I work in a school and came home today to find a man in my bedroom.
He explained he’d been sent by the managing agents. He had his tool box and things.
I said I hadn’t heard from them and asked him to leave. He was good about it and stood outside.
I called them and told them I’d asked him to leave.
They said they emailed 24 hours before he came and this was “reasonable notice.” The works were completely non-essential.
I don’t check my personal emails at school or every evening. They didn’t call or text.
I was quite shaken.
I asked them to only give people access if I’d acknowledged their email or consented to the time and they said they’re too busy and they have the legal right to access to property and they consider 24 hours reasonable notice.
I am also a landlord and would never treat my tenant like this. I asked them when it suits them and I reassure them of the visitors credentials.
I think the managing agents were quite shocked by my reaction and they’re covering themselves - lots of backtracking and a mitigated apology - also mentioning how awful it must have been for the handyman (?!), but I feel horrible.
You are totally right. It is not enough for them to give 24h notice, you need to have accepted that notice. The managing agents don’t know or don’t want to know the laws. They do not have the legal right to act like this. They’re too busy? Well, it’s their job. It’s not acceptable to have a stranger in your home.
@Bastian Actually, the tenant doesnt have to accept the notice for it to be legally actionable, just as long as they dont reject it. However, the agent does have to take care to ensure that the notice has been delivered. Email may be ok if the tenant has previously agreed in writing to receive notices by email.
Whilst the agent may be legally covered for their actions, its clearly very poor practice and an agent should be making much more effort to agree suitable times with the tenant.
Is it really such a big deal? Property has to be maintained occasionally. Obviously there are better ways to do things but maybe they had previous experience with you were you were difficult?
I just want to add that if you fear that EA will breach your privacy again, you should change the locks as long as you change them back before the end of the tenancy. It’s up to you to decide if you can trust EA now.
I’m very surprised that EA didn’t break the law here. Can I just come into T’s home when they’re at work if I give 24 hr notice and they won’t reply? Can somebody quote a relevant legislation?
We e-mailed numerous times to our T to arrange gas safety check and even thought of evicting them. But it never occured to us that we can just open the door with our key and come in. Eventually they replied that we and engineer may attend.
I think legally it’s a grey area around “reasonable notice” and “necessary repairs.” This was neither. They certainly don’t think they require consent or acknowledgement.
@Tim_Ira I love your idea of changing the locks but I think that would be against the law!!
@graham that’s an interesting perspective, but not one I share re expectations around privacy, security or “quiet enjoyment” - and not how I treat my own tenants.
If it was urgent (flooding) or I had some idea they might be coming it’s different. I’m 3 weeks in… it’s all very weird….
This is what they wrote:
“Clause 24 (see page 4 of the Tenancy Agreement) of The Tenant’s Covenants states that you are required: “To allow … any workmen… to enter the Premises at reasonable times of the day … to effect any necessary repairs if the Landlord has given reasonable notice beforehand…”. We deem “reasonable notice” to be at least 24 hours.
This part of the contract gives us the right of entry, so legally we don’t require your express consent.
You did right. I’ve always negotiated a mutually acceptable time via WhatsApp with my tenant(s) for any access. And I always knock & wait for an answer. It’s their home, it’s only polite!
If the notice was not deemed as served, then the requirements of the Housing Act 1985 s11 are not met.
Changing the locks is not unlawful provided you cause no damage and refit the original lock at the end of your tenancy.
However, I dont think this focus on rights is very helpful to you. The agency need to schedule the appointments of their maintenance staff in the most efficient way to save costs, (costs which if increased would ultimately be borne by you). If you change the locks to prevent access or are otherwise “obstructive”, then they may seek to move you on at the end of the term. If this would cause you difficulties, you should probably give some consideration to your response. A request for a phone call to agree a mutually convenient time is perfectly reasonable though.
Exactly. How long should agents spend trying to arrange a simple repair call? Methinks there is more detail here that we haven’t been told, always two sides to every story
to confirm that it is indeed “GREAT news”, have a look at your tenancy agreement. Somewhere there will be a clause about how notices etc are to be communicated. If it says email is OK then all they have to do to deliver notice is email you because, unless it bounces (and they’d know about that), it’s guaranteed to arrive. If that’s the case, then they were within their rights despite being off track in terms of customer care and therefore, as @David122 says, clearly very poor practice.
Good evening 0omovigho, i m not sure what room youre eferring to as this is a forum. It may be best o look at the actual ads and within them you can contact the landlord
e-mail is the worst way of communication especially for such privacy and short notice cases. Best action for you to tell them you do not accept e-mail as a way of communication anymore and ask SMS or call.
The tenant should feel safe in her own home, and this is a violation of that. (she has a right to “quiet enjoyment” of the property she rents)
Why assume she is in the wrong and has been awkward? from the experiences of agents we hear here, its much more likely they were just the standard level of lazy or incompetent.
Allowing no chance to arrange a mutually convenient time for inessential work is not reasonable.
On the basis of the advice… I’ll deal with the more reasonable member of the managing agent team in future, ask for a call to agree a time for non emergency works and do my best to make sure I keep the agents on side in case I want to renew next year.
Although, I think if it happens again, it is lovely to know I can legally change the locks!
i think changing the locks is a bad idea, maybe put a chain on the inside but i would not like it if a tenant did this plus i kept 2 spare sets minimum.
if the guy was genuine and non threatening i would have let him do his work and make changes in the future. 24 hrs is a minimum i normally do a week. most people check their e mails daily
if you feel vulnerable fair enough but your actions go on the debit side of the working tenancy
I mentioned in my original comment that this was not the best way to go about things, but when you are trying to deal with an unresponsive tenant, and you have every contractual right to enter after 24 hours notice by email, then you are fully entitled to go ahead. As I said, there are 2 sides to every story and we are only getting one half of it here.
