Flat Inspections by Letting Agent

D4WNO

I understand and appreciate how you feel but if it's in their literature then it's not their responsibility to ensure you read it, thats up to you.

My inspections are every 3 months, if I dont like the time or date they suggest we arrange a more convenient time between ourselves. When they do arrive they poke about for about 5 minutes, its hardly an inconvenience for me, surely everyone has 5 minutes 4 times a year that they can give up? If they ahve your permission you dont even need to be there

Barcode

Hi Debt_Free,

I agree that it's ambiguous wording. That is part of my concern. It's simple:

(i) If they are going to inspect every three months, then say so.
(ii) If inspections are negotiable after a time, then say so.

I resent this apparent attitude that the agent assumes it is fine to do something that has not been explicitly stated. I do understand that she must do what the LL pays her to do, but again, she should have known this and been capable of explaining before we moved in.

Obviously, if/when we move, this will now be on the list of things to clarify before signing anything. It's not a huge issue, but it is annoying when people do different things from what has been stated.

MissMotivation

Barcode wrote: »

I do appreciate your perspective. From ours, we're professional people, and feel like we have signed up for a babysitting service. There is also the implication that we are not to be trusted.

Now, the LL does of course, want to know that his property is in a good condition. I'm just not sure why there is a big deal about going from three to six months. And as I've said, this issue is made worse by the fact nothing has been pointed out to us before. That is bad form and unprofessional.

I agree that this should have been pointed out to you before you signed the AST, however, it is pretty standard.

I would try to look at it from a differant point of view, it's not to catch you out or prove that you can't be trusted.....it can work out in your favour too. If the property is in good order when the LA attends to do the inspection then they MAY switch to 6 monthy inspections.

I just think that being obstructive to the LA at this early stage will do you more harm than good

Barcode

But it's not in their literature. Their website just goes to their listings on rightmove, and we don't have anything else from then apart from the A.S.T and an inventory which makes no mention of three months. I agree it is our responsibility to check whatever we have given, but we did that, and it definitely does not make things clear as she claims.

I also agree that being obstructive won't help matters. I'm just venting here. I'm obviously going to be nice and polite on weds and try and clarify the issue. It would only ring alarm bells if she is sure that at any point, no negotiation is possible. Perhaps after the 2nd one, that should prove we are not knocking down walls or doing anything drastic.

lucy7509

I completely understand how you feel, with the three month inspections, we have lived in our house for over two years now, and only recently was the LL willing to change our inspections to twice a year.

To be honest, if we were going to trash the house, don't you think we would have by now? Having spoken with the landlords in person, they told me that they tried to stop the Letting agent from inspecting us so often, only the letting agent claimed 'that they could only guarantee the rent if the inspections continued, and that it was part of their service!' I clearly stated to the landlord, having paid the rent on time for over two years, it had nothing to do with their inspections!

To be honest it has put us off the house now, and we are looking to move and find a more reasonable landlord who does not inspect quarterly, and with any luck in the next year or two we will buy a house and not have to deal with this anymore.

Some landlords really don't appreciate a good tenant!

Good luck
Lucy7509

Sammy85_2

Barcode wrote: »

"6.5. That the landlord or any person authorized by the landlord may at reasonable times of the day on giving 24 hours written notice (except in the case of an emergency) enter the property for the purpose of inspecting its condition and state of repair."

It's this shifting of the goalposts that annoys me. If we knew beforehand, we would have thought about it and then decided. I resent having something new appear from nowhere that we did not agree too. If it is every three months, then that should have been stated very clearly on the A.S.T.

From the above quote that you posted it clearly states that you have agreed to be inspected at "any reasonable time of the day on giving 24 hours notice". You signed this contract, YOU AGREED to this. No goal posts have been shifted. If you required clarification on how often these inspections might occur, you should have gotten this in writing before signing the contract.

Under your contract you could be inspected weekly if they felt like it, providing they gave 24hrs notice and it was a reasonable time of the day of course.

Also, you keep talking about the tone of the LA's emails. Im sorry, but how can you tell, 100%, what someone's tone is on an email? This is a classic example of how misunderstandings happen. The only way to be 100% sure what their tone is, is if you speak to them.

