AIBU to wonder how often other tenants see their landlord?

[Specksofwhiteallaround]

I am absolutely sick of the sight of mine but Dh insists it’s the same for all people who rent and I’m curious if he’s right as it’s not my experience of renting. So as not to drip feed we do have cats, but they knew this and agreed to rent to us. The cats have caused damage to the bottom of the stair carpet and a radiator but I have absolutely no problem paying to rectify this when/if we leave.

My annoyance is that in the three years since we’ve lived here we’ve had almost 3 monthly house inspections. Every time she comes she finds fault with something and I just don’t think any of it is that big a deal. Some examples are that a tree in the garden wasn’t pruned to her satisfaction so we had to buy a lot of expensive equipment to make that better, we don’t get to the weeds quickly enough, she wants us to have a window cleaner come every week and insisted I buy a rug to put under our computer chair which makes it unusable...
She has another house around the corner and checks how often and how long my bathroom window is open and it’s never enough.

The last straw for me is that we informed her about a plumping issue at the last inspection in mid December which has been steadily getting worse while she organised a plumber. Yesterday she turned up unannounced at the door to lecture me about what the problem was (she was wrong, it emerged yesterday that the problem has been caused by a pretty major leak in one of the outside pipes not us.) and let me know a plumber would be there the next morning. While at the door she also took me to task for not cleaning the gas cupboard in the porch. Not five minutes later she’s back with a man from the water board in tow and wants access to the house, apparently the fact it was 11am and I hadn’t washed up dishes from that morning didn’t escape her notice and today she’s messaged informing me of a house inspection this Wednesday. Oh and will I go out and inform the people from the water board that she wants them to come and fit new taps in the kitchen they’re outside fixing the leak...

I have terrible social anxiety anyway but lately It’s getting so bad I don’t feel I can leave the house some days and I’m just so anxious about everything all the time and it’s draining, I feel like I’m constantly waiting for her to turn up at the door or text or ring about more cleaning issues. I’ve not had this level of landlord interference before in my life, it’s like she expects us to keep this a show home and it’s just not feasible.
Sorry this is so long, I guess I needed a good rant I really hope my dh is wrong and this isn’t the norm because I wouldn’t wish this stress on anyone.

@pandora101 Geez this could be my mother talking. It’s always me and never anyone else. Guess I’ll just stop moaning and be grateful she lets me live here at all.
For the record I’ve lived in five rented houses prior to this one, never once had a problem and received our deposit back in full each time. I must have developed my terrible attitude when I moved to this area

how tenants live their lives is nothing to do with the landlord, as long as it doesn't damage the property or disturb the neighbors - and the only remedy is eviction anyway. Inspections are to check for such damage or problems, as not all tenants think to report that a gutter is leaking etc. Landlords/agents who say 'tidy up' can be safely ignored.

knickers can be piled ceiling high and washing up done weekly, it's still nothing to do with the landlord.

I visit my tenants annually by arrangement for the gas services, and otherwise if they report something needs fixing.

I think I’ll back away from the thread now as I’m worried I’m going to end up in a fairly pointless argument before long. Thank you to everyone who replied, I’ve got a lot of food for thought.

...and if you are in England, rather more rights than I suspect you knew.

Pandora101
What? Oh god how terrible !!! that someone expects their washing machine to work !!!
That is what the rent money is for, its a business exchange not a favour to let the tenant live for free.
Op you aren't moaning at all, your landlady is a nutbar and needs to grow up and learn to let you live peacefully in your own home which you pay her for. I would have a look at shelters website and see what else you can find on your rights.
I really wouldn't be replacing carpets or radiators, fair wear and tear is not your problem unless you broke something. Have you checked your deposit is in the deposit scheme as I'd be worried she would decide to keep it all because you left a fingerprint on the hall mirror or something really terrible like a dead twig on the garden path.
Also your dp needs to read his thread.
Good luck!

@Cherrysoup best leave legal advice to the lawyers.

@pandora101. That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve read in a long time!

@specks

No need to back away - stay & get some confidence in dealing with the woman! Just ignore posters who gave no clue.

There’s no way you should lose your deposit when you move just because your walls need painting! Unless they only need repainting because they’ve been drawn on or whatever. Not for Normal wear & tear and she’ll be close to them needing repainting anyway.

