Landlord won't post keys

Modgepodge

DaveTheMus wrote: »

Expense or laziness?

I know what I think......

To be honest, I think not wanting to travel on public transport in this way on the day they're moving is not lazy, I certainly wouldn't do it.

It's all very well saying the train takes an hour - yes, fine, if both flats are right by the relevant station - guaranteed they're not! It can take up to an hour, maybe more, to travel from one side of london to the other, if the OP lives the wrong side of london for the station to bham (I don't know which it is). There could be another journey at the birmingham end. Then the same in reverse a couple of hours later. Then sitting in a car to drive up there a couple of hours after that, after lacking the car, and unpacking at the other end. No thanks!!

That said, I can see why the LL is reluctant to post keys, so if the OP's lift really is that hard to pin down, there is an issue. The most sensible suggestion so far is for the OP to get the train up, then the friend to drive up later with the stuff. Or ask someone else for a lift I guess!

CKhalvashi

CharlieRabbit01 wrote: »

What does your friend do that means they can't give you a time to leave?

It would possibly depend largely on traffic, how long it takes to load the car etc.

My drive into work this morning took about 45 minutes, however if I leave 90 minutes later, it's at least double that.

CK

DaveTheMus

Modgepodge wrote: »

To be honest, I think not wanting to travel on public transport in this way on the day they're moving is not lazy, I certainly wouldn't do it.

It's all very well saying the train takes an hour - yes, fine, if both flats are right by the relevant station - guaranteed they're not! It can take up to an hour, maybe more, to travel from one side of london to the other, if the OP lives the wrong side of london for the station to bham (I don't know which it is). There could be another journey at the birmingham end. Then the same in reverse a couple of hours later. Then sitting in a car to drive up there a couple of hours after that, after lacking the car, and unpacking at the other end. No thanks!!

That said, I can see why the LL is reluctant to post keys, so if the OP's lift really is that hard to pin down, there is an issue. The most sensible suggestion so far is for the OP to get the train up, then the friend to drive up later with the stuff. Or ask someone else for a lift I guess!

You say it's not laziness....

Then go write an explanation that is very lazy....

Fair enough it's hard work, but, a person who is not lazy has no problem with hard work. It's not as though she has to do this every day......it's a one time thing.

Suck it up and get on with it.

Pixie5740

The fact is that the LL doesn't want to post the keys down to you, which I can understand, so you're going to have to come up with a way of collecting the keys in person.

As others have said, you could get the train to Birmingham and collect the keys or you can try and pin your friend down to a time frame smaller than 48 hours. Do you have to use this friend and their car for a lift? Could you hire a man-with-a-van or hire a car yourself instead?

Good idea to take photos of the property when you move in but I don't understand why you think the LL is going to be trouble just because he doesn't want to post a set of keys down to you.

Pennywise

Only once in 20 odd years of renting holiday accommodation in the UK and abroad have we been posted the keys, and that was done by courier rather than the normal postal service.

Despite travelling by car, air, train and ferry, we've always (except once), been met in person at the property, handed the keys in person and been given a basic tour of the flat/house, being shown the electrics, meters, boiler, and any pecularities. Every time, we've been able to give a rough idea of our expected time of arrival and many times we've been delayed (sometimes arrived early), and communicated accordingly (texts and mobiles are a godsend) so that the other person wasn't waiting at the wrong time.

I don't think it unreasonable at all that the LL wants to do a proper handover. They WOULD be unreasonable if they dictated a particular time window, but as long as they're available within daylight hours then that's no problem at all. If you can't get there within daylight hours, then it's you who has the problem and it's completely unreasonable for you to move in overnight causing nuisance and disturbance to your neighbours.

Norman_Castle

DaveTheMus wrote: »

Expense or laziness?

I know what I think......

For the tenant, a minimum 2 hours each way, likely to be more depending on public transport times and connections. Cost?.
For the landlord, 20 minutes getting keys cut ,assuming they don't have a spare set which is unlikely, and 10 minutes in the post office.Cost, £4 postage and, if needed, £8 basic key set. All paid by the tenant.

Is being unhelpful a requirement for landlords?.

You think avoiding a 260 mile journey to collect something that can easily be posted is lazy?.

silvercar

You think avoiding a 260 mile journey to collect something that can easily be posted is lazy?.

It doesn't have to be any extra journey at all.

Go up on the train, collect keys and wait for friend to arrive in car with stuff. No extra journey, only time wasted is that spent waiting for friend which would be spent waiting for friend in London. At least this way you can be in the property tidying around/ walking the neighbourhood while you wait.

Nada666

Modgepodge wrote: »

To be honest, I think not wanting to travel on public transport in this way on the day they're moving is not lazy, I certainly wouldn't do it.

Do it the day or day or two beforehand.

Would it not also be easier to get a lift on the Sunday?

£6 to get the train on Friday. Cheap bus fair back on Saturday. Or both ways by bus.

Meet landlord at a sensible time Friday afternoon or evening.

Make a trip of it on Sunday so the helper can have time to look around Birmingham (or time to stop off on the way there to see something.)

Or pay a removal firm.

Where's the complication?

Anatidaephobia

I once travelled 3+ hours on combination of bus and train to get to a flat to pick up the keys then another 3+ hours back. It did not occur to me to request the keys to be sent by post. Renting a flat is hardly similar to buying a pair of shoes on ebay. I would've thought it goes without saying that if you want the flat, you have to make yourself available to collect the keys from the landlord.

I can't help feeling like this issue is unnecessarily complicated because the OP didn't make proper plans in advance and is now having a last minute panic.

Flashmanchop

As I see it, having posted keys before to a tenant, it was them who were on the phone blaming me at silly o clock when they hadn't turned up.