Aibu to not let the estate agent hold viewings?

[LouLouLoupee]

Posting on behalf of Dsis, we are in Scotland.

Dsis has been in her rental flat for 4.5 years. The LL is our cousin, everything is above board in regards to rental agreement, deposit etc.

Cousin has decided to sell the flat as a part exchange on a new build, Dsis has notice to quit and will be moving out mid March.

The house builders have instructed an estate agent to market and sell the property. Since being served the notice to quit Dsis has made the flat available for EA photos, surveys and safety certificates. This has been incredibly stressful for her as she works full time, is taking on overtime to help fund her move and has the added complication that she has a rescue dog that doesn't take well to strangers coming into the flat. She is also having to find time to view properties herself and get ready for moving.

The EA has been trying arrange viewings for the flat, but they are unable to find a mutually convenient time.

House builders are now threatening to pull out if access to the flat is 'not provided on a regular basis.' Obviously we don't want our cousin to lose out on his house, but really not sure what else Dsis can do. EA want a key to hold viewings while Dsis is out, but she isn't sure how the dog would react.

Has anyone else been through similar? We know her rights in terms of 'quiet enjoyment of the property' and allowing reasonable access with notice. But at what point does it become unreasonable?

That was my understanding, Soup. Not sure if it’s the same in Scotland.

Sorry, I do think your sister is being unreasonable here. The dog is an issue and I think it's up to your sister to sort something out really (although that might be difficult financially if she's already working overtime to help with the costs of the move), whether your cousin is willing to help with this is up to them really.

Hope she has found somewhere lovely to move on to in March.

I think no one is being unreasonable. The situation is just unworkable.

However, your cousin has been good to DSis by letting her have her dog in tenanted accommodation. Now she owes it to him to make sure he doesn’t lose his house by finding somewhere else for the dog to go all day.

The owner of the flat (cousin) should arrange to be there for viewings and take care of the dog. Simple but effective.

I think suggesting she is miserable and obstinate is incredibly unfair. She has only had the notice to quit 3 weeks thus far and was not made aware that the flat would be put on the market immediately. Having never been through this process before we don't know what is expected.

LL lives about 2 hours away and hasn't expressed that he would be available to facilitate viewings, but worth asking the question.

Dsis has offered evenings, but this didn't suit the EA.

Would specifying one set time eg 12-4 every Tuesday be considered regular/reasonable? And then any other viewings to be facilitated by the LL?

LL lives about 2 hours away and hasn't expressed that he would be available to facilitate viewings, but worth asking the question.

As he is the only one getting any benefit from this, he does need to make some kind of effort. Even arranging a dog walker when there will be a viewing might help.

Yes, that sounds reasonable. It’s only for a month. As a tenant, she wouldn’t have to allow viewings at all in England. I understand renting is a little different in Scotland so Idk the rules. I would say to try to be as accommodating as possible. This is a cousin so it would be sensible to try to keep family relations good. Could you or another family member for example have the dog in the day so viewings could be any time?

The fact that LL is her cousin does have quite a big impact here, and the dog isn't a get out of jail free card. In the daytime agents might be coming round without checking with her anyway if they know they can get away with it, but most viewers will want evenings/weekends because they work too.

Could DSis and estate agents agree mutually convenient (ish) windows when viewings can be arranged, such a weekdays after 6pm except Thursdays, and anytime weekends, with at least x hours' notice? Then she is providing regular access but not ridiculously limited.

It's give and take. If the most important thing is that people don't go into her home when she's out or when the dog's home alone, then tit for tat she needs to carve out times when they can come. It's only a month until she has to be gone anyway and every time there's a viewing, it might be the last one.

She's lucky to have had her dog at all in the flat.

Tbh, this isn't your sisters problem. It's your cousins. If he's that bothered, he can pay for dogwalkers or be there for the viewings.

