and most people would understand that you don't want a total stranger there, in your absence) but then you can't really complain about the LL meeting his repairing obligations if you won't work with him on access or come up with on alternative solution of your own. This one is about common sense and compromise.

RobertoMoir

sams247 wrote: »

Question for you.....
We rent privately and our landlord has moved away. We now need some work done in the house but can't take any more time off from work to keep waiting in for the Gas people (etc). When the landlord moved he said he would appoint a local agent to manage the property but now he says he will send one of his 'mates' to stay in the house to let the Gas bods in. We feel really uncomfortable allowing a total stranger to sit in our house all morning but if the Gas people don't come we will have no hot water (been without it for a couple of weeks already). What right do we have, if any, to say no, we don't want a stranger in our home? We feel forced into a bad situation. Any advice welcome.

Plus, how long is reasonable to leave us without hot water (only in the bathroom, we have it in the kitchen)

Thanks

I have to agree with others - life is a series of compromises. You don't want a total stranger in your home and I totally get that, but on the other hand you can't stay at home for the gas board and you want the hot water fixed.

You can't have "all of the above". Something has to give. You can refuse entry to the LL and their agents in all but emergency situations, to give a simple answer to the simple question in the title of your post, by the way.

However...

I think having hot water in only the kitchen is rather different from no hot water at all, by the way, in terms of hardship, and in terms of how "reasonable" it is to leave you without a fix, this is clearly related to how willing you are to work with the LL on fixing it. Again, you can't have it both ways.

Planner

Surely if there was a letting agent involved they wouldn’t be sat around waiting for a repair man to arrive, they would just advise the tenant either to be their at a convenient time or allow the contractor to let themselves in with an agent supplied key.

Letting Agent providing such a sit and wait service certainly isnt anything I have ever come across.

Fire_Fox

Planner wrote: »

Surely if there was a letting agent involved they wouldn’t be sat around waiting for a repair man to arrive, they would just advise the tenant either to be their at a convenient time or allow the contractor to let themselves in with an agent supplied key.

Letting Agent providing such a sit and wait service certainly isnt anything I have ever come across.

The landlord or letting agent is not permitted to allow the contractor to enter the property unaccompanied, unless they have the express permission of the tenant.