To just think this is shit and unfair

[causeimunderyourspell]

So following on from my previous post where we had a bolt out of the blue from our landlord selling our house, less than 3 months after we moved in. Our contract ends in August and obviously won't be renewed. Anyway apparently they have lots of people who want to view the property and are asking about availability.

Aibu in thinking this just fucking sucks. We'll just have random strangers traipsing in and out of our house, mooching in the cupboards and just generally getting in the way until someone buys it, which is unlikely to be quick as the photos are misleading and it needs a lot of work doing to it.

I have 2 young DC so keeping the place tidy in the week is not always possible. I don't mind so much in the day as we're not there but it's tending to be after work times so what the hell am I supposed to do?! I can't get out as we'll be getting our dc bathed and ready for bed!! Would it be unreasonable to ask that they only do viewings in the day while we're not there or daytime at the weekend?

We had this and bent over backwards to have the place clean and tidy. In hindsight I wished I’d just said no. In the few weeks she also had all our windows replaced whilst we were still living there and they were left glassless most of the day with small children. Some even left overnight. She then tried to take some of our deposit for no good reason. I was way too nice!

You don't have to allow viewings but check your contract.

Some agreements have a clause that will allows LL's to schedule viewings during the last month of a tenancy.(still has to be with your consent and at your convenience)
and if you don't allow any at this point then the LL could say he has suffered financial loss if it doesn't sell as quickly and could try and claim this from you.

You can refuse. Write to them and say you won’t allow viewings until you leave and that they shouldn’t request them. I might even go as far as changing the locks (which you are allowed to do) so they don’t come round while you are out.

Nightfall1 most contracts will say viewings must be accommodated within the last month of the tenancy but the tenant can still refuse. The landlord has given up his/her access rights when they signed the tenant up

You don't have to allow viewings but check your contract

doesn't matter what the contract says, she still doesn't have to allow any viewings at any time.

When I was a landlord I offered reduced rent in exchange for access for viewings. The tenants decided to move out instead. Fair enough. They were single professionals not parents of small kids though. I’d never ask a family to do viewings.

Agree with Coffee it's often misunderstood but NO tenant MUST allow a landlord access. Not ever.

The LL can enter if they think the house is on fire or there's a flood. It's the right to "quiet enjoyment" that trumps all cheeky landlords' desire to play lord of the manor.

Tell them No.

If your LL was a decent sort, that would be different. They can wait until August. The absolute most is concede would be a viewing window once a week e.g. 6-7 on a Wednesday.

Am an ex-LL and I think you absolutely shouldn’t offer your LL any favours!

@Loandbeholdagain that's terrible!
Op we rented a flat where we had renewed the tenancy on the basis the LL (who was incidentally also the EA 🙄) was no longer trying to sell the property. Once we had renewed they then proceeded to put the property back on the market and tried to organise viewings! We refused them until our notice period came up. Hated that LL!

Why would you facilitate viewings for a home you have no interest in. Worth having alook at what information is around this is interesting.

From what I read on MN, you don't have to allow access even if it's written in your tenancy agreement.

I would do these fuckers no favours.

Check with Shelter and if you don't have to allow access then absolutely don't.

As others have said you don’t have to allow any viewings if you don’t want to.

To give you my experience, I had a landlord who was selling, a few years ago mind, and we negotiated a rent reduction in return for allowing viewings which we agreed would only be during the day whilst we were at work (no evenings/weekends). It benefitted us to be reasonable as we found a perfect new flat to move to but it was available a week after our lease ended so the landlord was happy to let us stay on that extra week as he was still waiting to complete. Plus we got a rent reduction of £150 per month for the last 3 months of our tenancy which paid for a nice mini break.

Thanks for all the advice so far. I really would love to tell him fuck off you can wait until August. Only problem I have is we may need to use the agent to help us find a new place as we have no means of saving another deposit. They have said the deposit could be transferred if we found a place through them.

Do you think they'd still help us if we said to them we are not happy to have viewings?

Every time this pops up people post misinformation.

The OP DOES NOT have to allow viewings even if the tenancy agreement says she does. A tenancy agreement can not override a tenants legal right to quiet enjoyment of the property. No viewings can be forced on a tenant.

People will say you have to in order to get a reference. A landlord reference isn't like an essay about how good you were. It is literally usually yes or no questions (did this person rent from you, did they pay the rent on time, etc).

OP, in your position I'd be refusing viewings and changing the barrels of the locks until I move out. They will try and sneak in viewings when you are out.

But you'll be getting your current deposit back right?

Or do you mean you won't get it back in time to use it to secure another rental?

@SmashedMug that's interesting - I didn't realise he reference was just a yes or no type of questionnaire.

You could always agree to limited viewings in return for something that would make your life easier - a rolling contract to give you a bit more time to move, for example? It's in their interests to work with you on this because they will want the place to be clean and tidy and for you not to point out its downsides. You could, if you were so inclined, actually scupper a sale by making it clear to potential buyers that you don't want to move and would force a long drawn out eviction process - though I wouldn't recommend actually doing it because it would be expensive and stressful and you'd obviously not get a reference if you needed to rent again in future. My point is that your cooperation is worth something to your landlord.

@Lacucuracha yes we'll get it back but it can take quite a while even if there are no disputes unfortunately.

Yes or No to viewings are not your only options, OP.

You could also, for example, 25% rent reduction in exchange for 2 X 2 predefined viewing slots per week. Or if you just want out now and have somewhere else, to have your contract anulled, plus reference, plus deposit returned in advance in full, plus £1500 compensation for admin fees and moving costs.

Just putting it out there...it's a horrible situation but you have leverage if it suits you to use it.

"As we have such a short time in the property we want to enjoy our remaining time uninterrupted, so we won't be permitting viewings."

Why don't they do an open day instead, then you can get everything spick and span but just the once, or at least only periodically. It's really unfortunate, they should have been more forward thinking. When I sold my house after renting it for a while I waited 6 months to give the tenants time to find somewhere else.

Given the fact the LL shafted you, I'd go with 'NO viewings'.

We've had cunt EAs ignore our boundaries, ring up with 'We're just round the corner and popping in,' (no, you're fucking not), come in when we were out at work and no notice, pull us up on tidiness or boxes during viewings (um, we're packing to move!). Some people on here have had EAs show up whilst they, the tenants, were in bed or the shower.

So definitely keep the key in the lock at all times or put the chain on whilst you're in.

I came close to changing the lock barrels one time when I got a snitty call at work from the EA to say they'd been in for a viewing and the place was untidy. I gave them a piece of my mind.

I'd second what Smashed said. Talk to the Agent, tell them you can't accommodate m/any viewings and they will probably shrug and say "Ah well!" Or they may try to negotiate specific times that you wouldn't mind... and remember they have to give 24 hours notice for EVERY VIEWING!

www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2011/10/17/five-points-on-selling-a-property-with-sitting-tenants/

@ScreenQueen can you explain more on this? I didn't realise we could potentially negotiate money back?

I actually emailed the EA saying basically we were prepared to live with all the issues if the landlord would reconsider selling (he's selling as he's realised the house is a lemon and doesn't want to deal with it anymore). He said flat out no, but there was no offer of compensating all the fees etc we paid. Is this something you would just outright ask for, and if so, how?

@OP,

You say that 'it can take a while to get [the deposit] back.' Don't know if you consider this 'a while' (apologies if you do) but I believe that the deposit must be held by an accredited third party and, unless there are disputes, must be returned to you within 30 days.