Myself and my partner will be moving out of our current property after finding out a few weeks ago that our landlords are selling up, our contract is due to end early December.
With regards to people viewing the property, my partner recieved a call from the estate agents yesterday morning asking to book a viewing for Saturday morning. I work as a registered nurse and work with elderly/vulnerable adults and I work night shifts. My partner explained that I will be working a night shift on Friday night. The estate agents asked my partner what time I get home (which is around 9am). They then asked if they could come at 9am on Saturday morning, but my partner explained that I need to sleep (I work 12 hour shifts 5/6 days a week) so she then said “well can we come at 11 instead?” To which my partner again explained that two hours isn’t sufficient time for me to sleep.
Myself and my partner had a discussion last night and emailed the estate agents asking them to forward to our landlords (the estate agents won’t give us their contact details so we have always had to go via estate agents) and in the email we said that we do not feel comfortable having people viewing the property whilst we are still living there, the main reason being because of covid-19 and the fact that I work with vulnerable adults and if I get covid or my partner gets covid we don’t get paid, which in turn means we would be unable to pay our rent. The agents said that people would wear masks and take off their shoes, but from my personal experience when viewing properties, estate agents mostly let people roam around the house and ask to meet outside once they’ve had a look, but I’m not comfortable with that as we still live here and still have all of our possessions in the house, people could be touching handles and opening cupboards, coughing/ sneezing etc. Neither of us have the time to keep cleaning the house constantly after every viewing. Because I work nights and long hours, the time I do have off I am usually exhausted and because we only found out a few weeks ago we are being evicted, the time we both have off we now are using to pack up our belongings. We are not trying to be difficult and if covid was not around we would welcome people to view the house (as long as it was late afternoon/ early evening as I need to sleep during the day).
The estate agents said that they would be helping us in finding a new property, which they have not. The sooner we go, the sooner our landlords will have the chance to book as many viewings as possible. We had the estate agents take photos and record a video of the property last weekend and we are aware that other people have also refused potential buyers into their rentals because of covid (with the same estate agents too). How would you act if you were in our shoes? Do we sound completely unreasonable or can people see where we’re coming from? Please help
Personally I just wait until the tenants leave and then start looking for new ones.
I know I’m in the minority but it’s less hassle that way.
Are you being unreasonable - not really in my opinion due to Covid and having to sleep.
The agents keep phoning and asking must be stressful. Your landlords address will be on your tenancy and agents have to provide it if you request it.
Hello Mr.T, thank you for your reply. We have looked through our tenancy and their address isn’t there, just their names, but after sending multiple emails to the estate agents they sent our email to the landlords and they have fortunately agreed to release us early once we find somewhere. With regards to viewings thank you for saying we’re not being unreasonable, I feel like they may feel we’re being difficult but hope they understand our circumstances, we’re waiting for a reply from them but not heard anything as of yet.
Glad you have early release at least that’s something.
I am pretty sure it’s the law now that the landlords address should be shown and if requested should definitely be given.
Perhaps there’s others here that can advise.
Just feel sorry for you having to keep explaining when people don’t give up pestering.
The fact that you have worked throughout this pandemic and paid rent, even though it may be a bit frustrating for landlord not to do viewings they should be grateful they haven’t had a lot more to deal with - like some landlords on here of late.
Covid has affected everyone in some way or another. Your landlord needs to accept this.
Prior to covid I would try to find new tenants during notice period but agree it is unrealistic to expect tenants to have lots of strangers in their home at the moment, particularly due to your circumstances. You’re not being at all unreasonable. Just stand your ground.
Yes completely, we’re really grateful they have allowed us an early release. Now our only issue is finding somewhere. So many others in our local area are in the same boat, so when properties do come up, they are getting a crazy amount of applications meaning there’s a lot more competition than normal.
We don’t mind not having our landlords address, all that we wanted was for the estate agents to be co operative in actually forwarding our emails to them, which after a bit of pestering they did do. They just are not forthcoming in helping us find a new property, for example I emailed them last Wednesday (2nd Sep) and have had no reply from that email, yet when we emailed them concerning our landlords (referring to the email about not being comfortable in having people book viewings whilst we’re there) they replied straight away. Little things like that just frustrate us as we pay a lot for the house, we have taken care of it and never missed any rent. If we were untidy etc I would understand their lack of cooperation. It’s been nothing but a headache so far.
