I don’t see why a tradesperson AND my landlord has to be there for a boiler service, for example. In fact, my landlord has never been in attendance during maintenance/safety checks.
If you needed a plumber to fix something at your house, and the plumber said “ermm, well, not sure when I can come, maybe some time next week, just send me a key and I’ll let myself in if you’re not there” - would you agree to that?
“Entering the property against the tenant’s will could give them grounds to start a claim against you for harassment, under the Protection from ‘Eviction Act 1977”."
Most landlords do understand the following. You assumed the landlord entered.
Entrance was not stipulated .
In fact the tenant was evicted because we did not get access!
A vitriolic approach gets you an eviction notice.
A eviction notice trumps your argument
What’s your point?
“Most landlords do understand the following. You assumed the landlord entered.” - what?!
“In fact the tenant was evicted because we did not get access!” - what?!
“A vitriolic approach gets you an eviction notice.” - “vitriolic” - not applicable in my case.
“A eviction notice trumps your argument” - yes, makes great business sense to evict tenants who pay their rent on time and don’t damage the property, and replace them with potentially cr@p tenants, just because the landlord is too lazy to accommodate a tenant’s wish to be present during visits. Sorry, I can’t stop laughing 
You seem determined to misunderstand the responses you’re getting Bsmith. No-one has said that you have no right to be there. What has been said is that the landlord has a right to give you 24 hours notice to inspect for or deal with maintenance issues. This is a statutory right as well as in most cases a contractual right. If you want to be present you take the day off. If you can’t you negotiate for a different day if possible, but the landlord does have this right.
I haven’t misunderstood the responses at all.
The majority of them have been landlords bleating “aaaahhh, we have the right to enter, just need to give you 24 hours notice, you can’t stop us”.
Infact the question I asked originally has never been answered, it’s just trigged landlords who are ignorant of the law.
Probably my question needs to be directed at someone in legal, someone who isn’t biased.
I think your original questions have been answered, but you just didn’t like the answers. For the avoidance of doubt:
Is this legal?
Yes it is
If I don’t reply to the letter, does that imply I have given them permission?
It makes no difference whether you reply. They already have the permission
You haven’t answered the last question.
And if you’re going to say “they already have permission to enter the property when I’m not there, you have signed the tenancy agreement blah blah blah”, then please don’t bother. It is pointless debating this with anyone who can’t accept, or is ignorant, of UK law.
David .you are wasting your time responding. She/he is biased and must have the last word
In case any other tenants experiencing a similar issue find this thread, remember the statements below from Sh3lter’s website. They are a major UK charity standing up for tenant’s rights. You will find these statements contradict the statements made by the landlords (with their vested interests) in this thread.
Landlords must let you live in your home without unnecessary interference.
Your landlord should not let themselves into your home without your permission.
Your landlord should not [harass you or make it difficult for you to live in your home.
If your landlord needs access to the property to inspect its condition they should:
give at least 24 hours notice in writing
arrange a suitable time to visit
I never said you don’t have right to be present when the contractor are in property. so please try to understand if you want to be present then you can stay when they have given the time.
Unless if tenant is not well and not to get disturbed then its a good reason to request if its possible for the contractor can come at the other time.
But it’s not right and unreasonable for the tenant to say that contractor cannot come and do the work because tenant is not at home so would not allow the contractor to do maintenance work.
I think BSmith is just trolling. I won’t bother replying further to this thread
As a landlord I am saddened by some if these replies!!
The contract states reasonable access.
The tenant can request notice to be present, ll work with your tenants. It’s not unreasonable to work with them.
Good tradespeople want to be on good terms with clients and tenants too.
The issue here seems to be a bullying disregard to a tenant not recognising the needs if all parties concerned.
If these are annual or even periodic checks then the approx dates are known well in advance. These can be communicated and accommodations made.
Nuff said.
Exactly you answered your own question. I have 3 properties so I can work around my tenants and with them. Property companies usually are time limited. They would not enter your property willy nilly. Only for a specific reason already stated. If you want more control try a private landlord. They can usually work with you better. At the end of the day it is in your interest to try to work with them. The property company has a duty to ensure everything is safe and looked after. Not all tenants are responsible and care nothing about the state of the property. They have nothing invested in it so not their problem. Try to see both sides after all it isnt a regular occurrance.
I’m not sure whether your comment about bullying was aimed at me but if so I take exception to it. The original poster was asking about legal rights and these were explained. If you re-read the responses I think you will find that I and others recommended negotiating with the landlord/agent over the dates if they wished to be present and as you say, most reasonable landlords will try to accommodate such requests.
I am a Landlord with a property portfolio and have been letting property for over 20 years. I’m afraid I don’t agree with David122.
Yes you have to be given 24 hrs notice in writing but you can also refuse entry to your home (in writing to avoid any miscommunication). Landlords, leasing companies and particularly contractors have no legal right - despite some answers from LL’s quoting ‘the Law’ - to enter your property unless there is an emergency that may also affect other property owners e.g. pipe burst, electrical fire hazard etc…
It will also say in your contract that your are entitled to peaceful enjoyment of your property for the duration of your tenure.
For the sake of clarity, the reason why the property is ‘repossessed’ at the end of your tenancy is because it is loaned to you and therefore legally yours for the period of tenancy. Therefore access to your home is by mutual consent or would be considered as trespassing. However, if you want to encourage a mutually amicable relationship with your Landlord you should try and accommodate property repair visits or periodic inspections as much as possible, in the interests of any future tenancy as you may be hoping for an extention to your tenancy or a Landlord reference for a future one. It is a question of how much you wish to nurture mutual respect. I hope that helps.
No right to do the annual check on the boiler?
I believe you are mistaken Mike22. The situation is that most tenancy agreements grant a contractual right to a landlord to enter the property for the purposes of inspection and in some cases valuation/viewings. In addition to this, s11(6) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 grants the landlord a statutory right to enter as follows:
In a lease in which the lessor’s repairing covenant is implied there is also implied a covenant by the lessee that the lessor, or any person authorised by him in writing, may at reasonable times of the day and on giving 24 hours’ notice in writing to the occupier, enter the premises comprised in the lease for the purpose of viewing their condition and state of repair.
A tenancy contract also has an implied covenant of “quiet enjoyment” on the part of the tenant, which in practice means that they can physically prevent a landlord entering the property. If they refuse entry in writing then a landlord would be risking a harassment claim if they went ahead with an inspection. However, both of these acts on the part of the tenant would put them in breach of contract and potentially in breach of the law. A landlord would be at liberty to seek a court injunction in this case to force entry for the purposes of complying with his statutory repair obligations.
So it is clear that unless a tenant specifically and illegally forbids a landlord from entering the property to carry out an inspection, the landlord has the right to enter with 24 hours notice using their own keys whether the tenant is present or not.
All of the above was explained in various posts earlier in this thread.
I’m sorry, but I would not be happy either to have unknown people in my home, where I have personal belongings etc. Anyone ever heard of identity fraud?!
I totally understand that maintenance contractors have worked to do, but I’m absolutely flabbergasted that landlords think it’s not an issue for them to enter a property without the tenants being around, or for the tenants to have an opportunity to secure personal items before their work commences. Obviously, a tenant would have to ‘suck it up’ if contractors required access to deal with an emergency situation.
Not all landlords think the tenants do not have to be around. I want them to be around. so no unjustified claims can be made . I have a number of tenants who do not mind me being there to supervise the boiler checker, and they are out at work, they just say, let yourself in. Some have been with me 22 years. Trust is a wonderful thing .but takes a while to accomplish
I think he must have a grow going on that he doesn’t want stumbling over!