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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Frustrated with tenants?

462 replies

thankunextex · 25/03/2019 10:13

I’m trying to view a house and the tenants have refused to let me view it both times. Appointments been booked in advance and then they say it’s not a good time an hour before.

I get it if you don’t want to actually leave the property (not sure if that’s the situation or not) but I’m just being messed around now.

OP posts:
CatGoals · 27/03/2019 00:39

Section 11 from The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

CatGoals · 27/03/2019 00:40

Housing Act 1988

CatGoals · 27/03/2019 00:41

Sweetie you’re the one who needs to check your legal understanding @Jon65

Jon65 · 27/03/2019 02:25

Oh you mean this bit?

(6)In a lease in which the lessor’s repairing covenant is implied there is also implied a covenant by the lessee that the lessor, or any person authorised by him in writing, may at reasonable times of the day and on giving 24 hours’ notice in writing to the occupier, enter the premises comprised in the lease for the purpose of viewing their condition and state of repair.

HarrysOwl · 27/03/2019 06:35

The police can and do frequently enter properties without a warrant

I'm talking about legal entry for a viewing or an inspection. Not a drugs bust. Hmm

HarrysOwl · 27/03/2019 06:39

Jon65 - thing is, it's not enforceable.

You can't wave the clause in your hand and demand entry into a house the tenant has not given you permission to enter, it has no weight in that way.

The tenant would be breaking the contract not to allow reasonable access as outlined in the clause but not breaking the law.

BorsetshireBlew · 27/03/2019 06:59

@jon65
If you let yourself in to a house that you own without the legal tenant's consent and they call the police while you are there, you will be removed and possibly arrested for trespass, if the police deem that proportionate. Waving your tenancy agreement will not make you not trespassing.
There are lots of areas of tenancy law that supersede what is written in a tenancy agreement. For example a married person who is not named on a tenancy agreement and may have never paid rent cannot be removed from a property that they live in, despite having no documentation that evidences they live there.
You absolutely don't have the right in law to enter a property you have let out to other people. If you do, you are breaking the law. You won't get arrested unless you're caught in the act as it were but that applies to a huge amount of things that are against the law.

AuntieCJ · 27/03/2019 07:27

You absolutely don't have the right in law to enter a property you have let out to other people. If you do, you are breaking the law.

Such bollocks. Of course LL can let themselves in in an emergency. That's the law as well.

Our tenants were away when there was a burst pipe, the neighbours phoned us and DH went round to turn the water off. Strangely the tenants were very grateful not to have their clothes and furniture ruined. Funny that.

Sofialemon · 27/03/2019 07:49

@ILoveMaxiBondi

Your comments are ridiculous. Not all LL are money grabbing, greedy twats running some huge property empire and making a fortune. Not all rental income is more than the mortgage payment, not all LL are doing it through choice to make money.

There is always so much disdain for LL on Mumsnet which I don't get, there are no where near enough social housing so private lets are a necessity.

Ime good tenants who look after a property as well as if it was their own are far rarer than the tenants who don't keep a property in the condition it was when they moved in but are then pissed off when the LL wants to keep some of the deposit. Wear and tear is a joke, I've had tenants ruin carpets and leave a house with scribble (off their kids) all over the walls but just have to suck it up as wear and tear.

greenelephantscarf · 27/03/2019 07:49

a burst pipe is an emergency.
the agent being in the area ' 'unexpectedly' with potential buyers isn't.

Inliverpool1 · 27/03/2019 08:07

As I said before these threads do make me laugh. Our neighbours were renting, they were due to leave on day x ... landlord went in, changed the locks put tenants stuff on the lawn. Tenants called the police, police came knocked the door landlord ignored them, police went away - civil matter.
You’re genuinely crackers if you think the police will make an arrest

BorsetshireBlew · 27/03/2019 08:08

If you come home and find someone in your home who shouldn't be there damn right they will make an arrest if they deem it proportionate.

