private renting rights

olly300

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

If the tenant were to refuse all access, wouldn't the landlord be likely to withhold the tenant's deposit in order to cover himself for the void which he will inevitably have if he can't conduct any viewings until the existing tenant has vacated? (Not sure of the legality of this but I can see him trying it, especially if he is not trustworthy as the OP stated!)

Such clauses are not automatically unfair on the tenant. Otherwise they would have been removed like others from standard tenancy agreements.

If a tenant has no reasonable reason to refuse i.e. saying someone is dodgy doesn't stand up in court without evidence, then the landlord would probably be able to keep the deposit.

Guy_Montag

I would interpret from the OFT guidelines, that a tenant must allow the landlord access to the property. However, the landlord must give at least 24 hours written notice, & I would say that the tenant has the right to deny entry if it is inconvenient to them - even with the 24 hours notice. e.g. If the landlord drops a note off this evening to say he's bringing prospective viewers round tomorrow evening & it's your son's birthday party, he can whistle for it.

I would also say that the landlord has no right to bring prospective new tenants round while the current tenant is not in (that to me is "excessive"). If you & your SO work full time that basically means evenings & weekends.

black-saturn

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

If the tenant were to refuse all access, wouldn't the landlord be likely to withhold the tenant's deposit in order to cover himself for the void which he will inevitably have if he can't conduct any viewings until the existing tenant has vacated? (Not sure of the legality of this but I can see him trying it, especially if he is not trustworthy as the OP stated!)

Yes but a lot of landlords keep the deposits when their tenants move anyway. It also sounds a bit like blackmail to me. "Let me show prospective buyers round or I wont give you your deposit back".

real1314

Hmm, not unlike the "I won't let prospective tenants view even though I agreed to it on my tenancy agreement and the OFT say that's a fair term"...so, 1 for of blackmail or the other.

If it says it in the tenancy agreement, and the tenant doesn't reasonably comply, then the landlord could sue for his losses. He could effectively withhold some/all of the deposit and if the tenant sues for recovery of the deposit, the landlord could counter sue.

And, where are you getting this "changing the locks is ok" from?
That's not in the OFT stuff.

black-saturn

I've just checked all 3 of my old tenancy agreements (standard AST tenancies) and none of them say that you have to let anyone in against your convenience.

thesaint

Changing the locks is not in the OFT document, but if a tenant felt that they were being harrassed by a landlord or letting agent by them insisting that they were going to let themselves in their property after being told that they are not welcome, I personally do not believe that a court would have much sympathy with the letting agent/landlord.

As long as the tenant changed the lock/barrel back again on departure.

Guy_Montag

I think we covered changing the locks before, regrettably in England that's not allowed (unlike in Scotland).

Getting back to the LL showing prospective tenants the property. The OFT say:

The same principles apply to terms giving excessive rights to the landlord to demand access for prospective new tenants or purchasers to view the premises.

The law has to consider what "excessive" means in this context & that is what we need to decide. I would say the LL insisting on showing people round when the current tenant is not at home is excessive. I would also say more than twice a week is excessive - at that point it starts to interfere with your personal life.

ps. to the op, if you get the prospective tenants alone, feel free to put them off.

merrycake

Turned into a bit of a debate really!

I have a few times said it was ok for them to view the property (when I or other half was home) and they have cancelled this at the last moment every time. Of course this cannot be helped sometimes.

Today for example I changed my work shift to allow me to be home for the time they insisted on. They again did not show up. In fact they called my husband at work trying to book another viewing for next week and when he asked, what about tonight? They said, what about tonight? The woman said there was nothing in "the book" for viewing tonight.

However when I called them after hubby called me they said that they (the viewers) were merely held up and would be there in 10 minutes. 10 minutes later.. the lady from the estate agents (she has not been waiting outside) shows up and asks if the viewers were there. I told her no. She then says, oh sorry, and tries to walk away so I ask her if she wants to wait inside as it is cold today, she said no. she walks away.... bearing in mind these are the people who told us that they would simply come into our house as they have our keys instead of coming to an arrangement that suits both parties.

oh well at least we won't be dealing with them much longer
thank you for the responses

Gorgeous_George

If tenants refuse reasonable requests to view the property, the landlord will suffer increased costs due to the additional voids.

Now, let me think, who pays for the voids?



GG