Inspections on rental property to frequent? 31 December 2012 at 9:01PM in House buying, renting & selling 9 replies 979 views

misschatterbox

This is the first time I have rented after moving out of home. I have been living in my flat for 8 months now and rent from a letting agency. I have been having inspections every 2 months which is done and over with in 2 minutes as a quick glance around each room. I had a shorthold tenancy that ran out after 6 months, came to do end of tenancy agreement checks then I got a letter say will now be a contract that is just ongoing not shorthold. The last check was last week of October and now coming again this Wednesday to inspect.

I always stress leading upto these because even though I am a bit of a clean freak always worry something will be amiss so spend the day before a bit like Monica from Friends lol. The real thing bothering me is should it be every 2 months? I always have to be in too. Just always worry leading upto it because I have anxiety. Silly but feel like I can't relax.

jamie11

3 monthly is a normal period, then 6 monthly after you have been there a while. However there is absolutely no need for you to make a special effort for inspections, how you live is your business. As long as you return the place to the landlord at the end of your tenancy in good condition (less fair wear and tear) there is absolutely nothing that the agent can complain about.

Next time they want an inspection just tell them it's not convenient, put them off for another month at least.

MrsBunny

Hi there

we have frequent inspections too, use to be every 3 months in the 1st year, now its just once a year but I too went into Monica mode and cleaned everything!! It is written into our contract that we get inspected which I am fine about. Mrsbunny x x

grifferz

Yes they can do this if they wish.

If this is a letting agent doing the checks then you could possibly write to the landlord directly and ask them if they are being charged for this and if they consider it a necessary expense given your track record, perhaps suggest 6-monthly checks instead. However you must be polite because it is their right to do this.

On the flip side it is your right to enjoy your home in peace so if the date/time of an inspection isn't convenient for you, you shouldn't feel bad about refusing that appointment and scheduling another at a mutually convenient time.

Those are your rights; of course it is always possible that even questioning this will irritate your landlord and prompt them to give you your 2 months notice for which they don't have to give a reason now you are out of your AST and on a periodic tenancy. A reasonable landlord would not do that because they would recognise that you are within your rights and that they would be looking at a void and expense of finding a new tenant, but not all people behave rationally.

misschatterbox

Thank you for the replies

I don't mind inspections at all, just thought every 2 months was a bit frequent, I mean 4 since I moved in, in April just seems a bit much.

Can I at inspections bring up issues too? I have had damp all over the bathroom walls and now bedroom ones for months. They have been round twice to fix it saying oh sealant on windows so they add sealant then it's oh the pipe is leaking then they add a bit off filler. No better infact worse. Got black mould growing and walls are saturated everyday now, like ice in bathroom and bedroom even with heating on. Looks a problem with outside wall but all they keep doing is just sending a handyman who fills in any gaps he spots

grifferz

Between the frequent inspections and the mould problem this does not sound like a great property. Now you are in a periodic tenancy is it not worth considering looking for somewhere else?

You would hope that a reasonable letting agent would take note of the issues you bring up during inspections and pass them back to the landlord for proper fixing, but evidently that is not happening in your case.

The absolute proper way to notify landlord of issues is to write to them using the address for correspondence that is given in your tenancy agreement. To ensure you have proof of posting you are meant to get a free proof of posting from a post office (just normal post, not recorded or anything). Some recommend posting it twice from two different offices and getting proof from both.

If that doesn't result in a proper fix being made then your next step assuming you weren't intending to move out would be to contact your local authority's environmental health and ask for an inspection. If the property failed that inspection (and it sounds like it may well do so), then they can ultimately force the landlord to fix these problems.

However, if we assume that your landlord is fully aware of the issues and just does not want to fix them properly, then all of this may make them consider you to be a nuisance and prompt them to give you your 2 months of notice. They may believe that they can find another tenant who will pay the same rent and put up with the issues.

chris_m

misschatterbox wrote: »

I had a shorthold tenancy that ran out after 6 months, came to do end of tenancy agreement checks then I got a letter say will now be a contract that is just ongoing not shorthold.

I'm somewhat staggered to read this - you mean they just let you move to a periodic tenancy without any pressure to pay £x00s to sign a new fixed term one?
Most agencies seem to view the end of a fixed term as an ideal opportunity to sting both the tenant and the landlord for renewal fees when no renewal is required or, frequently, desired.

I have to say that I do think 2-monthly inspections are a bit over the top but, given that you have issues with the place, they do offer you more opportunity to 1) make it clear that the issues are not of your making and 2) keep hassling them to get it fixed.

misschatterbox

Thank you for your help grifferz.

I really want to move, ice enough flat but a lot of problems cropped up since I moved in, it's just getting enough money to get a bond and rent on somewhere else as this one only needed the bond to move in. I am saving hard!

I will try again with the mould issue on Wednesday, bombard the poor guy the second he comes in. It needs sorting as I have asthma and playing havoc with my chest. So much so am sleeping in the front room as the damp and mould on walls have got so bad.

misschatterbox

chris_m wrote: »

I'm somewhat staggered to read this - you mean they just let you move to a periodic tenancy without any pressure to pay £x00s to sign a new fixed term one?
Most agencies seem to view the end of a fixed term as an ideal opportunity to sting both the tenant and the landlord for renewal fees when no renewal is required or, frequently, desired.

I know I was expecting this but no just got a letter saying running tenancy now and everything stays the same in the 6 months tenancy agreement that had just ran out apart from Landlord has to give me 2 months to leave and I have to only give ones months notice now if I want to leave

skivenov

If I don't want them in, I just tell them I'm on nights that month so I won't let them in and if they wake me up trying, they won't get the reception they want.

They tried pushing their luck over it once and I said I could be available, but I would need to cancel two shifts work, so would require reimbursing for 2 nights x 12 hours x my normal double-digit rate.