Can a landlord go in to the property when we are out?

Lady_strange

We have just recieved a letter saying that the landlord will be coming around on Wednesday, wether we are there or not, saying if we are not there, they will let them selves in.

I know we have notice, but I feel really uneasy about the prospect of somebody I have never met being in my home with out me there, as I am not sure if we will be in.

My doctor has already put me on medication for anxiety, as I keep on having anxiety attacks, and this is making me feel worse

G_M

Not if you object, irrepective of anything your tenancy agreement may say. You have a right to 'quiet enjoyment' of the property (ie undisturbed).

Put your objection in WRITING. Offer a compromise so as to appear reasonable - ie "we will be happy for you to come round when we are available, either between 6 - 7 on Thursday or on Saturday morning (or whatever).

If you fear the LL may ignore you, change the barrel of your door lock. Only costs £5 and easy to do. See here how. Keep the old lock to put back when you leave.

Lady_strange

Thank you very much for your advice.

I will get a letter to them today.

G_M

ps - if the LL subsequently complains about you changing the lock, ask him how he knows, since you have written refusing permission for him to enter in your absence so he should not have been trying his key in your door!

Lady_strange

Funny thing is, the landlord has been cancelling appointments for months, and is now expecting us to drop everything, because she wants to come out, now we have had to get the council involved. So frustrating.

pmlindyloo

Lady_strange wrote: »

Funny thing is, the landlord has been cancelling appointments for months, and is now expecting us to drop everything, because she wants to come out, now we have had to get the council involved. So frustrating.

Just a quick question.

You say the council is involved. Why is the landlord coming round? Is it to do with a repair?

The above advice is sound but just wondered whether the LL could get funny and use the 'it's an emergency' card.

G_M

I 2nd the question about why he's coming. If it's to do, or assess, a repair that you've been trying to get done, he might use your refusal as an excuse to delay repair further.

The advice I gave covers your rights regarding LL access, but advice regarding best practical response depends on knowing the whole story - which we don't.

poppysarah

Go buy a little shed alarm.
It's about 15 quid worth of amusement.

Your landlord will set it off when he goes in and not know the code. He will then consider whether he has the right to be in the property or not.

If he thinks it's ok then change the locks after that.

Werdnal

G_M wrote: »

I 2nd the question about why he's coming. If it's to do, or assess, a repair that you've been trying to get done, he might use your refusal as an excuse to delay repair further.

The advice I gave covers your rights regarding LL access, but advice regarding best practical response depends on knowing the whole story - which we don't.

GM, if you read here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3405121=

might give you an insight into OP's ongoing problems. Whilst I appreciate OP has been stressed and annoyed by the situation, now that LL is finally trying to pay some attention to the problems, I think its is wise to try to meet them halfway.



OP, I am not condoning your LL accessing the property without you being present, but is there any way you or someone else you trust, could been there for the LL's appointment? If you want to persue the repairs to the property to a satisfactory conclusion, don't give your LL any excuse to say they have tried to rectify the situation, but you have frustrated them by refusing access.

Lady_strange

We have had issues since October, with a window frame being rotted. We also have an issue with damp in the flat, which I know can occur at any time, but we have the windows open every day, and in the winter when it was far too cold to have any of the windows open we borrowed a dehumidifier off my parents, which was on all night and most of the day.

We have been complaining about these issues for months, and only got the council involved because the landlord had said we caused the damage to the window ourselves. Which is impossible.

The landlord has made several appointments in the past, but never turned up too any, or cancelled last minute, and in the past we have been really accomodating with when they wanted to come round, and when the letting agents came round. We have had, the la, building managers and builders turn up, several with out prior notice to assess the damage, and even the landlords daughter who turned up unannounced, but we let her in to have a look at the damage, that was back in Feb. And we were told 2 weeks ago the landlord would do nothing to repair it, so we got the council involved, and now suddenly they want to do something, making it look like we have lied to the council. They even cancelled an appointment for the council to come out, and moved it to a time to suit them which was fair enough.

But after everything else, I just don't see why we should go out of our way to accommodate their wishes. I gave them days and times we are available yesterday, and today this letter was hand delivered completely ignoring when we are available, and when I called them, they said the letter went out before they got the email... so the la are just lieing to us.

Tr1pp

If the landlord is coming out to repair the problems you have then i would make the time to be around unless i REALLY had other business to attend to.

If the LL is only coming out to have a look then I would refuse them entry if i was not there. they have had several chances to attend and have sent their daughter. If they were serious then they would send a tradesman to assess and then invoice them for any possible works.