BorsetshireBlew · 27/03/2019 08:09

landlord went in, changed the locks put tenants stuff on the lawn. Tenants called the police, police came knocked the door landlord ignored them, police went away - civil matter

Civil matter but the landlord still acted illegally. The tenants should have taken him to court.

BorsetshireBlew · 27/03/2019 08:10

Do you people think that civil law doesn't matter? Do you not understand that something can be against the law but not necessarily a criminal offence?

Inliverpool1 · 27/03/2019 08:12

BorsetshireBlew - yeah may well be the case but they probably too busy trying to find somewhere to live which they should have been doing since the day the section 21 was issued. I don’t know why people invite such drama into their lives

ILoveMaxiBondi · 27/03/2019 08:38

Ime good tenants who look after a property as well as if it was their own

Ahh but tenants aren’t allowed to treat the property like their own. They aren’t even supposed to think of it as home.

HarrysOwl · 27/03/2019 09:02

There is always so much disdain for LL on Mumsnet which I don't get, there are no where near enough social housing so private lets are a necessity

I agree that private lets are a necessity. And it's wrong to assume all landlords are bad/immoral, though a great deal of private Landlords seem unaware of tenant rights and legislation; they naivey leave the responsibility with letting agents, I think these hands-off LL should be more hands on, as it were.

The fact some people can't can't get on the housing ladder is not the sole fault of landlords. Also, some people would prefer to rent and not buy. My friend loves the freedom of being able to rent as she doesn't want the financial responsibility of a house and all it entails.

BorsetshireBlew · 27/03/2019 09:21

Liverpool your ignorance of housing issues outside your bubble is astounding

Inliverpool1 · 27/03/2019 09:26

BorsetshireBlew - you nothing about my life or circumstances. Or what we as a family have been through the last 8 years, but rather than sit and moan about it I took action and changed my circumstances and am equally not naive enough to think they can’t change again. But whatever happens I won’t be sitting around blaming others.

Sofialemon · 27/03/2019 10:19

@ILoveMaxiBondi

I do allow my tenants redecorate etc. but I can see why many LL don't.

I had beautiful sanded floors, all walls were white or F&B Slipper Satin, I had a tasteful fireplace. As the walls are all skimmed I prefer no wallpaper. My current tenants have put in an electric fire suite, very cheap laminate, some floral wallpaper and painted some rooms magnolia. The last tenants put kids wallpaper up, painted a room blue and the bathroom red! They also asked if the could lay grass in the front garden and promised they would maintain it, which they did not.

I don't like any of this but appreciate whilst I own the property it is their home and so allow them to make changes within reason. It all costs me more time and money when they eventually move out though.

ShowMeTheKittens · 27/03/2019 12:30

Well, speak to the landlord/agent. Personally I think it is disgusting that landlords allow viewings before a tenant has left and the law should be changed so it is not possible.
If you have paid rent why should you let strangers in?
I presume you are buying a rental property.

ShowMeTheKittens · 27/03/2019 12:32

My landlord just called me a liar because an item is broken. He needs to check the inventory because there it is. Broken item.
Charming isn't it?

CheshireChat · 27/03/2019 13:31

Whilst scribbling on the walls is ridiculous, the wear and tear clause is absolutely fine as some landlord expect the tenant to change carpets and the house to look as if no one had lived in it which isn't a fair expectation.

Inliverpool1 · 27/03/2019 13:46

I disagree, wear and tear is a joke. The deposit never covers the actual damage nevermind wear and tear so there would be bugger to cover new carpets etc.
I fully expect the house to be trashed and am amazed when it isn’t.

JessicaWakefieldSVH · 27/03/2019 13:58

I fully expect the house to be trashed and am amazed when it isn’t.

Really? What kind of agents do you use? Do you not do standard reference checks? Because any tenant with a history of that would be flagged up. 8 weeks deposit should cover any damage, unless it’s really excessive, that’s outside general wear and tear. You also have to take into account that you’re expected to redecorate every 6 years if you’re a professional landlord. Wear and tear is part of renting out a house, deposits don’t cover it, rent does.