We are a couple with a dog that moved into a rented maisonette, we went from the landlord who is the leaseholder. The freeholder of the property lives next door, our landlord told us from the get go that he and the freeholder do not get along. We have never met them.
We then get an email from
Our landlord saying that the freeholder has emailed him to complain that our dog was barking too loudly ( even though our landlord asked him if it was ok for dog to be here and now my landlord sent another email about the bins been in the communal front garden the have to stay in the back garden we did not know this.
We are feeling starting to feel uncomfortable living here especially when the freeholder can easily come next door and tell us rather than telling my landlord who then tells me. There have been other instances where he has just gone into our back garden without informing us. Do we have any rights here or can we say if this continues we would want to move? We have just started our agreement and don’t want to leave but if we are to keep having issues with the freeholder than we will
Hi Bubu, I’m sorry to hear of your situation here.
We’d advise firstly expressing your concerns to your landlord, and see if they can liaise with the freeholder on your behalf. It is common for the freeholder to communicate through leaseholders, so this isn’t necessarily a concern though we appreciate it might be making you feel uncomfortable.
We can’t see that your tenancy has been set up through our Rent Now process, so aren’t able to advise on any access requirements or notice periods. The tenancy is a private agreement between you and your landlord and since OpenRent are not legally involved, we are unfortunately not able to intervene in the tenancy itself.
If a resolution can’t be agreed between you and the landlord/freeholder and you would like to take legal advice, there are organisations that are able to provide more comprehensive help and legal advice. The first place we’d suggest is Shelter’s livechat or helpline:
They’re open 365 days a year, and they’ll be able to provide free advice on the best next steps to take here.