By causing a fuss over 3 month inspections - which is not an unreasonable interval by the way - you just gave the LL reason to think you may have something to hide, in which case he/she is going to be much more insistant on 3 monthly from now on.
If you had waited and discussed this after they had seen that you are good tenants you may have got somewhere with them, perhaps getting 6 monthly instead.

Im afraid you've probably blown it. The best you can hope for is that after a couple of inspections with everything going well, they might reconsider.

daphne_descends

Hi Barcode, just another voice chiming in with 'I hate inspections' - I agree that it is a bit like being treated as if a child, what do they think the deposit is for?

I do think inspections have a place, and yes they are a good opportunity for you to point out any repairs that need doing (however when these repairs are not carried out by the time the NEXT three monthly inspection rolls around you will wonder why you bothered) but I think every three months IS excessive. I did not like someone coming in and making notes on their little clipboard while my life is on display.

I now rent privately and knew it was a match made in heaven when the LL said 'I just want tenants I can leave to it for a year' - never using a LA again.

olly300

The inspections are only away of generating more money for the LA.

Barcode wrote: »

I am going to point out the A.S.T though, and that it's not really acceptable to state we're going to have three month inspections when we hadn't been told about it. That's all she needed to do when we signed it.

I suggest you do all your correspondence with the letting agent about the inspections in a letter (not by email and not verbally as there is no point getting into an argument) send the letter by recorded delivery or fax so that you can prove they received it.

As previously suggested state in the opening part of the letter that the LA is welcome to do the 3 monthly inspections but only when you are in and with 24 hours notice as per section 6.xx of your AST. State the terms and conditions you signed up for don't state that they can do 3 monthly inspections, and that even if they did they would contravene the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 plus could be considered a breach of your common law right to quiet enjoyment of the property. End by stating as you are a reasonable person you have not problem with them coming at the times you have previously stated and with 24 hours notice.

(A tenant can refuse the LL or LA access to the property completely it doesn't matter what the AST states. )

The reason to do this is if you need a repair doing when you are out the LA may claim they can't do the repair because you won't give them permission to enter you can show them that this is only for the inspections.

At each inspection give the LA a letter containing all the faults however minor with the property. Then send a copy to the LL after 48 hours stating that you gave the list to LA. Then follow up on the faults after 7 days etc.

In fact if you really want to annoy the LA ensure you have a friend or relation who likes talking for ages available to keep them in the property.

The LA will soon learn that doing your flat inspection is a waste of time.

Keep a copy of all correspondence.

The majority of LL and LA is not interested in snooping they only want to see that you haven't destroyed to the property, and if you are a clean tenant the inspection will just end up being a walk around the living room or in the case of two of my old LLs just going into the hall.

I only had one LL abuse this and the LL was well known to me. I informed them that if they continued to do this I would report them to the police for harrassment. As a result the landlord decided they were entitled to try and steal my deposit.

sooz

lucy7509 wrote: »

To be honest, if we were going to trash the house, don't you think we would have by now?

I don't do 3 monthly inspections, BUT, I don't think that these are just to check that you are not trashing the house.

They want to check the building as a whole, including the things that you might have thought it's not worth mentioning. Things like a blocked gutter, that leaks down the building. You might not notice or care about the slight green stain to the bricks on the outside, but you will when it causes damp inside the house. This could be easily dealt with BEFORE it causes internal problems.

Also, checking smoke alarms are working, and that extractor fans are working. Again, things which you might not have noticed, or bothered to inform anyone about, as it didn't really bother you.

What I do in all upper flats is a 6 monthly silicone check on the bath or shower seals. This is to check that it's not broken, mouldy or even slightly cracked, as a TINY hole can lead to water penetration, especially annoying to flats below. In ground floor flats it's less of a problem, but still can cause damage, to floorboards, joists and laminate floors.

I make clear to all my tenants that I am not there to inspect them, just the building and things that belong to me, or for which I am responsible. I don't even care about mess, as long as it's not really really filthy, as my own home is often messy (ironing about, washing up to do etc)

Barcode

And how exactly have we caused a fuss?

We simply said we are happy with the time/date next week, and after then, we would appreciate six monthly intervals. The agent then replied. If I wanted to be stroppy, I would have gone on about what is in the A.S.T and their ambiguous wording. I would not have written one simple sentence and left it at that. If you honestly think that is being stroppy, then get a thicker skin.

Whilst the LL is paying the agent for a service, we are also paying for certain things, and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a compromise.