Landlord issues - advice please!

mrsgellyg

Evening all,
my landlord wrote to me to say that he had let himself into my house to carry out the annual boiler inspection - this is usually done at a mutually agreed time and I have never refused access. There is no gas certificate to prove this was done,I only have his word for it. He has let himself into the garden several times and once he put a ladder up to access the roof - I only knew he was there when I saw him climbing up it as I was sat watching tv. 

In the letter,the landlord implies he’s had a good snoop around the house and has nit picked on several things like the cleanliness of the house (I am recovering from pneumonia and have not been able to keep on top of the house work as much as I’d like to) and there was a full recycling bag in the kitchen waiting to go out. He’s threatened a section 21 if I don’t bring the house up to his standard as the LL claims it amounts to a breach of health and safety. He has also stated about the marks on the carpets - the carpets are the original carpets of fourteen years - and I’ve been here just over five years. I have always paid my rent on time and there has never been any issues with previous inspections. 

I am in England,my deposit is in the DPS but I do not have the prescribed information for the deposit. 

I know this is more of a rant,but any advice would be appreciated so I can send a reply to his letter. Many thanks! 

elsien

The words take and running jump come to mind.
Remind him of your right to quiet enjoyment and change the locks, keeping the old ones to replace when you leave. It's not his concern what state the house is in until you check out and he shouldn't be letting himself in at will. 
He'd be particularly stupid to evict a good tenant and have all the hassle of finding a new one on the basis of a few marks on an ancient carpet.

Also have a look at the Shelter page on the restrictions of the use of a S21. He may well find that even if he wanted to he couldn't use a S21 unless he's met all his obligations as a landlord.  Did you  move in before or after 1 Oct 2015

mrsgellyg

elsien said:

Did you  move in before or after 1 Oct 2015

Thank you for your reply - I moved in to the property in January 2015

tom9980

Your Landlord is clearly an amateur and has no clue how to act professionally. Legally the landlord must supply a gas safety certificate to you at renewal. You can sue the landlord for not giving you the prescribed information for the deposit although you are unlikely to be awarded the full penalty of 3x the deposit because he at least protected it. It is probably best to keep the landlord unaware of this for now it might be a nice card to play later.

Dear landlord,
I am disappointed to learn you have let yourself into my home on a number of occasions without notifying me in advance, I am entitled to quite enjoyment of the property please ensure you give me notice in advance in the future in writing. I still have not received my copy of the gas safety certificate for my records, something which you are required to do by law.

I am sorry my cleanliness does not meet your high standards unfortunately I have recently been unwell. I am sure you are aware the carpets are very old but rest assured I will return the property to you in in good order when the time comes less fair wear and tear.

Kind regards
your tenant

mrsgellyg

thanks tom9980. The landlord has several other properties in the area but I know he had a massive argument with the lady who lived opposite me when she moved out a couple of years ago. Maybe I should have taken that as a warning. 

[Deleted User]

I wouldn't even bother replying to his letter. I would look into changing the locks though. 

diggingdude

tom9980 said:

Your Landlord is clearly an amateur and has no clue how to act professionally. Legally the landlord must supply a gas safety certificate to you at renewal. You can sue the landlord for not giving you the prescribed information for the deposit although you are unlikely to be awarded the full penalty of 3x the deposit because he at least protected it. It is probably best to keep the landlord unaware of this for now it might be a nice card to play later.

Dear landlord,
I am disappointed to learn you have let yourself into my home on a number of occasions without notifying me in advance, I am entitled to quite enjoyment of the property please ensure you give me notice in advance in the future in writing. I still have not received my copy of the gas safety certificate for my records, something which you are required to do by law.

I am sorry my cleanliness does not meet your high standards unfortunately I have recently been unwell. I am sure you are aware the carpets are very old but rest assured I will return the property to you in in good order when the time comes less fair wear and tear.

Kind regards
your tenant

I might be suggesting that as he is basically let ting himself into your home without permission, the fact the carpets are old means he may well like to replace them on his next visit. Followed by a big FU

Chumy

CHANGE THE LOCK ASAP!

lees80

Change the locks and then look for somewhere else to live. He sounds like a total knob. 

m0bov

Change the locks, next time you see him outside call 101

theartfullodger

Grass him up after 28 days over the Gas certificate...

https://extranet.hse.gov.uk/lfserver/external/lgsr1

Change the locks!

Stupid landlord: In any sensible country there would be standards of behaviour for landlords which if breached meant landlord is banned:  At least one country in the UK already has them.

Artful: Landlord