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?