Landlord’s right to enter: 24 hours’ notice before visiting a property for viewing

Gavin83

The problem you’ve got is that I suspect you want to have your cake and to eat it too. By this I mean you want to show people around, sell the whole house, get the tenants out at the same time (so as to not to lose rent) and get the maximum amount for your property.

Unfortunately the above is essentially impossible. The way I see it you’ve got 3 options:

1) Get them out as and when you can but don’t replace but it’s likely to lead to long periods of reduced rental income.

2) Sell it to a landlord.

3) Bribe them.

Either way this is likely to end up costing you a lot of money or force you to sell your house for less than you expect to get.

Option 2 is the least hassle for you but likely to cost you the most money. 3 is definitely risky as you could be in a situation where all but one leave and therefore you’ve got a mix of 1 and 3 on your hands. Obviously the risk of 3 will decrease the more you offer them. Someone living in a HMO is unlikely to turn down a significant sum of money.

HMOs are by far the hardest properties to sell. 

saajan_12

itayshap said:

So basically if i want to conduct viewings in order to sell the house i don't have any legal structure to do so. 
There are no time and communication protocols regarding this specific reason to entering the property, according to the law, right?

Thus my only two options are:
1. ask politely the tenants to allow me to do so.
2. wait till the end of the tenancy and start showing the vacant flats.

Is that correct?

Thank you,

Itay

In terms of legal structure, there is nothing in statutory law that gives you access rights for the purpose of viewings (repairs etc are separate). Most LLs hence rely on contract law by including terms in the tenancy agreement to allow access. These terms are permissible as long as they don't infringe on a tenant's rights to quiet enjoyment, ie give reasonable notice and for limited periods.