can a landlord enter the property your renting?

RainMaker_2

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

a landlord has no right to enter your home without your permission except in an emergency.

Categorically WRONG !

There is alot of mis-information banded around on these board regarding this topic.

The LL does not need the Tenants permission to enter, rather he must give the Tenants 24 hours written notice of his intention to enter (except in an emergency where no notice is required).

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 Section 11 (6) clearly states;

"(6) 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."

The law is clear. However, from a practical point of view, if on the day of inspection the Tenant obstructed the entry by whatever means (physical / changing locks) then the LL cannot force an entry (again except in emergency) and would need to apply to the courts for an order to exercise his rights.

Why shouldn't a LL inspect his property from time to time ? Why do so many Tenants object ? If the boot was on the other foot they'd soon have a change of mind !

Snakeeyes21

i beg to differ, any landlord or person acting for them is treading on very thin ice by entering a tenants property without permission.
the 24 hours notice is just that, a notice of intent to enter, if the tenant denies that entry by whatever means, wether it be changing the locks or a phone call / letter / email denying access then the only other option is going via the courts.
would a landlord give a tenant the keys to their home to have a snoop around?
there has been quite a few court cases where a tenant has sucessfully sued a landlord for illagal entry and harassment.
i know, im one of them.
ask any solicitor and they will say the same.

Snooze

Having been on both side of the fence many years ago as both a LL and a T I would still advise changing the locks as a T. The old LL in me obviously disagrees with this but I think that's more down to the fact that it's my property and the 'how dare someone change the locks to prevent me from accessing my property' factor. Of course the fact of the matter is that as a LL you would never be entering the property without the T's permission anyway so them changing the locks is pretty moot as on 99% of occasions the tenant will already be in and obviously open the door themselves. For all I know my previous tenants could have changed the locks without me even knowing.

Speaking as a former tenant too, I did have one case (to my knowledge anyway; it may have been more than once) where my LL entered the house I was renting without any prior arrangement or warning and I only knew about it when I got home from work one day to find a set of house keys on the kitchen worktop which I knew nothing about! I was literally just dialling the LLs number to ask him if he knew anything about it when he comes walking up the driveway, knocks at the door (presumably because he knew I was home as my car was parked) and casually asks if he's left his house keys here!!!! :eek: Needless to say we had strong words about that and even as he departed he was still insistent that he'd done nothing wrong as "it's my house and I can visit whenever I like". He claimed his visit was "just a quick check to make sure you were looking after the place". :rolleyes:

A friend of mine in Leeds also had his LL visit unannounced while he was out too and there are enough posts on this forum with similar stories so my advice to T's is to change the locks. They don't cost much and they're easy to do yourself - just make sure you change them back again before you leave. Let's be honest, the chances of a gas or water leak major enough to warrant 'emergency entry' by your LL when you're out are extremely slim, and that is assuming that your neighbours a) notice and b) have his/her number to tell him/her about it, plus c) him/her answering his/her phone, along with d) assuming s/he answers, being close enough to come and do something about it. :cool:

Rob

Geenie

Most tenancy agreements state that the tenant must not change or install any locks without the prior written consent of the LL.

And yes, I do have keys for my properties. But I never enter them unless told to do so by tenants, and there is a problem that needs dealing with and their permission to do so has been granted.

I am not going to let a very valuable property without the ability to access that property in an emergency if the tenant is away. Plus I have tenants in the past who have lost their keys, and without my bunch they would have not got in. Common sense.

As a LL I am entitled to view my property, as long as I give sufficient notice to do so. I never give less then 3 days, but usually a weeks notice.

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

Why discuss a post from Nov 2007?

.....................because sometimes something useful can be gained for a new member in the same or similar position, that's why

That is always why the thread is still also available to post on

tbs624

mjalal wrote: »

I am studying this nparticular subject at the moment as I am a Property Manager in London and studying for a law degree , under the housing act 1977 the Landlord has rights to enter the property to carry out repairing obligations. .

:think: There is an implied covenant for the LL to be able to enter bundled up with the LL's repairing obligations under the *LL & T Act 1985*. (as Rainmaker has correctly quoted.)

mjalal wrote: »

..However even if the Landlord gives you 24 hours notice , if you say no to him entering then he / she cannot enter , however if he gives the notice and doesnt hear from you then he can enter and is well within the realms of the Housing Act to do so...

