Landlord access property with no noticed - help

mutley74

Need some quick advice please

My cousin (divorced lady with 2 girls 12 & 14) rents a small flat.

Landlord uses an agent, but to be honest they are not very helpful and rude to her. She has lived in this property for a few years and has a tenancy agreement all up to date and pays on time, even in advance.

Any long story short Tuesday landlord made arrangement to visit property, someone stayed at home and he did not turn up.

Then Wednesday when she arrived back home from work, a neighbour said they saw someone climb over her garage to access the property, and landlord just told then they need access.

Surely this is not acceptable behaviour? what is the laws about this?

she is worried that is she complains about this the agent/landlord they will make excuses for rent increases or pressure on her to move. She does not want to move yet. But also she is worried agent/landlord may try and access property again in this manner even when she or her kids are at home. (not sometimes the kids are left at home alone after school or when she is out at work or shopping).

theartfullodger

Not acceptable - she should write saying no more access for any reason without her prior, written, agreement.

If agent or landlord persist in entering change the locks, keep old ones to put back when tenancy does end & she leaves..

I'd be inclined to report possible crime to Police. Was anything missing - maybe something of value??

Unfortunately LL/agent can evict tenant for no reason at all with Section 21 notice, so she might wish to be more compromising...

For an extensive discussion of rights over access see...
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?26589-L-s-right-of-access-for-inspection-or-viewing

mutley74

just spoken to her, apparently LL has done this before (clime over garage) and his reason is to help maintain the garden.

she has told agent who actually told her off for making a complaint (he is a bully and very rude - i met him once he is an idiot).

She has not escalated this as she is worried that they will use this as an excuse to get her out. ( i mean she is a long paying tenant, pays on time for 2+ years paying £550 pm although LL wants £600). only complainst he has made was a washer broke down, damp and a broken front door over 2 years! he refuses to fix anything else, and she pay other repairs herself.

Tixy

If she doesn't want to escalate this then definitely suggest to her that she looks at changing the locks or lock barrels - it should only cost her a small amount depending on the types of locks and at least she will be confident he is not going in to the house. She'll probably be able to do change the locks herself.

Does she/neighbour think he did go into the house or just into the garden last week?

rentergirl

This must be put in writing. I would appeal to the landlords humanity, albeit carefully without making yourself sound vulnerable. Say neighbours not happy about him climbing over walls, children at home. And write a strongly worded letter to your bullying agent. No matter what, this has to stop.

studentsaver166

Absolutely unacceptable.
As other posters have said, she needs to make a formal, written complaint that states that the landlord is in violation of the contract (which technically gives her the right to move out without notice) and that she will not tolerate further breaches. It is so very easy for landlords to bully and intimidate their tenants with the looming threat of eviction, but he shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. Also remember that he cannot increase the rent mid-contract if it has been agreed upon and signed for a specific length of time nor can he increase it more than 10% at the end of a contract.
Changing the locks is a very costly protest. Could she perhaps speak to the neighbours and request that they call the police if they see anyone (him) climbing over the fence? After all, from a mere glance out of the window from the house next door, how are they to know that it's not a stranger trying to break in......?

mutley74

thanks for replies. i will forward you good advice to her. So far she has told agent by phone, and left it at that. I am suprised she has not decided to write or fax any communication to agent.
Thanks

G_M

1) why was LL coming round? Routine inspection? Specific repair? Annul gas safety check?.......?

2) Did LL enter garden only, or enter the property? (you say he's done this before for garden maintenance...)

3) Do you want the LL's help with the garden? If yes, this is a bonus - just work out an access method for him. If no, then this is unaccptable

4) what kind of tenancy agreement do you have? A Fixed Term? If so, last signed when? For how how long? This determines how vulnerable tenant is to being given notice.

Dear Mr landlord,
I am so sorry that you were unable to come round as agreed on Tuesday. We did of course stay in to let you in but I understand you were unavoidably detained?

However, please do not be concerned - if you give me a ring I will be happy to make an alternative appointment. Just give me 24 hours warning and we can arrange a time when I can let you in.

On a related note - it seems there have been some strange activities round the property recently, with people climbing into local gardens. As you can understand, with 2 young children I am concerned about security, so just to proetect them I am putting new locks on the doors. Don't worry, I will make sure there is no damage, and will, of course, replace the original locks at the end of the tenancy. I just thought I should let you know.

I look forward to hearing from you about the appointment,

Yours

---

A Yale lock barrel costs £5 ish and takes 5 minutes to change.

A mortice lock may cost a bit more but is just as easy.

DVardysShadow

studentsaver166 wrote: »

Absolutely unacceptable.
As other posters have said, she needs to make a formal, written complaint that states that the landlord is in violation of the contract (which technically gives her the right to move out without notice) and that she will not tolerate further breaches. It is so very easy for landlords to bully and intimidate their tenants with the looming threat of eviction, but he shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. Also remember that he cannot increase the rent mid-contract if it has been agreed upon and signed for a specific length of time nor can he increase it more than 10% at the end of a contract.
Changing the locks is a very costly protest. Could she perhaps speak to the neighbours and request that they call the police if they see anyone (him) climbing over the fence? After all, from a mere glance out of the window from the house next door, how are they to know that it's not a stranger trying to break in......?

Red is wrong.

Breach of contract does not entitle anyone to rescind the contract without notice - the correct way forward for contracts in general is to give a written notice, requiring the breach to be remedied within a specific time - and only after that to rescind. For letting contracts the requirements are a bit more specific.

Changing locks is not a protest but a justifiable means to control access to the property. For 3 doors, it may cost little more than £25 and take about 40 minutes.

Having said that, if LL is contracted to maintain the garden, then a means of access should be negotiated - or the contractual requirement dropped. But if there is no contract requirement LL should only enter on T's say so.

mutley74

landlord was coming to prune a hedge. I know the LL used to provide a gardner as part of the contract to do the hard work to help her. Apparently this is the 2nd time he has climbed over a single storey building to gain access to the garden only.

not sure what type of contract she has but know she has never been late with payments as her dad help LL.