Can I say no to any potential flat viewers?

gerryljacob

Hi I'm renting a flat in London and will be moving out soon. The letting agency wants to show people around the place as they will have necessary PPE. I still feel quite uncomfortable with this, do I have to just accept that these in person viewings will happen as it's in the tenancy agreement? 

hazyjo

What does your contract say?

gerryljacob

hazyjo said:

What does your contract say?

To allow any viewers. 

greatcrested

The legal answer is yes, you agreed contractually toallow viewings.

The medical/ moral answer is you are entitled to make your own decisions regarding your safety.

The pracical answer is that if you deny access, there is little the landlord can do other than make life a bit 'difficult' eg decline to give you a reference and be a bit awkward over theck-out procedures.

MalMonroe

It doesn't really matter what a contract says when a country is in a state of lockdown because of a pandemic, you are always allowed to put your safety first. But apparently the government has now lifted any restrictions on viewing and renting property in England. As long as everyone has PPE and you have no major health risks, it should be fine. (And as long as they don't touch anything!) Can you perhaps just wait outside until they've finished? Or dodge them by moving into different rooms as long as there's the appropriate gap? If you are really worried there is the option to extend the tenancy but obviously we don't know how viable this is in your case. And the government WAS helping landlords financially if they found themselves without tenants because of coronavirus. Why not have a bit of a search online to find out exactly what applies to you. These are NOT normal times and landlords should appreciate that.

Sandtree

gerryljacob said:

Hi I'm renting a flat in London and will be moving out soon. The letting agency wants to show people around the place as they will have necessary PPE. I still feel quite uncomfortable with this, do I have to just accept that these in person viewings will happen as it's in the tenancy agreement? 

Presumably this is you wanting to leave? Do you have the option to leave early?

You need to read your tenancy agreement and see what it says, certainly I recall our last ones saying you basically cannot say no if your given 24 hours notice.  It is not a recommendation at all but a friend was in a similar situation (he just didn't like it rather than pandemic concerns) and so he complied with the requirement to allow them to come in but (a) had the place in a mess with weeks worth of washing up in the sink, dirty clothes everywhere, pizza boxes and beer cans all over the floor in the lounge etc and b) Post-it notes on various broken/defective items saying "Broken, told landlord on 1/1/2020" … the showings stopped fairly quickly (he tided up and left the place spotless when he left).

[Deleted User]

I should have done that lolol.  Smelly bin would be good too.