Renting - quarterly property inspections

Thrugelmir

Modgepodge wrote: »

Also: mould on the bathroom ceiling. Who's responsibility is this?

Yours. Venting the bathroom is the cure. Shut the bathroom door as well.

Modgepodge

Bathroom is well ventilated - as I said, window left open for literally hours after showering, heated during winter, extractor fan left on, bathroom door kept shut (mould has not spread elsewhere). I am happy to clean it off, but I believe the paint used on the ceiling is not really suitable for bathrooms as it also comes off when cleaning the mould off. I have offered to repaint the ceiling, but it don't think the landlord will want me to, so I have also asked if they can send someone round to do it. Am I being reasonable here? I literally feel like there is nothing else i can do here.

Modgepodge

There was an inventory, which we were told to add notes to on move in day, and sign. Seem to remember adding the notes ourselves, and we emailed a copy to them but I don't seem to remember them having a hard copy of our amendments. One room (downstairs bathroom) was not even on the inventory, we highlighted this at the time but our email wasn't even acknowledged. We were also given a cd full of photos of the property before we moved in (though I have to say we never looked at it).

theartfullodger

There is something else going on here: The letting agent's life is a mess, his/her toy-boy/toy-girl has left her/him & he suffers unpleasant BO, as well as having no social skills.

Surely you should feel sorry for the afflicted, write explaining you understand his/her/it's problems and asking whoever round for an understanding chat over a bottle of bubbly and a candle-lit dinner. It's what you-know who would do....

Cheers!

G_M

Modgepodge wrote: »

Whilst I would LOVE to send a letter like he one above, I don't want to rock the boat too much. It's likely we'll leave next summer, but our tenancy is renewed in February. It would be a real hassle if they refused to renew and we had to move out for just 6 months.

OK, adapt and tone down the letter. It was meant humerously, but with a serious point. Actually my responses are all valid.

Re renewal of tenancy, read:

Ending/Renewing an AST (what happens when the Fixed Term ends?)(What is a Periodic Tenancy?)(How can a LL remove a tenant?)(How can a tenant end a tenancy?)

dancingfairy

Why not write to them and propose 6 month inspections or similar? See what they say. Reiterate how much you love living in the house but don't have any major issues (if you did you'd of course communicate them) but that you don't feel 3 monthly inspections are necessary.
If they don't agree and you can't come to a sensible compromise then yes you can of course then write to them and tell them that you are going to refuse all inspections from now on (and then change the lock barrels) which will cost you about a 5er and will take less than half an hour to change (according to people on here, personally I've never tried it but it should be relatively straightforward). They of course won't know you have changed the locks unless they try anything silly.
Of course you can alternatively write to the landlord and explain that you are finding the attentions of the letting agent rather overwhelming and see if the landlord will tell them to back off.
Obviously if you can present yourself as reasonable (which you are), a responsible tenant and emphasise how much you like the flat etc and try and reach a compromise of some sort.
df

sandsni

Your house sounds like mine. Thankfully I don't rent so I don't have to worry about LAs performing quarterly inspections. They sound like a bunch of fascists quite frankly .

As long as you are happy with your dusty skirting and less-than-pristine sink then it's really none of their business until you move out, and only then if you leave it in that state.

And I agree with GM, spiders and their trusty cobwebs are an excellent way of controlling the flies - I live close to a landfill site so any help is much welcomed

DRP

Modgepodge wrote: »

Ok, so it's not me being a filthy pig, they really are being ridiculous! Good to hear!

We have been living here over 2 years and this has happened every 3 months, maybe 3 times they've reinspected a month later. Every other time, minor issues have been noted.

I'm not sure what the point of it all is. I will obviously clean the house before I leave. I have no idea why they want it to look like a show home the whole time. Someone has suggested, they are building evidence against us, so if there's a dispute when we move out over our deposit, they can say "well look at all these times we inspected and the house was a mess". Is this likely do you think?

Whilst I would LOVE to send a letter like he one above, I don't want to rock the boat too much. It's likely we'll leave next summer, but our tenancy is renewed in February. It would be a real hassle if they refused to renew and we had to move out for just 6 months.

Personally I think that writing a letter similar to GMs above (keep copy, proof of postage etc ) would be necessary & vital to counteract any use of these by your LL as evidence of your squalid lifestyle at the end of your tenancy...