Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Rent/Landllord/Information/Advice

113 replies

Greenkit · 20/10/2018 13:45

This letter was delivered by the letting agent, to my DD and her expartner. He is moving out and I will be taking his place, so to speak.

We have signed a new contract and if we hadn't excepted all conditions and signed, wouldnt have been accepted as tenants.

My question, can they charge for not letting them in?

On another thread it was said, you don't have to let them in, you can change the locks, etc etc However, if you have signed a contract and technically accepted those things, can we still refuse?

This letting thing is complicated

Rent/Landllord/Information/Advice
OP posts:
BlatheringWuther · 21/10/2018 18:25

It is, by its nature, a vastly unequal relationship I'm afraid. Landlords have: tenants have not. There are a couple of rights, but like I said in practice they're very limited.

BarbarianMum · 21/10/2018 18:31

You dont have to let people in "whenever" though. As per the contract, at a mutually agreed time and w sufficient notice. And of course you can't redecorate without permission. With permission you may well be able to, although it does depend slightly on your idea of good decor.

Original poster
Greenkit · 21/10/2018 21:03

And of course you can't redecorate without permission. With permission you may well be able to, although it does depend slightly on your idea of good decor.

The house is currently pink, throughout or yellow

I would like to paint some neutral colours

OP posts:
BarbarianMum · 21/10/2018 21:50

Dont blame you. Grin I once rented a house where the living room was bright pink and red - it was like sitting in someone's stomach.
As a landlord I would be nervous of a tenant wanting to move the decor away from neutral colours, although I did agree to paint a bedroom yellow for the 7 year old daughter of one tenant. If she wants a neutral colour as she grows older, fine. If she asks for black when she gets to be a teenager the answer will be no.

Lazypuppy · 21/10/2018 22:33

I've said my tenants can paint, but they asked permission. And i've said if their colours aren't neutral enough they will need to return it to the current colours before they leave.

And any damage they cause by painting will come out of deposit.

If my tenants ever changed the locks i'd be giving them their 1 month notice

19lottie82 · 22/10/2018 00:41

And of course you can't redecorate without permission

Well, you can. But you’d need to restore it to how it was when you first moved in, if there were any debates after the fact.

19lottie82 · 22/10/2018 00:42

If my tenants ever changed the locks i'd
be giving them their 1 month notice

Why? What’s the problem as long as they change them back, when they leave?

Oh and unless they were one month before the end of a lease, then the legal minimum is two months.

AjasLipstick · 22/10/2018 00:45

Why the hell would you nit pick like this? I'm a tenant. This is completely normal and reasonable.

We have inspections every THREE months! We see them as our opportunity to touch base and discuss any issues we're having with the house and they get to take a few pictures and make sure the house is in good condition.

Again...totally reasonable!

AjasLipstick · 22/10/2018 00:46

Lottie it could be a HUGE problem if the tenant went on holiday and there was a gas leak or something else went wrong.

19lottie82 · 22/10/2018 00:50

Ajas locksmith, or break in then bill the tenants. I imagine this is what happens for homeowners when there is an emergency when they’re not in and a third party needs to gain access in an emergency.

Whether LL’s like it or not, a tenant is within their rights to change the locks on a property that they’re renting.

Lazypuppy · 22/10/2018 08:13

@19lottie82 well obviously, my tenants are on a rolling 1 month contract now which is why i said 1 months notice.

It's a problem because it is still my property. And i would think they were hiding something, why would they need to change the locks?

19lottie82 · 22/10/2018 09:21

@lazypuppy is the contract an assured shorthold tenancy? If so then you have to give a legal minimum of TWO months notice (on or from the next rent date) once it becomes rolling, not one. (Tenants have to give you a minimum of one)

Unfortunately the law says their allowed to do so. So if you have a problem with tenants enforcing their legal rights then being a LL isn’t the right game for you.

Lazypuppy · 22/10/2018 10:08

@19lottie82 no its a periodic tenancy, so both sides only have to give 1 month as per the tenancy agreement.

Actually the law doesn't say they can. There are sitiations when they can, such as the landlord entering without permission etc. But to just change the locks is classed as damaging/making changes to the property.

It doesn't really matter though, they can change the locks if they want, but as i said i'd be giving them notice.

Pemba · 22/10/2018 12:30

I don't think that's right, in a statutory period tenancy ('rolling') the landlord still has to give two months notice. See here:

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/section_21_eviction/section_21_eviction_process

You can write what you like in a contract, but that can't override the law.

BarbarianMum · 22/10/2018 12:38

I agree w Pemba. I dont think any sort of tenancy in England provides less than a 2 month notice period. Unless maybe in a live-in landlord situation?

CuriousaboutSamphire · 22/10/2018 12:47

lazypuppy please triple check your information. No matter what your AST says the law says that you have to give tenants 2 months notice no contract can override the law.

Greenkit sorry to hear the circumstances, I should have been able to come up with a similar scenarios myself, sorry!

53rdWay · 22/10/2018 13:05

I had a landlord assume that he only needed to give 1 month notice because the tenancy had gone from fixed-term to monthly rolling. Caused some difficulty when he tried to sell and found out it was actually 2 months notice - after telling the buyers that the tenants would definitely be out in 6 weeks, no trouble. Oops.

Lazypuppy · 22/10/2018 17:16

1 month/2 month it doesn't really worry me. 2 months is actually better as i'll definitely have a new tenant lined up so won't miss any income at all

CuriousaboutSamphire · 22/10/2018 17:21

OK!

Though I suspect you won't find it that simple... not least because if you misunderstood that aspect of landlording you may have misunderstood others, and some of those things could make it much more difficult to get your property back from a tenant!

Pemba · 22/10/2018 17:22

I have to wonder what other legalities you are getting wrong, if you didn't know that. Landlords should certainly be better regulated.

chillpizza · 22/10/2018 17:22

I’m not allowed to raise issues at my inspection it states so from the letting agent that repairs are not to be reported to the inspector. The man comes in takes photos of my home which includes my personal possessions and photos and then maybe 1 repair out of 50 needed will get done Grin

BlatheringWuther · 22/10/2018 19:50

Thanks for proving my point though Lazypuppy. Legalities really don't matter, what little there are of them in favour of tenants: what matters is the fact that rich landlords can do whatever the fuck they want to poorer people.

19lottie82 · 22/10/2018 21:42

1 month/2 month it doesn't really worry me.

It is a Bit worrying that you seem to have no clue about your legal obligations as a land lord though?

19lottie82 · 22/10/2018 21:44

But to just change the locks is classed as
making changes to the property

A tenant can make changes to a property (inc changing the locks), as long as they return it to the state it was in (minus wear and tear) when their tenancy comes to an end.

19lottie82 · 22/10/2018 21:46

PS I am a landlord also.

Swipe left for the next trending thread