Surprise visits from landlord and his dad

becca5391

I live in a shared rented flat and recently the landlord and his dad have been making a lot of surprise visits and letting themselves in without giving any advance warning.

There are issues with the flat that do need sorted (mice, broken internet connection) however the visits are not always connected with these.

There have been 3 surprise visits this week, one of which happened during the daytime whilst I was trying to get rest between night shifts. The landlord started moving furniture around, some of which belongs to the tenants.

One surprise visit was in the morning when I thought I was in the flat alone but the landlord's dad was here in a spare room.

I have politely asked the landlord to notify us in future when he is planning on coming around but I expect another surprise visit soon.
What should I be doing the next time it happens?

elsien

Change the locks? Generally ok if you keep their lock to put back on when you leave. What was the response when you told them this time that it wasn't ok?

becca5391

Can you do that on a rented property?
Landlord said he ordinarily does give notice but he was just coming around to sort the internet connection problems. He does not ordinarily give notice

theartfullodger

When you say shared flat, do you each have a separate "Room only" tenancy agreement (e.g. Tenant Becca, room 3, etc etc/...) or are you all on one joint tenancy??

If the individual room-only tenancies then landlord & his agents (eg dad) can visit the "common areas" - lounge, stairs, corridor, kitchen etc.. - any reasonable time,

If one joint tenancy then tell them stop, only to visit at times you are happy - say every 3rd Sunday between 10:34 & 11:19 , if no change of behaviour change the locks: And expect to get evicted.. (so you decide what is important to you.. somewhere to sleep or not having an annoying landlord)

becca5391

Joint tenancy which states 24 hours notice must be given in writing before visits

DigForVictory

Then you may want to to consider word to your landlord along the lines of it's very kind of him to put this extra work in, but your (imaginary) little sister was scared by the strange man (dad) when she was going to drop in with a surprise cake & so left unobserved & you only just managed to stop her from calling the police. That 24 hour notice period is to protect both you & him from potentially compromising misunderstandings.
Edit to suit, but remind him both of the notice period & why?

becca5391

Thanks for your responses.

Something that bothered me was the landlord moved our new TV without out permission when he was round, he unplugged it from the wall and DVD player and moved it out of the way and put the old smaller one back that we had put away (smaller one belongs to the landlord). Has he got rights to move our stuff?

Mojisola

becca5391 wrote: »

I live in a shared rented flat and recently the landlord and his dad have been making a lot of surprise visits and letting themselves in without giving any advance warning.

One surprise visit was in the morning when I thought I was in the flat alone but the landlord's dad was here in a spare room.

I'd be looking for another place to rent.

You might be able to get them to understand that they can't just walk in whenever they want but relations will get strained.

becca5391

Surely next time this happens it would be reasonable to ask him to leave if it's not a convenient time?

Rambosmum

becca5391 wrote: »

Surely next time this happens it would be reasonable to ask him to leave if it's not a convenient time?

Yes, perfectly reasonable.

And he can't move your things and replace them with his own unless it's a safety risk (e.g. a fire alarm you put up but isn't working and he's replacing it, or you've dangerously covered the gas fire).

He cannot enter your home (his house, your home) without your permission.

And yes, change the locks. Perfectly acceptable. Just put the old ones back in when you leave and he cannot claim any issue.

pimento

becca5391 wrote: »

Thanks for your responses.

Something that bothered me was the landlord moved our new TV without out permission when he was round, he unplugged it from the wall and DVD player and moved it out of the way and put the old smaller one back that we had put away (smaller one belongs to the landlord). Has he got rights to move our stuff?

He did what??

Tell him to Foxtrot Oscar. He has NO rights to move your stuff. Your stuff includes the stuff left in the property for your use while you live there. It's your home.

What a right cheek!