Having issues with my letting agent

I_n1975

First post, need advice. I live in Wales

I moved into a property 01/09/21, letting agent emails me in January 2022, trying to get me to agree signing a new 1 year contract in September 2022, I declined explaining that I do not want another yearly contract, I have no plans to leave, I just though it went onto a rolling/sporadic/monthly contract once the initial yearly contract came to an end, they then email me back offering me a 9 month contract, I ignore the email this time,

Forward onto today, I check me emails and I see a notice from the letting agent stating there was a viewing for my property booked today 01/03/22 between 14:00 and 15:00, I read this email at 13:45, ok I get it they gave 24 hour’s notice I didn’t see the email, so I check zoopla and my property is listed on there and its says that’s its available to rent 01/09/22.

I reply to the letting agents email regarding the viewing, telling them no one is coming In the property, not going to happen (ok I know I can’t do that, its in the contract) so the letting agent calls me, long phone conversation, I ask them where they got the idea I was moving out on 01/09/22 from? Their response was because I and them hadn’t agreed on a new tenancy,  bearing in mind this tenancy doesn’t end for another 6 months, I loose my cool with them a little saying that they are  disturbing me and am I going to have to suffer months and months of people randomly coming round to view my flat, even though I am not leaving, letting agent tells me they will cancel the viewing for today but only after i kicked off at them

Letting agent then tells me the reason they offer a 9 month contract is because they go by the academic year, they know I am not a student, I provided work reference details from my employer, so why should that affect me?

So trying to condense things down into questions

1, Can the landlord force me to sign a yearly contract?

2, Can I reasonable deny access to my property regarding viewings? I really do not want 6 months (or longer) of random people coming round, also I work from home and I don’t know if this helps but the company I work for one of their clients required that we sign an NDA. Anyone one coming round could effectively have access to sensitive information and not only that, my home is my place of work, I get that if I was in fact moving out on a certain date, then  yes I would have no issues allowing anyone access to view the property but I’m not moving out

3, If they start the eviction process, would that be from the end of my tenancy 01/09/22 or can they start it sooner and typically how long would that take? I believe the notice period in Wales in now 4 months down from 6.

4, Regarding the contract, their “academic” version being a 9 month contract, is that relevant to me as I am not a student, or are they trying to pull a fast one?

5, Can the letting agent badger me only 6 months into a contract regarding signing a new one?

I just want the letting agent to leave me alone, let me sign a rolling monthly, my tenancy is an assured shorthold, initially 12 months

Thanks in advance

RAS

Hi, other will be along who know about the details of Welsh tenancy rules but..

Have you checked that your landlord is registered, if required?

Have you spoken to your landlord about the situation?

It'll take a good while to actually remove you even if you don't sign any further contract, so stay calm.

But it might be better to get your ducks in a row, and explain quietly to the LL that the letting agency don't understand tenancy law. 

After all, the letting agency are just after maximising their fees, which isn't to the LL's advantage either.

canaldumidi

I_n1975 said:

....

So trying to condense things down into questions

1, Can the landlord force me to sign a yearly contract?

2, Can I reasonable deny access to my property regarding viewings? I really do not want 6 months (or longer) of random people coming round, also I work from home and I don’t know if this helps but the company I work for one of their clients required that we sign an NDA. Anyone one coming round could effectively have access to sensitive information and not only that, my home is my place of work, I get that if I was in fact moving out on a certain date, then  yes I would have no issues allowing anyone access to view the property but I’m not moving out

3, If they start the eviction process, would that be from the end of my tenancy 01/09/22 or can they start it sooner and typically how long would that take? I believe the notice period in Wales in now 4 months down from 6.

4, Regarding the contract, their “academic” version being a 9 month contract, is that relevant to me as I am not a student, or are they trying to pull a fast one?

5, Can the letting agent badger me only 6 months into a contract regarding signing a new one?

1. No of course not.

2. Yes of course. You have an implied common law right to 'quiet ejoyment'. Nothing to do with noise, it means not disturbing your home life.

If they persist, chage the locks and ignore calls/emails etc

3. They can start it earlier, but the S21 Notice cannot expire till the end of the fixed term. Only then can they start court proceedings toevict. Takes months.

4. What are the dates on your contract? That's all that matters.

5. Well it's hard to make a legal claim of harassment. Easier to simply blank them. And change the locks.

Having said that the Protection From Eviction Act 1977 S1 (3) says:

(3)If any person with intent to cause the residential occupier of any premises—

(a)to give up the occupation of the premises or any part thereof; or

(b)to refrain from exercising any right or pursuing any remedy in respect of the premises or part thereof;

does acts calculated to interfere with the peace or comfort of the residential occupier or members of his household, or persistently withdraws or withholds services reasonably required for the occupation of the premises as a residence, he shall be guilty of an offence.