You are right, we have explained ourselves so many times but it doesn’t seem to sink in. We were lucky to be in a position to pay the majority of the rent during the worst of covid and now cleared the arrears. All the estate agents are worried about is getting their fees, they don’t care about our situation which is why we’ve had low expectations from them. We will definitely be avoiding renting with this particular estate agents in the future that’s for sure!
Hello Richard, thank you for your reply. I think because they aren’t looking for new tenants and are selling the house, this could be why they’re being a bit more pushy with us. My partner feels that if we don’t cooperate then they will keep our deposit/ or could be difficult with us in returning the deposit for us not allowing them to have viewings whilst we’re there. I do feel the same as him too which worries me. We feel like we have to do as they say or we will end up losing in some way or another, it’s so stressful at the moment. Really appreciate your input and we will stand our ground.
So we just recieved an email from the letting agent after they have spoken to our landlords, and our landlords have now retracted their statement and won’t allow us an early release. The landlords have also decided to remove the property from the market for sale as they are worried that it will lose interest due to not being able to conduct viewings and as the property is on for a duration of time may appear to prospective purchasers that there is an issue with the property (words written by letting agent).
We feel completely betrayed, as it now means that if we do find another property in the next few weeks and are accepted for it, we will more than likely end up being turned away as we can’t move until this tenancy ends in December. Understandably the new landlords will want tenants to move in as soon as possible so they can recieve their money. If we were able to pay rent on our current house and another property we would, but financially we just can’t afford it. The letting agent said that the landlords are angry at us not allowing viewings and completely disregarded our reasons why. We explained that if we do not find anywhere to move into by December, we will be homeless as neither of us have anywhere else we can stay. Literally at my wits end now it’s all just hopeless.
Did you have it in writing that they would allow you to leave early? If you do I dont see how they can change this.
You wont be homeless in December, LLs can’t evict without a court order which would take months (from december). Clearly you need to find somewhere new but if it drags into January you can do this although clearly not ideal.
you could have conducted viewings wearing masks , asking them not to touch anything and leaving all the doors open and also windows for ventilation . Leave out some sanitiser also
Hello Colin, thank you for your reply. We have emailed the letting agents back saying that we would allow people to have viewings so long as they are late afternoon in order for me to rest and so long as they wear PPE, now we just need to see what the reply.
Maybe you shouldn’t have been so obstructive in the first place ?
These things should be done on a good will basis. You were allowed an early release, you should have allowed viewings. I don’t understand why 9am wasn’t ok. I don’t go straight to bed when I get in from a day shift, so why would you after a night shift ?
Hopefully now you can get back on a good will footing.
Maybe you should do a 12 hour night shift and see what you feel like. It is very different from a normal day job. As he said he works with vulnerable people and given current situation it is perfectly sensible. Why should people lives be put at risk just so a LL can sell a property…
Hello Steve, thanks for your reply. I don’t go to bed straight after a day shift either, but after doing a 12 hour night shift I have to go to sleep for the next night shift that same day. We’re not purposefully trying to be difficult. But with the covid at the moment and my job I thought they would be understanding. I’m sure if me and my partner had to isolate and we’re unable to pay rent they would understand the circumstances a little better.
The same letting agents have allowed other people to have video tours of properties advertised nearby instead of people physically going inside properties, so we’re not sure why they don’t do that with us. But yes, hopefully we can get back to a good stage with our landlords. We have asked if we can speak directly to the landlords as the letting agents just are not helpful at all and we have no evidence they’re passing on our messages.
Hello Richard, thanks for your reply. I did think that after reading the comment. I come home from a 12 hour shift, sleep for a few hours then go back the same night for another 12 hour shift. I guess not everybody realises what nurses do, but never mind. If I was working a night shift doing a less responsible job then I’d be more lenient, but if I make an error because I was tired, it could have serious repercussions.
Anyway, thank you for your understanding, also I’m a she not a he but you weren’t to know that
I am a she too (cannot change name) and a registered nurse so totally understand how difficult and responsible your job is at the best of times let alone with all this Covid worry.
The very least anyone can let you have is as decent a sleep as you can possibly get in the daytime.
As a landlord I really don’t see why the LL cannot wait until the tenant vacates. This isn’t a matter of life or death for them whereas it is for these poor tenants and their vulnerable patients. Unless Steve11, a few people with learning difficulties are dispensable in your book.
So much for solidarity and support for medical and social care staff. That didn’t last long did it?
12 hour shifts but doing what and doing night shifts? There is a big difference, anyway, unless you want to offer advice then saying I should have done something differently is really not helpful. Not everyone is perfect.
