to think my letting agent cannot suddenly implement monthly property inspections, 6 months into a contract?

[ElectricMonkBelievesInSanta]

We've been living in this property for nearly 4 years, and sign a new 12 month contract each year. Until now, the agreement has been that an agent can let himself into the property for quarterly inspections, viewings for new potential tenants (if we aren't able to show them around), repairs and in emergencies. Today, I received an updated version of the usual letter giving notice of an upcoming quarterly inspection - tacked onto the end of it is the sentence "We will also be carrying out the monthly safety check on the property." This sentence has never been included in the past, monthly safety checks have never happened before and certainly aren't in our contract.

The new arrangement would upset me for two reasons. I regularly study through the night and sleep late into the day when my workload is heavy because it's the only way I have enough quiet time to focus, so somebody letting themselves in once a month to potter round every room in the flat would be extremely intrusive and inconvenient. Also, my husband or I have always ensured that one or other of us is home to supervise inspections and viewings because an agent from the firm previously left the front door to our previous property ajar after an unsupervised viewing, facing straight onto a busy road in a less than salubrious area. We can manage that a few times per year, but definitely not on short notice every single month.

Furthermore, I really don't see any justification for it - we have been very good tenants! We cause minimal wear and tear, report problems as soon as they occur, always pay rent on time, and gave 7 months notice of our intention to move at the end of this contract period. We've been on at the agent for months about the fact that an electrical fault has stopped half of our lights from working properly, and they prevaricate for months when we tell them we need a proper electrician rather than another visit from their handyman - I don't see how monthly checks are going to help when they won't even address long-standing problems like that adequately.

I therefore feel that this is an unjustifiable invasion of our privacy, and will encroach on our right to quiet enjoyment of the property. AIBU to expect the agency to agree to go back to quarterly inspections?

Letting agents typically do not treat postgraduates like students - I've never heard of one that does. So I sincerely doubt that has anything to do with it. The fact they rent to a lot of undergraduates might well.

You need to put your foot down - write to them, cite your right to quiet enjoyment and your knowledge that you are entitled to 24 hours notice, and to reschedule visits. Since you don't need references and have given notice, you really don't have anything to lose.

You don't live in student digs any more - they are trying to take you for idiots.

Bamboobutton - thank you for your reply, what you've outlined is exactly what I believed to be the case when I signed the contract in the first place! Yes, the agents have been terrible to deal with all the way through - a bit better than the only other one in the area that deals with students who want flats instead of houses, but not by much.

The fines are "administrative charges" for each letter they send to inform us that we've broken the terms of the contract (generating noise complaints is the example used). I had no problem with that when I signed it, but that was because I was anticipating the usual quarterly inspections and annual safety checks.

Can you get in touch with CAB? I think they are harassing you to be honest. If you are noisy, obviously that's not on, but it sounds as if they are hoping that most of their tenants don't know the law and are easily intimidated.

i would tell them to shove the fine. All it is for really is them clicking a mouse button a few times.

We have told endless la's to shove their fines, politely, of course, and they have always backed down because they know it's a bullshit fine.
I don't think we have paid a contract renewal charge in about 9 years either.

I will be so glad when we buy our house this year and never have to deal with this stuff again!

Thank you LRD - I'll write to them now :). I think they just treat all of their tenants the same, and their policies are based on their experience of dealing with big house-shares full of undergrads so they don't actually have a system in place for "arranging" rather than "doing".

Lovelyladuree - the only "bullshit crap" in this thread is coming from you. I got firsts for every module of my entire degree at a damn good university while holding down a challenging part-time job and doing a shitload of volunteer work, and I'm now a funded postgrad student in recognition of the fact that I treat studying as a proper job. I don't have a pit, I have a bedroom which I share with my husband. I don't ever have a lie-in, I'm lucky if I get 6 hours sleep per night because I'm always either studying or getting experience I will need to pursue a career associated with my studies. I pay a shitload of money to live in my flat and I'm happy to arrange a mutually convenient appointment with an agent in reasonable circumstances. What I object to is being treated with no respect or common decency for no valid reason, but clearly you're not equipped to understand that. If you're ever out of a job, do let me know and I'll send you the details of my lettings agents - I'm sure they'd be delighted to find such a congenial employee.

Right, I've sent the e-mail as advised - thank you all so much for your help!

LRD, if I don't get a positive response from them I'll definitely go to CAB, thank you for suggesting it.

Bamboobutton, how did you learn so much about tenants' rights? It must be very useful, I'd love to find out more. Our LA's gave up on the contract renewal fees the first time I raised an objection, which is good, but I've never actually received one of the "fines" so I don't know what would happen then. I can't wait until we can get away from all of this too, I know agents have a place but ours have made me feel like I can never really settle and think of this place as home.

I learnt it over the years due to shitty treatment from letting agents. we went to solicitors that deal in property law, the CAB, shelter and did shed loads of internet research.

It was one particular London agency that kicked it all off trying to fine us 500 pounds!!!

It's one of the few topics that really makes me spit feathers and seeing people dishing out incorrect advice, seeing people bullied by bastard letting agents on a power trip, makes me rage.

and people wonder why Britain is obsessed with home ownership.

I've been living in my rented home for over 2 years, i've only had 2 inspections by the letting agents.

Just sticking my nose in to say - bamboo is absolutely, 100% right.

People seem to assume that what it says on the contract is the be all and end all - it isn't. There is no right for a LL or agent to enter your property without your express permission, regardless of whether they give you 24 hours notice or not.

Demanding to come into your home monthly suggests harassment to me. So long as you're the legal tenant the law allows you the right to decide who steps across your threshold and you can say no to anyone, including the LL whether s/he likes it or not (except in rare cases of extreme emergency).

