Letting Agency Contract Terms

moneysavinmonkey

I'm renting a new house in November, and just received the pre-tenancy documention including the rental contract.

It repeatedly states that the landlord or their agents may enter the property by "giving 24 hours notice (where possible)" for various e.g. repairs, showing new tenants round, inspections etc.

I know that this is not a legally enforceable term, and am not very happy about it after having past problems with landlords letting themselves in and turning up whenever they felt like it. This letting will be through a rental agency who so far have seemed very professional in their dealings and i'm was sure they would not be like this...but i'm a little concerned that they have this term in their contract.

My question is whether I should raise this with them now, and ask them to remove the clause or make it more fair - e.g. '48 hours notice is required and tenant's permission should be obtained - which should not be unreasonably withheld' - I would be happy with this, except of course in emeregency situations where they could enter freely.

Do you think it is unwise to raise this with them now?
I want to be on good terms with the agents and don't want to have the tenancy refused. At this stage we have put down a holding deposit and been told that the place is ours but nothing is signed yet.

Be interested to hear from landlords - would you just think i was a troublemaker or is this a reasonable request?
Also tenants, is this a standard term, has anyone ever queries it?

Lavendyr

I'm not a landlord, I'm a tenant like you, but I think that what you're requesting is a bit unnecessary. The clause you suggest is not unreasonable in itself, but nor is the original clause - it's a standard part of most ASTs I believe (and has been a part of all agreements I've ever signed).

At the end of the day, if someone is going to break the agreement on 24 hours' notice, they are going to break it on 48 hours' notice as well, and you are entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property whatever the notice period. Either way, they have to have a good reason - but they also have to be able to enter the property if they do have a good reason to.

I'd just leave it, personally.

Guy_Montag

I think mine has the standard OFT one, which is that the LL must provide 24 hours written notice except in emergencies.

Tbh, I would probably leave it now, but come down hard on the LL if they abuse it in future.

A term dealing with rights of entry is unlikely to be challenged if it reflects the ordinary legal position. This recognises that a landlord who is responsible for carrying out repairs to the property needs reasonable access for two specific purposes: firstly, in order to check whether repairs are necessary,19 and secondly, to carry them out.20 Reasonable access means access at reasonable times, and with at least 24 hours notice in writing, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

moneysavinmonkey

Hi Lavendyr , thanks for your reply

I'm not suggesting that they are going to break the agreement, just that I think 24 hours notice is too short and there should be some way you can veto it if it is not convenient- should be at least 48 and with permission.

As it stands it would definitely affect my 'quiet enjoyment' of the property. For example how could I organise to cook a romantic meal for my partner, if the night before i could get a message saying they were coming in to service the gas cooker. Or what if i had organised friends round to watch a sporting event and they wanted to come in and check the electics. What if i had my parents had come to visit and were jetlagged and wanted to sleep in but they wanted to do an inspection.

I do tend to agree with you though, as i think it is fairly standard term.

I'm probably overly particular as i did have a landlady who woulld just leave you a message or send you a text and then turn up a few hours later, or if she knew you would be out would just let herself in without notice. Because of what happened to me I don't like idea that i would not know if beyond the next 24 hours i would be left in peace.

Guy_Montag

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

Hi Lavendyr , thanks for your reply

I'm not suggesting that they are going to break the agreement, just that I think 24 hours notice is too short and there should be some way you can veto it if it is not convenient- should be at least 48 and with permission.

As it stands it would definitely affect my 'quiet enjoyment' of the property. For example how could I organise to cook a romantic meal for my partner, if the night before i could get a message saying they were coming in to service the gas cooker. Or what if i had organised friends round to watch a sporting event and they wanted to come in and check the electics. What if i had my parents had come to visit and were jetlagged and wanted to sleep in but they wanted to do an inspection.

I do tend to agree with you though, as i think it is fairly standard term.

I'm probably overly particular as i did have a landlady who woulld just leave you a message or send you a text and then turn up a few hours later, or if she knew you would be out would just let herself in without notice. Because of what happened to me I don't like idea that i would not know if beyond the next 24 hours i would be left in peace.

