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I understand if you are concerned about the security of your belongings, and do not trust your Landlord.
As a Lanlord, I’ve let myself into properties on many occasions with the tenants agreement, in their absence. It helps the tenant often too, as they dont have to inconvenience themselves to be there to meet contractors/workmen.
If you wish to argue the point with your Landlord, then firstly read your tenancy agreement. It will no doubt cover the obligations of both tenant & Landlord in this situation.
Its quite common for landlords to enter for maintenance purposes when the tenant is not there, although I understand it can be a little disconcerting. Ordinarily a landlord will try to accommodate a tenants request to re-arrange, but I can see that in this case that would be quite difficult for the landlord to do. You can refuse outright, but I would not recommend this as it likely puts you in breach of contract and would seriously damage the relationship. I would suggest you allow it on this occasion and perhaps get a small security camera to monitor the property if you’re really concerned.
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i have keys to all the private residences ., but i always ring first and if out my tenants say to just go in and do whatever. Trust works both ways and tenants /landlords relationships cantake time to gel. I do not keep keys to the comercial property s tho. Most tenants and landlords want to be HAPPY. He He
to be honest your landlord is proposing something entirely normal and your reaction suggests the problem lies with you. lighten up.
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Do not trust anyone, certainly not a landlord! You have a right to quiet enjoyment of the property most likely this is clearly stated in any standard AST and as such the landlord will be in breach of the contract if he does something against your will in your room while the tenancy still lasts. One exception would be an emergency in a sense say a fire breaks out in your room or there is a flood of water on the floor below you then it’s justified.
Also, in any event, when it comes to shared houses, landlords normally must give at least 24 or 48 hours notice prior to visiting common house areas anyway, and certainly have no right as such to visit private tenant’s rooms unless clearly agreed to or unless an emergency.
@Albert6 Thats simply not the case. Prior consent will already have been given in the tenancy agreement. A landlord does not need to seek it again unless the tenant has subsequently forbidden access when they are not present, which would be a bad idea.
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I shall give you a definitive answer on this, as I have been there and done that in the past.
Regardless of what your tenancy agreement says and what authorisations you gave to the landlord to enter your property in your tenancy, you have a legal right to refuse them to do so until a time that you are available, or even to refuse entirely. This is your statutory right, and it is of greater legal standing than any tenancy agreement.
If you say no, the landlord cannot enter the property, then the landlord must not enter the property. If the landlord enters the property after you have refused, then the landlord has trespassed, and possibly harassed you.
There is an exception to this, and that is in situations in which landlords are entering the property in an emergency.
Landlords often don’t agree with this, because they think it is their property and they can do what they want, but the fact is that when a landlord rents out their property for a specific duration, they waive that right to enter the property whenever they choose, as they have rented it out as someone else’s home. And, as your home, it is your decision who enters the property. You can also refuse to allow viewings when you are moving out on the same basis.
If you have requested the landlord to come to the property when you are available, that is a more than reasonable accommodation to the request, and the landlord should not insist on anything else.
If the landlord threatens to enter the property after you have said no, that is a threat to trespass and harassment. You are also within your rights to change the locks based on their harassment.
Quite simply some tenants now feel they can dictate what happens, if work needs to be carried out whats the problem ?.
I have had tenants like you and in the end I decided not to fix anything because they became so obstructive, so you reap what you sow.
Asians are the worst, one wouldnt let me in to do repairs when his wife was home, as he said he didnt want me to speak to her , so controling. !
You need to meet you LL and have a trusting relationship, I have 10 props that I do repairs on and I now put it in the pretenant questionairre if they would have any problem with me advising them in advance and entering to complete works if they where unavailable at that time, if they have a problem, well goodbye.
I have a life to lead and will not be controlled by awkward tenants.
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If your landlord has given you at least 24 hours notice to enter the property, they every right to do so.