Jut a thought OP, any chance that its a typo and they meant annual but put monthly? Just in case you go steaming in there on your high horse and have to beat a swift retreat?

I am certainly not speaking from experience, oh no

CunningPlan - I don't think it's likely (we had a safety check less than 6 months ago), but I did err on the side of caution. My e-mail said that I presume the mention of a monthly safety check is a mistake, as it would clearly infringe on our right to quiet enjoyment of the property without interruption from the landlord and his agents, so please may they e-mail to confirm that visits will continue to be quarterly as they have been for the past 4 years. I also wrote that I will be happy to meet them for the inspection between 1pm and 5pm on the day they have suggested, but please may they let me know what time so I can make sure I'm available. I'm pretty sure they will ignore it/deliberately misunderstand it, as that's their usual response to things like this.

Bamboo - £500?! Bloody hell, your ex-LAs make mine look reasonable...

Ellie and Greg - thank you for the reassurance, when I started this thread I was feeling quite worried but the new perspective I've been given has helped me to make the transition to Justified Indignation .

Wow, I've never heard of letting agents like this. Next time they informed you what time they were letting themselves in, I would be home and not let them enter. They need your permission, not just inform you. I would also happily suggest an alternative time to them; if they are not happy, suggest they can call the police if they feel your understanding of the law is incorrect and they have a right to force entry into your home without your permission. Also, you can change the locks. You must return them to same condition when you are leaving (change them
back) but during your tenancy, you can change them. The thing is, it doesn't matter what your tenancy agreement states if the law says different. The law trumps any private agreement.

I've only read the OP so sorry if I'm jumping in at a point that's not appropriate but I also think its unreasonable for no other reason than you are renting a home!

I'd refuse, if its not in the contract you signed, refuse!

I wonder if your landlord (who will be paying a lot of money for all this) knows what is going on?

you are legally entitled to contact details for your landlord. So ask.

monthly inspections are OTT. 3 months more reasonable to protect the property, as tenants don't generally notice leaking gutters, dripping overflows etc etc. I said 'generally'. And the visits must be at a mutually convenient time.

Monk I'll point in the agreement it says quarterly, yeah right, 5 mins every year seems enough for them.

I know they will be difficult about this. When we first moved in, they allowed a slow leak from upstairs (another apartment owned by the same landlord) to ruin an entire ceiling over the course of a month, despite daily phone calls and office visits from us. Our bathroom and kitchen lights have only worked occasionally for the past four months because they keep sending a handyman rather than an electrician, despite the fact that we have no windows and therefore no other light in those rooms. The contract requires them to give us a fire blanket for the kitchen, and they refused to do it even though I pointed that out to them... We went 9 months without a washing machine because the landlord insisted on using a cheap, cowboy plumber rather than a proper one, and trying to make a crappy no-brand machine last 5 years (then tried to palm the bill for the whole thing off on us). Ugh. I'd love to move, or at least take them to small claims, but all of the agents round here are the same and our courses and tutoring take up all of our bloody time as it is.

This isn't in Liverpool is it? as I've had an almost identical experience!

Broken washing machine not being fixed...snap

Sending dodgy blokes round in the evening who used a sealant gun and a hammer to fix everythng rather than a proper tradesman..snap!

Water leak...snap! To be fair that may be the water company's fault.

They then tried to scam us for £210 quid when we left for hiring professional cleaners for a 'deep clean' (after we had cleaned it to a much higher standard than when we moved in!) took it to the Tennancy Dispute Service and got our money back as they didn't submit any receipts, evidence or inventory.

When i moved in, we cleaned the carpets, so dirty the water was black, ugh, leak that the previous tenants never reported, fag burns on carpet, broken lights in upstairs bathroom, painted badly.

lovelyladuree Seriously?

OP that's outrageous. I'm a landlord who uses a letting agent and all of that sounds completely unreasonable on all counts. The only thing I would say is that you mention "you'll never be renting again"? My nan used to say "Never say never and don't burn any bridges"

All the best

lovelylauderee why the nasty post? Some students will actually be in uni 9-5 monday to friday. So the letting agents are allowed to act like wankers because they are dealing with students rather than hard-working workers?!

OP well done for challenging. Monthly safety checks are ridiculous. Also, we are renting at the moment, and have quarterly inspections. When the guy came to do our first, he said that it as in our contract that if they had sent a letter with a time and we hadn't replied he was allowed to let himself in if we weren't here BUT he told me if we called the agency and said that no we were not happy with this, then they had to put this on file and he was no longer entitled to do this. Nice bloke, I thought. Maybe you could do the same?

Exactly fishwife I am on a funded PhD too which I startede after working in both the public and private sector for ten years beforehand. I have never worked so many hours or worked so hard in them.

They are letting agents for students. You are students. They have heard all the bullshit crap before. How lovely that you regularly get a lie-in, but in the real world, some of us have to work office hours, which is 9-5, so you will have to get out of your pit

Someone got a bit of a chip on their shoulder? Bet you are one of those 'University of Life' crashing bores.

Ah, she works 9-5, she probably doesn't know what it's like having a busy schedule.

Yes, I dimly remember the days of leaving the office at 5pm on Friday and not having to think of work until 9am on Monday.

Bloody office working shirkers! Don't know they are born!

I have no such memories, so can't judge.

I may just be saying this as I have writers block and a chapter to submit by Sunday evening!

Ouch.

I'm doing my introduction. I haven't got writer's block but I'm not getting through it very fast as structure isn't my strong point.

How far along is it - minor issues to sort, hopefully?