AIBU About my landlord ?

[YeahJackie]

I moved into a flat two months ago and plan to live here for a good few years. I’ve got my first flat inspection coming up and the letting agency has instructed me they’ll be taking pictures of every room, and they’ll do this four times a year and send the pics to the landlord.

Not only do I find this a bit strange but I took this flat unfurnished and so everything inside it bar the white goods is mine.

I don’t see the reason for this and they are acting like I’m insane for objecting to this. My lease does not include any reference to photos being taken but the letting agency are saying I was told at some point when I took the flat (which I don’t remember but seeing as how it’s not written down anywhere or in my lease I’m not sure it’s relevant)

But, I’m prepared to accept I’m being unreasonable if this is a perfectly normal thing for them to do and I’m just unused to it

What say ye?

If it’s not in the contract it didn’t happen.
Just remind them you have the right to enjoy your family life and tell them to do one.
The landlord may however evict you for no apparent reason.

Find these inspections of private rentals utterly humiliating and a serious privacy intrusion.

Cosentyx - that’s nearly word to word what I said to them! The flat is fairly new and it’s immaculate and I’m keeping it super clean and they’ll see at the inspection that I’m taking care of it. I love living here and really don’t want to move !

It’s quite normal
It’s just for the landlord peace of mind that the place is being looked after. doesn’t have to be perfect as they expect it to be lived in .
I’ve had this for the past 6 years in my unfurnished home all my own furniture and even a old cat gets in the pictures but it’s fine .
every 3 months the agent comes round and takes a photo of each room asks if there is any problems to report and toodles off happy all done within 10 mins .
My landlord is very happy to see I look after the place and hasn’t upped my rent because of this for the past 2 years so it’s worth it .

Bizarre. Ive been renting since I was 18 and never come across this. I can see the logic in a furnished place, but certainly not four times a year. Your own furniture and four times a year seems highly intrusive and unnecessary.

If its not in the lease I'd say no and stick to the inspection guidelines as set out in the lease or come to some sort of compromise if you think that this might mean your tenancy would be ended as soon as possible.

Every 3 months? That's just intrusive as hell. SO glad I'm not privately renting in the UK it's shit.

They built a bunch of new flats in this area and they’re struggling to rent them (this one had been empty since December) so I’m hoping that they won’t just kick me out but I guess I’ll find out.

This should be for your benefit to keep the flat in good condition, and to let the landlord know if it needs maintenance. I'm a landlord and the agents I use do a quarterly property check as routine, checking that the flat is in good repair. If they think anything needs doing they then ask me if they can get it sorted out, eg bath seals need replacing or evidence of a leak. The idea is that the check enables them to fix problems at an early stage, before things get too bad. Sometimes the tenant won't spot an emerging problem or won't think it's a big deal when really it's something that needs to be fixed. They should be only looking at the property though, not your furniture. It would be entirely reasonable for you to go back to the agent and ask them to clarify what they'd want to photograph / inspect. You can also say that you think this would be intrusive and don't want it done that often. It's possible that the landlord also doesn't think it needs checking that often but the agents are trying to make some work to justify their fees!

What @StrikeItLuckyShuffle said. Happens in every place I've ever been in. It's to show they've been and done inspections, and also that you've not put holes in the walls etc.

I used to have to take the photos when I did property inspections. I hated doing it but I only ever took pics of things like the ceilings and shower tiles to show that there wasn't any mould or water ingress. My report would state 'in good order' or 'damp under window requires investigation'. Thats enough in my opinion. However I'm in a similar position and awaiting an inspection and I'll probably let them carry on because I know how tenuous private rental can be.

luckily I’ve had the same agent that comes round each time so get on well i just see it as they are getting paid to do it by the landlord in fees so I don’t have a problem .
honestly it’s nothing to worry about @MaryPeary has said it perfectly .

I'm a landlord. I have to do quarterly inspections as a condition of my licence. These conditions are set by the council. Inspections need to be documented. Photos are the easiest way to do that. I have to particularly check for weed farming, structural problems such as broken windows, electrical problems such as broken sockets, mould, anything that could be a fire risk such as hoarding or obstruction of passageways etc etc.

The easiest way to prove this has been done and to document is with photos.. This is even more necessary when being done by a third party on behalf of the landlord. Failure to do this could mean the landlord is prosecuted.

I have an inspection twice a year, but they’ve never taken photos.
If it’s not in the tenancy agreement then I would say you’re well within your rights to refuse the photos.

I’m a landlady of many years, multiple properties. My managing agents do this, I don’t ask them to as it’s just part of the service and they send me the quarterly reports with photos and a general overview of the condition. I don’t pay much notice to be honest, unless there’s an issue reported that I need to rectify.
As MaryPeary says, it’s as much for your benefit and I wouldn’t overthink it.

Surely only an HMO licence requires that frequency of inspection. Op is in her own flat?

Best form of defence is attack.

I am landlord to one flat and we just get a general idea that tenants are keeping it nice when we go round to do the annual gas check. Otherwise we only go if tenants tell us there is any problem.

Mammajay. It depends on the council. My council requires that of standard tenancies

Yeah I’m in south of Scotland in what I think is now called a PRT.

Thanks for all the info guys. They’ve said they’d asked the landlord and see what he says so I guess we’ll go from there.

Also according to the poll I am mostly not BU so thanks for voting as well ! This is my first and only AIBU thread and it went much smoother than I’d feared

And of course non hmos are more likely to have weed farms, and are just as likely to have mould, broken sockets and all the rest of it

That was to mammajay

Don’t worry, I’m defo not letting them take any photos of my weed farm

(KIDDING !)

I'm a landlord and my letting agent does these every 6 months, though it was every 3 months at first. It has been useful in identifying maintenance issues that the tenants had failed to report because they weren't bothering them such as a leaky outdoor pipe and a damaged shed roof. If these had been left much longer there would have been further damage to the property that as a landlord I'd have had to pay for, so the inspections have been useful.

As has been said you don’t have to but I would as it protects you in the future especially if you take photos of any problems. When we left our flat after a few years the landlord tried to say we hadn’t reported certain wear and tear but I had a couple of emailed pictures of a water leak proving I had.