Tenants missing pre-arranged appointments with trades

theartfullodger

jj_43 said:

You need to be present and available, is it not your responsibility?

Exactly.  Why do so many landlords expect tenants to do their job.

Why?

tallac

Thank you for all the responses. Just to clarify, tenants are very good and have so far been able to let in trades people as required. They work from home so it's relatively easy for them. I was only asking from a hypothetical situation.

So if the normal situation is that the landlord lets the trades people in, I would need to arrange with the tenants in advance that I will be attending on a specific day with the trades person. Some immediate questions with this just for my understanding:
1. What if the tenant initially agrees and then last minute revokes the acceptance of me visiting with the trade person?
2. What if the tenant agrees for me to come with the trade, they say they will be in but on the day of the appointment, they are not in?
3. What if the tenant refuses to allow me to visit with a trade for something that I am legally obligated to do (e.g. annual gas safety check)?

HRH_MUngo

Scotbot said:

mattyprice4004 said:

Countrysider said:

propertyrental said:

That's fine if the LL is local. And has a key (some tenants do change the locks). Plus of course may add a different cost eg LL's time off work.

It's the landlords investment and it's their problem to deal with.

If they don't like the hassle of going to their investment property to fulfil their obligations, then perhaps they shouldn't be a landlord. Shouldering their burden onto tenants is unacceptable. 

I would hardly say it's passing the burden - it's quite reasonable to ask a tenant to be in to allow a workman access. 

I'm a landlord, and thankfully have good tenants - but if a tenant was to expect me to attend every appointment instead of working with me to help keep the property safe I think I'd have to re-evaluate if they're really worth keeping. 

There's a lot of good landlords and good tenants out there - a little help either way goes an incredible distance. 
My tenants are truly excellent, so I do what I can to look after them and would have no problem attending if they couldn't be in for a particular appointment. 

I don't think it is reasonable. Why should the tenant take time off work ? When I was a tenant either the LL or letting agent let them in.

But some tenants don't allow the landlord or agent to come in.  I understand the OP's dilemma.

saajan_12

Two separate issues here:
1) Whether the tenant needs to be in vs the LL / LL's rep providing the access
IMO, that should be at the tenant's choice provided that allows for a reasonable choice of times I've had some tenants prefer that they are present when any strangers are in their home, which is fine provided they make themselves available at reasonable times. I've had others prefer they not take time off etc, and either I or my representative opens up. 

2) Whether the tenant prevents planned access
This could be by changing the locks and then not being there, or putting up a physical barrier to the LL accessing (eg bolt the doors or key in the lock), or by agreeing to provide access and then reneging on that. To avoid these scenarios, I would ensure the agreement contained a clause sayign the tenant agrees to provide access for repairs and checks upon 24 hours' notice at reasonable times. If they prevent access or fail to provide access after agreeing to do so, they will be liable for any actual damages from failed callouts or repeat visit costs. 
Note you can't put in an arbitrary fee, but can pass on the actual amount charged by the tradesperson. 

Annisele

tallac said:

1. What if the tenant initially agrees and then last minute revokes the acceptance of me visiting with the trade person?

I don't think you're going to be able to get a complete set of answers to all possible things that might go wrong.

As the tenant, I had your first scenario. This was pre Covid, and I'd agreed that the letting agent's engineer could come and do a gas safety check. Then I got flu. My husband also had flu. My family (who didn't live in my house) had flu. My friends, my boss, my entire team, and pretty much everybody I'd been in contact with for the past week, also had flu. I didn't exactly withdraw permission, but I rang the letting agent and said the engineer was welcome to visit if he wanted, but since I seemed to be supremely infectious I didn't recommend it. The engineer decided he'd prefer to visit on a different day, and that's what happened. I have no idea whether any extra money changed hands because of the rearranged visit, and as the tenant I didn't care.

I appreciate you're not going to have exactly my scenario. But my point is that things can go wrong without it being anybody's fault. And as the landlord, you're just going to have to eat any costs you incur as a result.

chrisw

theartfullodger said:

jj_43 said:

You need to be present and available, is it not your responsibility?

Exactly.  Why do so many landlords expect tenants to do their job.

Why?

There is no need at all for the landlord to be present and available. There is no job to do other than let the trades in. 

The tenants are much happier being in control of the appointment. 

grumiofoundation

chrisw said:

theartfullodger said:

jj_43 said:

You need to be present and available, is it not your responsibility?

Exactly.  Why do so many landlords expect tenants to do their job.

Why?

There is no need at all for the landlord to be present and available. There is no job to do other than let the trades in. 

The tenants are much happier being in control of the appointment. 

Tenant are not a homogenous group. 

Some tenants might not want landlord/agent/trades to access when they aren't there, some don't mind. 

If both tenants are at work all day why should they be expected to take a day off/WFH to do the landlords job unless they want this (or of course the landlord is reimbursing them for their time).


As post above says - it should be the tenants choice