House viewings AIBU?

[TinaGurner]

I privately rent and my contract is due to end on 1st May.
I rent via an agency so don’t have any dealings with the owner of the property. She is selling the house and as such I’ve been having people come to view the house regularly for the past 2.5 months.
She instructed 3 different agents to advertise the property which means I have been inundated with phone calls, emails and people coming and going from my home.
I’ve been as accommodating as I can but I’m reaching the end of my tether with it. Tenancy states I need to allow reasonable access to the house in the event of a sale for the last 2 months of the tenancy but I’ve actually allowed from 4 months before.
I’ve found out she’s part exchanging the property and the deal is set to be signed on 31st March. I however am now being contacted by agents for the company who purchased it to come and do viewings so they can sell the property on.
Do I have to allow these viewings? In the next couple of weeks I’m going to start packing, minor decorating etc and organising things ready to vacate and I don’t really want strangers wandering around my house whilst I’m doing this.
Would I technically within my rights to say no to these viewings because my contract is with the landlord and she will actually no longer be the owner of the property after the 31st?
Is that how it works with part-exchanges?
I’m sick of having to keep everything immaculate and ship my kids off to relatives houses just so these viewings can take place!!!!

If the contract said you had to wear a purple skirt and spin a hula-hoop every Wednesday, you would ignore it because it is an unenforceable term. Same goes for the "reasonable" viewing. You have been reasonable.

Hoever, sometimes discretion can be the better part of valour, so as others have said, offer 2 slots AT YOUR CONVENIENCE e.g. Wednesdays between 6 & 7pm and Saturdays from 10am - noon. That is more than reasonable and you can get on with your life. It might be worth changing the lock barrel (keep the old one and replace it as you leave) if you think the EAs might have a key.

To be honest the viewings are never convenient. They insist on evenings and weekends and also say that they don’t want us present because people may feel uncomfortable having the current occupier there. They also won’t let me do an open house for a couple of hours once a fortnight for example because there’s 3 different agents trying to sell and they don’t want to their competitors there at the same time
I’m close to telling them all to get fucked tbh, I’m paying £900pcm to feel like I can’t relax in my own home

I’m a single mum to 2 children and it’s a ball ache trying to get things done in the evening if there’s viewings due to take place. I can hardly just cook dinner or bath them and stick to our normal routine if strangers are wandering around.

somebody is being very stupid here. if you are still living there after 31st March then the new owners are your new landlords. If you by any chance decide not to move then they will be the ones evicting you.

they also get all the responsibilities of protecting your deposit, safety checks, formal notice of being new landlords etc etc etc.

They insist on evenings and weekends and also say that they don’t want us present because people may feel uncomfortable having the current occupier there.

They are taking the piss and have no right to do so. The property is sold, stop the viewings until after you have moved out. You have been far more accommodating than you need to and not had quiet enjoyment of your property through the sales period.

@specialsubject no the agency is responsible for those things, my tenancy is with them not the homeowner. Their situation is changed however as their client will be a different person/company

Hmm, interesting one. So the agency is the landlord and is this crooked?

No the landlord is still the landlord, but my contract is with a lettings agency who has been subcontracted by the owner of the property. The agency deals with all the deposits, inspections and complied the inventory etc. They will also be who decides what I get back from my deposit, the owner of the property gets not say in it as the agency registered my deposit with the Deposit Protection Angency.
Nothing is crooked.
The agency will not care whether or not I allow viewings because it’s not in their benefit either way, they simply are paid to ensure I keep to the conditions of the tenancy agreement, which I have.

I rent via a very large National lettings agency. I can’t imagine they’d be allowed to get away with deducting money from my deposit without a good legal grounds to do so

Nope. This happened to me, but my landlord told me if I don’t then they won’t write me a referral so I can rent somewhere else when my agreement was up... so I’d be careful they could just refuse to write a reference without giving reason so technically get around it... at least so I was told

Nooo don’t let them have free access when you move out. No access until 1st May. We were in the same situation years ago, once we’d moved out (but rental contract not yet expired) someone went in there and walked mud over all the carpets and the landlord tried to deduct it from our deposit saying we were still in contract so it must have been us!
I told him we’d been away that day, I could prove this, and asked if anyone else had been into the property in connection with the house sale. He maintained definitely not. So I said I’d call the police, get a crime number for a break in and call him back. Funnily enough he then remembered a tradesman that he’d called round.
Don’t do it, not til you’re out of the contract.

I also have an agent who does all those things. The deposit scheme decides if the deposit comes back, not the agency. ( or me - I can claim but it isn't my decision, tenants money)

Anyway, stop all viewings.

@FranticallyPeaceful I don’t need any references, I’m buying my next home.
@specialsubject you’re mistaken there, the deposit scheme refund the money within 10 days unless the agency submit a list of costs to be deducted based on their exit inspection. My landlord has no bearing on either the inspection or any amounts to be deducted, and seeing as the agency have no reason to want me to do viewings I can’t see them trying to be picky as revenge for refusal.
@Mascaponeandwine none of the selling agents have keys to the property for that reason. I am present at all viewings to let them in so if any damage occurred I would deal with it before they had even left the house.

TinaGurner Then don’t do it, at all. I needed mine at the time

So I took everyone’s advice and informed all the different agents that I will no longer be holding viewings.
My kids are downstairs quietly watching a film (rare for them!) so I took the opportunity to have a shower and apply some tan (girls night out on Friday - no kids, tons of wine )
And against all her better judgement I can hear my DD8 chatting to someone at the front door!!! A bloody agent has turned up with a viewer and was trying to push past DD to get in!!!
I shouted down the stairs that there was nothing booked in for today and they shouldn’t be here and asked them to leave.
All the while I’m in nothing but a towel and highly embarrassed!!!!
I’m absolutely fuming

Bloody hell OP..... I’d be fuming.

Just a little reminder that if you think they will try to let themselves in you are well within your rights to change the lock barrel (v cheap and easy, look on YouTube for a how to video) as long as you replace the original one when you leave.