Given notice, landlord suddenly want's to come round?

happylucky

A few months ago (in capacity as landlord) I did a visit with agent to establish what needed to be done before sale (had already informed tenant it was going to be sold).

I did take the opportunity to note key areas that needed to be sorted and ensure the tenant was politely made aware of them so there would be no need to deduct any deposit (tenant was not there at the time). I'd been a good landlord to him (no silly rental increases, extremely prompt maintenance) so I would say that we had - via the agent - a very good professional relationship.

I let him leave early (refunded remaining contract) which helped him when he found a new place, and he left the place exactly as he found it, which was immaculate. I didn't deduct a penny from the deposit and was very happy about that. It was a mutually beneficial business arrangement.

happylucky

dieselpower1988 wrote: »

Okay thanks for the advice guys and gals.

I'm just a bit nervous, I know my LL is generally okay and fairly harmless, but the lady from the LA who is coming as well is someone I dread dealing with, put simply she's just not very nice at all.

Ask the landlord directly (during the visit) about being let off last week/2 of your contract.

If the lady from LA is out of the room you might want to do your LL a favour by mentioning how nervous you were because she's a nightmare to deal with

Nice landlords want nice letting agents looking after nice tenants who keep their property nice. Just my humble opinion.

System

That's the thing, I feel I've generally been a good tenant, I've been here 6 years! I was always planning to do a deep clean and return everything as it was when I moved in, obviously fair wear and tear permitting.

DaveTheMus

Don't know what the problem is...I'm sure the Landlord is a reasonable person who doesn't want to rest on his laurels and wants to have an idea of what work needs carried out before he rents it out to a new tenant...

gozaimasu

sandsni wrote: »

You're right of course, but staying on good terms with the LL might avoid the need for some of the lengthy negotiations regarding deposit deductions as they might be more inclined to let some of the smaller issues go. I know I would.

This didn't help me avoid getting £50 deducted for stuff that'd already been reported as faulty, several times and it still returned to a faulty state after being repaired. I would say that is wear and tear. They also said they oven was dirty! Door handles and an oven are not £50.

The deposit service didn't help me at all - it basically wouldn't release the money unless the landlord and I negotiated and agreed between ourselves. No mediation or intervention or help in anyway.

In the end I just took the hit so that I could get a good reference. Really hate renting.

kinger101

DaveTheMus wrote: »

Don't know what the problem is...I'm sure the Landlord is a reasonable person who doesn't want to rest on his laurels and wants to have an idea of what work needs carried out before he rents it out to a new tenant...

Which is okay, provided this is work that will be carried out between tenancies, and not during the end of OP's.

System

DaveTheMus wrote: »

Don't know what the problem is...I'm sure the Landlord is a reasonable person who doesn't want to rest on his laurels and wants to have an idea of what work needs carried out before he rents it out to a new tenant...

And surely an empty property would be better? I'm going to be out this weekend, furniture etc. gone, but they wanted to get in this week...

As I said earlier, I can see where this is going, they will want to do work before the end of my tenancy .

kinger101

dieselpower1988 wrote: »

And surely an empty property would be better? I'm going to be out this weekend, furniture etc. gone, but they wanted to get in this week...

As I said earlier, I can see where this is going, they will want to do work before the end of my tenancy .

Decorators do need to be arranged in advance though. If they wait until you leave, there might be a delay before they can start. Maybe have a chat with them before they come round as to what is, and what is not, acceptable.

happylucky

I absolutely do not believe that your LL has the right to do non-essential maintenance work in this property before the end of your tenancy agreement.

If they are planning this because you have told them it will be vacant, well then I can understand them thinking you might not mind, in which case you can just tell them that you are planning on hanging around until the end of the agreement but are happy to negotiate early settlement if that helps them.

From the sounds of things, you are best off having this chat on the spot directly with your LL.

Also, it would be wrong IMHO for unaccompanied third party (decorators etc) to be spending time in the flat prior to your final inspection and deposit status confirmation (which can only take place end of agreement). You cannot be held responsible for whatever mess they make.

DaveTheMus

dieselpower1988 wrote: »

And surely an empty property would be better? I'm going to be out this weekend, furniture etc. gone, but they wanted to get in this week...

As I said earlier, I can see where this is going, they will want to do work before the end of my tenancy .

It normally takes weeks to arrange a good tradesman to carry out any work, especially when you work, which I'm assuming the Landlord does.

I think it's more a case of you being embarrased because the place isn't as tidy as it normally would be. Let the guy have a look to see what needs to be done, it's good karma for you...