I understand you’re anxious about repercussions if you speak to her about your right to ‘quiet enjoyment’ but you can’t live like this! I’m not an anxious person at all, but she’s make me on edge too.

She’s at best a thoughtless cow, especially knowing you have anxiety! It’s not on to just turn up.

@Pandora101, you don't seem very au fait with the UK laws protecting tenants!

6 years ive been here

not seen them once,only see the estate agents yearly

i couldnt cope with all that,well intrusive in to your private life

i love being left alone

We only see our tenant if something needs fixing. I think twice in 2 years. He's a good tenant and we trust him.

I’m sorry I haven’t read the thread.

I am a landlord of several properties, I visit the properties with a plumber once a year for the gas safety check and in between for any repairs the tenant has notified me of.

Me and DH feel very strongly that tenants should feel at home, because we have great tenants and want them to stay as long as possible. So we try as much as we can to leave them to it. My DH wanted to mow a tenants front lawn (he’s noticed it was overgrown as he drives by frequently on his commute) and I said I’d feel uncomfortable with it if I were living there and think it was an invasion of privacy, so he didn’t.

I should add, the majority of our tenants have pets... I don’t see why that warrants extra checks.

@Specksofwhiteallaround

I am sorry, I didnt want to upset you. I was just suggesting how to avoid that nightmare landlady. She sounds horribly intrusive

I hope you can move to some better place soon. In the meantime, try to somehow regulate her access to you, like not opening the door if she has not announced in advance she is coming

hope the water thing will be resolved soon

Yeah that's not normal. I've got a dog (with permission) and I've had an annual inspection from the letting agents and have met the landlord once.

Your landlady is taking the mick

In case anyone was curious I had the house inspection today and was treated to a lovely lecture about how disgusting the house was that day and how ashamed she was of it. I was also lectured on how they only inspect the house every three months and are very good at not pestering us or impede the quiet enjoyment of my home... I did try to say I did actually feel she is pestering us and that I didn’t feel at home in the house and her response was that it’s her responsibility as a landlord to get intercede when their are issues with hygiene that may impact their house. So I really don’t think she’s going to stop while my dirty dishes are threatening to topple her house.
I have a list as long as my arm of jobs that are apparently my responsibility to deal with and she made several comments about us having too much stuff and that fridge is too big so I foresee a big declutter before she starts getting obsessed with us turning the house into a hoarders house. Not sure where she expects me to store Christmas decorations and spare duvets as the lofts unusable but apparently I shouldn’t be cluttering up the box room.
Thanks again to everyone who commented and gave advice, we’re going to be concentrating on saving a new deposit so we can hopefully find somewhere new. I’m just glad the majority don’t think she’s the norm, I was honestly beginning to think we were as dirty and lazy as she clearly thinks.

write a letter explaining about quiet enjoyment. Any more unexpected visits, change the locks - yes you can do this as long as you put the old ones back and make good before you leave.

and then move ASAP. I can't remember if your deposit is protected but if not take the appropriate action.

That is so weird! We've had about 6 landlords in the last ten years and I'd say we've had an inspection a year if even.

Yep, I'd either contact Shelter for advice or just look for somewhere else OP, unfortunately the next people she has in the house are going to get treated the same though. If it were me I'd definitely be getting Shelter involved because I done this many years ago and it stopped my landlord doing things he shouldn't have been doing. They wrote to him and put the pressure on him to abide by the landlord code or whatever it's called. It improved matters. You do have rights, you know. Sometimes people like your landlord need told by organisations like Shelter.

Not normal. We rent our house from a landlord who has several properties in the area. It’s managed through an agency who inspect every 6 months. We’ve lived here 10 years now and have a cat and a dog.

We’ve never met the landlord. He lives in Singapore. Only problems we have is it takes slightly longer to approve and work that needs doing (we had a new boiler and a leak under kitchen sink but that’s all).

We always negotiate well with the agency too as we are both shift workers so have to arrange visits when neither of us are on nights (took about 6 weeks after original date this time but they are so understanding). Plus we like to be here cause of the dog (he’s a very helpful staffy lol).

But if either pet had caused any damage then I would understand if we had more frequent inspections.

Btw my spare room is a dumping ground and I’ve never had and comments about it. It’s normal.