Landndlord appointed new property managers....

sexki11en

We have lived in our rental property for coming up 6 years. The rent has never been late once, we have never caused any damage and have a good relationship with the Landlord (indeed - they are grateful as we were their first tennants into what was the home they got married in and they contact us several times a year to make sure we're happy and don;t want to leave)

On a week ago, a new letting agent took over managing the property; the landlord had made us aware previously that this would happen. We had an email from them just before Christmas with their bank details for us to pay the rent to (which we did, no problem)

On Friday, hubby received a call at work at 1pm - the owner had asked them to come round and take some pictures as soon as possible that afternoon.

Unfortunately, hubby didn't think to ask why but did say that afternoon wasn't convenient (especially with no notice at all!). He explained I am currently 8 months pregnant and we are in the middle of getting things ready for the baby in what limited time we have with us both working. (i.e the house is not always as tidy as it would have been 6 months ago with us also having a very active almost 3 year old)

They then said rather aggressively that they can do Monday afternoon or morning. Hubby said he would speak to me to see if it would be convenient and left it at that.

So now I'm wondering a) do they have a right to come in and take pictures of the house (especially without telling us what for) I'm really not comfortable with that. And what reason would they have to want that doing after 6 years?
b) Should we have had a new tenancy agreement at all? We've had nothing - I don't even know who these people are and they have keys to our property.

I know we don't have to let them in without 24hrs written notice and with the attitude they've shown so far, I'm tempted to enforce that but we've never been difficult before and don't really want to start now.

For what it's worth, we have emailed expressing our displeasure at the way we were spoken to and informing them that we are reliable tenants with a track record that the landlord is happy with and also asking why the photos need to be taken. As yet, we have not received a response.

Any advice welcome. Happy to hear if you think we're being unnecessarily difficult too.

SK x

G_M

sexki11en wrote: »

On Friday, hubby received a call at work at 1pm - the owner had asked them to come round and take some pictures as soon as possible that afternoon.

.......

So now I'm wondering a) do they have a right to come in and take pictures of the house (especially without telling us what for)
* Read your tenancy agreement - what does it say about access?

I'm really not comfortable with that. And what reason would they have to want that doing after 6 years?
* It's fairly common for a newly appointed agent to want to view/inspect. The pictures may just be for their records but would have no real purpose so far as your tenancy is concerned.
* the important photos are still any original ones taken as part of your original inventory

b) Should we have had a new tenancy agreement at all?
No. Your contract alwas was, and still is, with your landlord. The agent is just ..... his agent. He can change agents whenever he wants, just as he can change the gas engineer who does the annual gas report.

We've had nothing - I don't even know who these people are and they have keys to our property.
Have you had written confirmeation from the landlord that they are now his agents? If not, write to your landlord at the address provided for confirmation.
If they ARE now the agent, they have as much right to keys as the last agent did - so what's the problem?

I know we don't have to let them in without 24hrs written notice
correct
and with the attitude they've shown so far, I'm tempted to enforce that but we've never been difficult before and don't really want to start now.
wise. If you can resolve this by being ultra patient and not escalate things, it will be better for thelong term.

For what it's worth, we have emailed expressing our displeasure at the way we were spoken to and informing them that we are reliable tenants with a track record that the landlord is happy with and also asking why the photos need to be taken. As yet, we have not received a response.
Write to the LL.

Let us know how they respond.

If you come to the point where you believe they will simply enter using their keys against your stated wishes, then change the locks. But that is likely to cause the relationship to deteriorate despite the fact that it seems tp be the agent who is acting agressively.

Cakeguts

It is probably and inspection by the new agents. Did the previous letting agents call round periodically to inspect the property? If not then these new agents are going to be doing that.

FBaby

Surely the first step is to ask them what the purpose of the visit and taking pictures is?

Could be a number of things:
- Standard practice by the agency and taking pictures so that if the LL were to try to sue them because you left the place with serious damage, they can't be accused of not having done the inspection properly, ie. protect themselves for any damages already caused before they took on the management.

That's the most likely reason.

- Could be that the LL actually want to evict you and rent to someone else, maybe because they want to raise the rent significantly and they don't think you would be able to afford it. They want to 'test' the market first before giving you notice to leave.

-They LL drove around, look through the windows and garden and is concerned that you are not looking after the place and therefore is pushing the agency for an inspection.

Check your contract (the initial one) as to what it says about inspections and how much notice they should give you. Most likely, they are acting reasonably, by giving you a second date with more than 48 hours notice (plenty of time to clean). You can refuse, but doing so could result in them informing the LL that they are concerned about your reasons for refusing.