Landlord Inspections

goldieds

Hi All,
My landlord wants to carry out an inspection on the house I rent a room in. They've set the inspection for 10am midweek (when nobody is in). I've told them that im not happy with this as I reckon entering my room without me there is a little rude to say the least. I've asked them about this and they're response was that the council want to check the extension and may want to see the rooms. The extension was a new bit at the back of the house which is not connected to any of the rooms so this seems a little strange to me. they say they can enter the rooms legally given 24 hours notice however i thought this was only in case of emergencies or with my consent? Does anyone know where i or the rest of the house (who are equally upset) stand on this. Can they just waltz in?

Pixie5740

What does your tenancy agreement say about inspections?

You can refuse entry, your LL could go to court to get a court order to allow them or an agent entry into your room. The whole thing has the potential to escalate unnecessarily.

Have you tried negotiating another day that is more suitable for you or could you make arrangements to be there at the time originally suggested?

jjlandlord

You are not entitled to refuse access as you gave permission and granted the landlord a right of access on 24 hour notice.

If everyone is reasonable it should be possible to reschedule.

In case of emergencies there is no requirement to give notice.


It would be nice if people could stop use the word 'upset' to refer to every little thing that does go their way.

goldieds

So the only thing in the tennancy i can find is this;

(5.4) That the Landlord or any person authorised by the Landlord or his Agent may at reasonable times of the day on giving 24
hours' written notice, (unless in the case of an emergency) enter the Property for the purpose of inspecting its condition and state
of repair. The Tenant shall permit the Property to be viewed on reasonable notice (of at least 24 hours) at all reasonable times
during the final weeks of the tenancy

It seems pretty cut and dried? do you know if this is superceeded by the right to quiet enjoyment, as the tone of their previous emails has been very much "were barging in and you cant stop us"
the agent and landlord are for want of a better way of describing it quite rude.
I've asked nicely about the inspection, this was the response i got

I'm sorry you are not happy with this.

You have been given enough notice, the council (HMO) is coming to see the changes with the extension and may wish to see the rooms.

Legally, we can enter the rooms with 24 hours notice, and on this occasion we have given considerably more notice than this. If you wish to attend you are more than welcome to do so.

I can assure you there will be a council officer with the landlord during the inspection.

Given that the extension is at the back of the house and not connected in any way to any of the rooms i cant see how an inspection of the new bits would require entry to rooms.
They're the kind of landlord that would sell their own mother given the opportunity and going on previous dealing i really dont like the idea of an inspection without being there to challenge everything as there liable to try and drop a big bill on us.

bebewoo

jjlandlord wrote: »

You are not entitled to refuse access as you gave permission and granted the landlord a right of access on 24 hour notice.

I do not see where this is said in the OPs post.
The OP can refuse entry if he/she wants, it's stopping them waltzing in that may be the problems, esp. if they have a key.

goldieds

To clarify i/we do not want to refuse access, we simply want to be there if room access is needed as i/we are not comfortable with somebody going in without us there.
Given we've already had problems with the builders wandering into rooms (one of them decided to have a play on my guitar while i was out) i don't think this is being unreasonable.
So far the landlord is point blank refusing to reschedule at all (even refusing my request to move it back from 10am to 12 so that some of us could make it home in lunch hours)

jjlandlord

bebewoo wrote: »

I do not see where this is said in the OPs post.

OP did not need to say it as it is an implied term, by law, in all tenancy agreements...a

goldieds

Can anyone add anything to this or suggest a next step?
I've gone back to the landlord and offered to do lunchtime (2 hours later) on the day they had scheduled so that at least one of us could be at home. I've also suggested any other lunchtime, evening or weekend.
It feels to me as though the landlord is being completely unreasonable as they have rejected any suggestion of moving the appointment (the council have said it can be moved, but has to be done through the landlord)
I really don't want this to decend into a war, but i cant afford to take the time off work to deal with this and i'm struggling to see what else i can do?

johnbusby

As far as I see it there are two conflicting rights - the landlords right to access and your right to quiet enjoyment. It would take a judge to decide which of these are most important.

Practically speaking, you could refuse access and then the LL would have to court to try and enforce his contractual right to access - this would likely take months and success wouldn't be guaranteed. Of course, this is likely to sour relationships and could lead to a Section 21 and you having to find another home...

pmlindyloo

goldieds wrote: »

Can anyone add anything to this or suggest a next step?
I've gone back to the landlord and offered to do lunchtime (2 hours later) on the day they had scheduled so that at least one of us could be at home. I've also suggested any other lunchtime, evening or weekend.
It feels to me as though the landlord is being completely unreasonable as they have rejected any suggestion of moving the appointment (the council have said it can be moved, but has to be done through the landlord)
I really don't want this to decend into a war, but i cant afford to take the time off work to deal with this and i'm struggling to see what else i can do?

Since you say that your house is a HMO then your landlord has extra responsibilities.

See here:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/about_private_renting/shared_houses_and_flats

Although the landlord has said that the council is coming to check the new building work it is unclear whether this is a buildings regulations/planning permission inspection or whether it is to do with HMO regulations.

Is it is the former then there should no requirement for them to enter the rooms. If it is the latter (or both) then they may well need to inspect the rooms.

If it is to do with being a HMO then it is in your best interest to allow this so they can make sure that the LL is being responsible and everything is up to standard.

I hope that you wrote a formal complaint about the builder entering your room.

Having said all that I can understand why you are wary.

Since the LL has given you notice then, in theory, you and your housemates could deny entry by changing the locks. The LL would then have to go to court to gain entry.

As with most things there has to be sensible compromise. Is there any one of the tenants who could be at home and 'safeguard' on all your behalf?

Do any of you have a trustworthy friend/relative who would take on this position?

Whatever you decide to do make sure you all WRITE and let the LL/LA know that in the future you would appreciate times for inspections being arranged when someone could be present.

If you want to be extra cautious all of you could photo/video your rooms in the event of anything being disturbed during the visit.

Personally I would think it unlikely that anything untoward will happen but can understand your concern in light of the previous incident.

You might want to ask LL if you can have locks fitted to your doors(must meet with HMO requirements) In a shared house I personally would be requesting this.

goldieds

Thanks for the help guys, you really have no idea how much it is appreciated.
At the moment we all have locks on our doors, although most of us are pretty lax with these. the landlord does have keys though.
Its a struggle for any of us to get time off, although we have mentioned that just about any other day there would likely be someone there to show them round.
Obviously being HMO rather than just an inspection we're all keen for this to happen, but even finding out it was a hmo rather than just a generic inspection took some work (the landlord wouldn't tell us, it was through a speculative email to the council that we found out)
I'm trying to stay as civil and polite as i can be with them, but its proving hard work. Every sensible compromise i try and suggest is met with the same blanket no.
I think i'm completely in agreement with you that the chances of anything untoward happening are minimal at most, however as you said, given previous its better safe than sorry.