As someone else has mentioned, you can technically refuse access entirely but why would you want to ruin your relationship with them and stop them from doing maintenance to the property you live in?
If all other tenants agreed to the landlord entering the property without them being present, then it sounds like you need to get over it or make yourself available on the day they’ve suggested.
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Joshua14 is partly right and partly wrong.
This is the law, and its practical application to this case, provided that you have a lease, not a licence. If you are the only person who can live in your flat (ie: you have a right of exclusive possession), and you pay rent, and you have an agreement for a fixed period of time, then you do have a lease. It will probably be an Assured Shorthold tenancy but it’s still a lease. The laws relating to leases will apply.
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All leases include an implied right for the tenant to have quiet enjoyment of their property. No wording in a lease can remove this right. Quiet enjoyment means the undisturbed use of the property.
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This right is reinforced in England by the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Harassment is an offence, see Shelter Legal England - Renting rights for private tenants - Shelter England
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But you will find it is difficult and time consuming to enforce your right to quiet enjoyment and if you call the Council or the Police to allege harassment because your landlord wants to enter your flat once to change the meter you will be told you are a time-waster.
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And landlords do have rights to enter leased property. These rights are usually reserved in the lease, and if they are worded and exercised reasonably they will not be struck down by a court. Even if rights of entry are not reserved it is highly unlikely that any court would regard entry for necessary works as breach of the right to quiet enjoyment, or harassment, provided that such entry is not unreasonably lengthy or frequent. I think (but am not aware of a case to support this) that landlords should give notice of entry except in cases of emergency when it is generally accepted that they have the right to enter without notice. See Repairs and inspections: access to your rented home - Shelter England In all discussions about quiet enjoyment and breaches thereof the word “reasonable” will crop up sooner or later, usually sooner. This is because the right to quiet enjoyment is founded at common law, not statute, and therefore the law consists of the accumulated judgements of courts over hundreds of years. When courts consider issues of this nature they will usually consider the question of reasonableness. I cannot imagine a court deciding that it is unreasonable for a landlord to enter during working hours for the purpose of changing the meters in a group of flats after giving notice.
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You almost certainly cannot change the locks because your lease will either explicitly prohibit this, or it will prohibit alterations to the property without landlord’s consent. If you change the locks the landlord will change them back again and charge you for the cost . See My Tenant Has Changed The Door Locks, Can He Do that? The Tenant Fees Act 2019 does not prohibit such charges because Schedule 1 Part 5 makes a payment of damages for breach of a tenancy agreement a permitted payment.
I personally think you are being unreasonable.
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Tenants also have to understand workmen are very busy and
and difficult to find to do work as well. Also if other 3tenants have agreed then have to try to cooperate with landlord
is doing his best to do maintenance work.
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Just let them get on with it. You are being totally unreasonable. You won’t do yourself any favours and expect to be given notice if you act this way.
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What a completely stupid thing to say! Unbelievable. Landlord wants a meter changed in their own property, which benefits everyone. Changing meter is a quick easy mess free job. Creating friction means it will backfire on tenant at a later date.
It’s perfectly reasonable to enter property to perform maintenance, consent is given in advance in the lease.
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I would add this to the original poster. If you behaved unreasonably while you are one of my tenants I would refuse to give you a reference for either a new tenancy or a mortgage. I wouldn’t give you a “bad” reference. My standard format in such cases is to write in response to a request for a reference: “I will not give a reference for this person”. Most people know what that means.
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The really tricky thing I have found with this, is landlords might throw at you "It was an emergency repair "[subjective]. If your landlord is a particularly unsavoury human, they may use this as a clause to get in/be on premises without you being there. My argument is that they shouldn’t be on the premises in the first place! (unless pre arranged with you as a tenant, with 24 hours notice (or as stated in your tenancy agreement)
@bongo.knuised That just sounds like scare-mongering. The overwhelming majority of landlords are sensitive and professional enough to respect the rules of when they are allowed to enter someones home.
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