You can normally veto these things - under the quiet enjoyment rules, & I would argue that text messages are not "in writing". Either letters or e-mails. Most people aren't tw@s (though plenty are) & will arrange things in conjunction with their tenants. If you have a problem, put your foot down when it first happens. Be firm, you need to train your landlord so they know what is reasonable. If they give you 24 hours notice that they are checking the electrics the day of the FA cup final you can simply reply that you have plans for that time & it's not an appropriate (good luck finding a sparky that day anyway).

Lavendyr

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

I'm not suggesting that they are going to break the agreement

Sorry, I meant rather that your comment about previous landlord coming round "whenever" sounded like that landlord did not give the required 24 hours' notice and my point was that if a landlord doesn't give any notice when supposed to give 24 hours I doubt they would give notice no matter the length of notice period.

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

just that I think 24 hours notice is too short and there should be some way you can veto it if it is not convenient- should be at least 48 and with permission.

How is the contract exactly worded? Does the landlord have to give notice in writing to you if he/she wants to come round? I am sure that if it were an inconvenient time you can certainly veto their request.

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

For example how could I organise to cook a romantic meal for my partner, if the night before i could get a message saying they were coming in to service the gas cooker.

I would think that the majority of landlords, in whose interest it is, after all, to keep their tenants happy, would a) give you more notice of such a fixed appointment than 24 hours and b) would be prepared to rearrange if it was possible to do so and was inconvenient to you.

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

Or what if i had organised friends round to watch a sporting event and they wanted to come in and check the electics. What if i had my parents had come to visit and were jetlagged and wanted to sleep in but they wanted to do an inspection.

It sounds like you've had some bad times with landlords before, there are a lot of "what ifs" here! At least with an inspection, you will know when your inspections should be held (usually quarterly or every six months) and you can plan in advance for that - and any decent letting agency/landlord will contact you "to arrange a convenient time" rather than just saying "I'm coming in at this time on this day".

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

I'm probably overly particular as i did have a landlady who woulld just leave you a message or send you a text and then turn up a few hours later, or if she knew you would be out would just let herself in without notice. Because of what happened to me I don't like idea that i would not know if beyond the next 24 hours i would be left in peace.

I don't believe that is normal or good practice at all and I really doubt that this is likely to happen again (though with some landlords you never know of course!), but I can definitely understand your concern!

TheDink

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 11: In a lease in which the lessor’s repairing covenant is implied there is also implied a covenant by the lessee that the lessor, or any person authorised by him in writing, may at reasonable times of the day and on giving 24 hours’ notice in writing to the occupier, enter the premises comprised in the lease for the purpose of viewing their condition and state of repair.

I.e. the landlord has an obligation to keep the property in good repair and on the flip side of this he/she has an implied right to visit the property to enable him/her to keep this obligation. 24 hours notice is stipulated in the Act and therefore appears on most tenancy agreements.

moneysavinmonkey

Lavendyr wrote: »

How is the contract exactly worded? Does the landlord have to give notice in writing to you if he/she wants to come round? I am sure that if it were an inconvenient time you can certainly veto their request.


I would think that the majority of landlords, in whose interest it is, after all, to keep their tenants happy, would a) give you more notice of such a fixed appointment than 24 hours and b) would be prepared to rearrange if it was possible to do so and was inconvenient to you.

The contract just says "24 hours notice (where possible)" - it actually says where possible in the brackets and doesn't say anything about written notice.

I'm suitably reassured by everyone that this is fairly standard though and so shouldn't cause any problems.

Thanks for links to housing act, i thought it was 24 hours written notice, but i always understood that the tenant could veto under their "right to quiet enjoyment".

and yes i've had my share of s**t landlords so hopefully is my turn for a good one - i know they are out there somewhere!

SquatNow

just cross out any bits of the contract you don't like before signing it.

MissMoneypenny

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=52483

Post 4 may help?