Nope, because what you are suggesting is that the LL may assume consent on the part of the T. Think about it ..the T may be away with work or on holiday or in hospital, so does not receive the letter prior to the intended visit ( and notice does have to be *written*) The LL cannot simply let him/herself in. What you suggest to be the case also leaves the LL able to say I ...ahem.. did send a letter before let myself in..must have got lost in the post...

mjalal wrote: »

.. However these days he / she would be silly as it would leave them open to all sorts of accusations by the tenant , as there has been some cases where the tenant has accused the Landlord of stealing a Diamond ring. It is always best to be amienable with the Landlord , as avoiding the 24 hours notice gives him all the authority he needs to enter the property.

.*No*, it doesn't. A LL should ask in his letter that the T contact the LL to confirm the appointment or to arrange a mutually convenient time for access. The main reason a T should try to agree access now and again is because failing to allow a LL to view "the condition and state of repair" of the property would undermine any subsequent claims by the T that the LL is not meeting their "repairing obligations" under S11 of the LL & T Act 1985. Should a T persistently refuse access to the property a LL's recourse is to the courts not the use of his own master key ( & note that the LL may only hold a key to the tenanted property if it states clearly in the contract that s/he will do so)

Any LL who uses a key in the absence of unequivocal consent for access from his/her T is a fool and is leaving himself open to a charge of tenant harassment. Whilst the T has possession of the property, there is an implied covenant that the T has quiet enjoyment of the property and the LL's rights have to be balanced against that.
You may want to familiarise yourself with another Statute that dates from 1977 - the Protection from Eviction Act.
If you post on a forum that you are a law student and a property manager perhaps you'd like to provide some relevant links?

tbs624

dogwoof wrote: »

if he wrote a note saying he intends to enter it using his keys, surely this is not fair. i dont want him entering the house whenever he wants.
he said it was for a gas test.

but it was tested in august by a corgi registered guy we got out. (we had a gas leak in august had alot of hassle trying to sort it out -

he basically wanted to use his mate to fix it, who we did let in to service the boiler in august but he left it unsafe and he laughed at us cos we were worried about the gas leak, what a creep he was! so we had to get another corgi guy out .

he wants to probably bring him to do it, we dont want him fiddling with it. i dont trust him, we are just getting back on track with the heating the boiler is fine and the point IS it dosent need serviced as it was serviced in august, he knows this.

although its his property we still have tenant laws. what should we do?

Dogwoof- your best bet it to contact the local council. They will have private sector rentals office , with a Tenancy Relations Officer or someone witha similar title.

It's a criminal offence for a LL to not get annual gas safety checks done, to not get annual gas safety certs done, to not provide tenants with copies, to not hold a copies of the past two years certs him/herself. The tenancy relations officer can liaise with the Environmental health officer and your LL can be prosecuted wither by the Council/EHO or the HSE (Health & Safety Exec). The legal responsibility for getting the checks/certifcation carried out rests with the LL - it *cannot* be passed to the T (despite what a previous poster has suggested) and the checks must be made by a gas fitter/HE/plumber who is listed with the Gas Safe Register ( this role has passed from CORGI as from 1st April 09)

The tenancy relations officer can also help if your LL is accessing the property without your agreement. Tenant harassment is a criminal offence.

jamief

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

Why discuss a post from Nov 2007?

It can be quite helpful if you are searching for information. However, whilst his post was useful, yours was an utter waste of time!

missymugwump

I find this site really useful for tenant issues
They don't sugar coat the advice but are accurate
I didnt realise I could change my locks as a Tenant I was always concerned about how many keys were in circulation to a rented property,and refuse my LL entry if it did not suit,despite my AST

They also cover commercial rents may help someone

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

[Deleted User]

Sorry to the person who questioned why people were discussing this post from 2007, but now it's been dormant for a few more months I'm resurrecting it again as I have more questions to ask more knowledgable people than myself!

So the gist I'm getting is that landlords must have permission from the tenant to enter the property. If this is the case, and I hope this isn't a stupid question, but would I be right in assuming that the landlord therefore doesn't have the authority to give other people permission to enter the property either? I'm moving out of a rented property in a couple of weeks, so naturally the landlord is reletting the house and the estate agents want to show prospective tenants around the place. Fine, but do the estate agents secure our permission to enter if they want to conduct a viewing? I have had one particular agent who has called me and my 3 housemates a couple of times in the last week to ask if it was ok to bring people round for a viewing. On both occasions she has not managed to get through to any us - we're not screening calls or anything - 2 housemates are actually on holiday and the other 2 of us just missed the calls (because we're at work and our phones are on silent!). She he has apparently been given permission by the landlord to collect the keys from our next-door neighbours (who happen to be the landlord's parents) and let herself in if she doesn't manage to get hold of us. Let me stress that both times this has happened, she has given less than an hour's notice, let alone 24! Today I missed the call when I popped to the loo at work - when I got back less than 5 minutes later I listened to her phone message and called her straight back but she was already on her way to the house! Any advice?!