I think landlord could maybe offer DSis financial incentive to make her move faster and easier. Or suck it up and risk losing the sale. Early deposit release, pay for packing service, dog walker, relocation support etc. I had a tenant once that I wanted to leave early to facilitate house viewings without their mess....£1000 incentive and guaranteed full deposit return helped that along nicely (and I was clear they were under no obligation to take it)

This is not DSis issue to solve, it is the landlord's....and their decision to sell up either without thought of the impact on DSis, or in a deliberate attempt to minimize pre-sale void for their own financial benefit (or both) is 100% their responsibility to solve.

I think she's being hugely unreasonable, sorry. Hand over the keys to the estate agents and stop being so unhelpful

Maybe cousin should sell the flat after dsis moves out. He's not done her a massive favour - he's been getting rent money from a reliable tenant, so a mutually beneficial arrangement. If cousin wants this sale, then cousin needs to get off backside and make life as easy as possible for dsis, who is still paying rent and who has nothing to gain here.
Not saying she should say no to viewings but she shouldn't be having to totally upset her own life to accommodate what everyone else wants.

This it for the LL to sort. He's the one who will benefit.

No-one other than immediate family members who live here permanently gets a key to my home. I don't care what anyone else does. What if the tenant's things are damaged or stolen? What if the property itself is damaged? The estate agent doesn't even have any incentive to look after your sister's interests. Their client is the cousin.

It is nice that other people are so trusting. I, however, am not. I think things are unlikely to go seriously wrong if you allow unfettered access, but if they do you will just get denials all the way and no satisfaction.

This is why landlords don't rent to people with dogs....the cousin won't ever make that mistake again! If you have a dog I think the onus is on you to sort it out as a tenant as you are inconveniencing the LL. If your sister values being able to rent and have a dog she should consider that by behaving like this it makes it even harder for other renters to have pets. I imagine the cousin was trying to be nice because of the relation and allow the dog. Now it's come back to bite him in a big way. I feel sorry for the cousin.

If you have a dog I think the onus is on you to sort it out as a tenant as you are inconveniencing the LL.

If you are selling the property I think the onus is on you to sort it out as a LL as you are massively inconveniencing the tenant.

She’s is being unreasonable.

It's to be hoped that most of you are not landlords.

I would just give the ea the keys

It's interesting that some of you think she is 'lucky' to be able to have the dog in a rental.

I am actually looking for a new rental property at the moment as well, and have a dog. Neither of us have had a problem finding properties that accept dogs.

Maybe landlords in Scotland are just generally nicer than wherever the rest of you are 🤔

Why doesn’t she want the EA to have keys? Is it due to dog possibly biting? Mine would if a stranger tried to touch him. She needs to come up with something to keep the viewers safe and the dog, but refusing viewings in her absence is being awkward if the dog isn’t the issue.

Actually the cousin has been massively unreasonable. He has signed a contract for part exchange which states the flat he is selling must be available for access, knowing he is a landlord and has no right to expect a tenant to provide access. He has messed up!

Of course if you want to have a good relationship she is going to have to be more flexible, but really this is all because of the cousin!

You cousin has entered into part exchange - the nature of these is that in return for guaranteed sale you agree to an overbearing fast paced viewing process which when you have tenants you cannot promise, why should they have be subject to this in their home. He should either offer dsis free rent and accommodate the viewing himself, swap houses with her and have viewing in his own living space or find a month rental and pay for it with the rent she pays topping it up out of his own pocket if necessary. It his his own fault for entering into an overbearing part exchange. Tenants do not have to facilitate overbearing viewings imo.

I think i would offer one day a week where the EA could show people around (maybe a Saturday, or two evenings?). That way she's being reasonable (and, I believe, actually doing more than she needs to - if she's moving mid-March, she should still be entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property throughout Feb).

Any more than that, the cousin will need to facilitate. Perhaps they'd like to hold a key and stay in a nearby B&B for a few days to keep their builders happy?