To say no more viewings to LL?

[TrixieFranklin]

Our LL wanted to put the rent up by £100pcm which would push it well past market value so we said no and offered to meet in the middle. He responded by serving us notice.

We found somewhere bigger for less money and get the keys next week but don't vacate the current house until the 18th so we have a week in between to move and clean.

Our current house has been on the market now for 6/7 weeks and it shockingly hasn't let because it's a lot of money for what it is.

We have allowed every single viewing for the last 6 weeks but have now said that we don't want anymore next week as we have time off work to get packed, moved and cleaned. We have 3 kids under 3, 1 of whom finds change very very hard so we are trying to make the process as easy as possible and not a stress / rush.

The letting agent is now saying that we are in serious breach of the term in our contract that says we must allow fair viewings in our final weeks and she is going to report me to the landlord as I am forcing his vacant period to be longer as they can't show the house.

AIBU?

a landlord here - looking on RLA (Residential Landlord Association) forum - re - access for viewing - you can put the clause in but if the tenant doesn't want to you cant force them & I am pretty sure they wont - put every thing in writing send by email (with the tick that it has got to their address not that they have opened it dd says you can cancel the latter but not the former) & state I have given a lot of access but we need time to pack & clean - & I am sure that you realize that you cannot deduct from my deposit for this, (personally I have never had viewings when old tenant is in - for practical reasons if they turn nasty they could put people off & for goodness sake boxes everywhere isn't going to encourage anybody. Actually these days you put price on & prospective tenants make offers. So your landlord is likely to see an lower offer (daft bats it COSTS to change tenants & if you have treated the places decently & paid your rent & are willing to increase)

I feel for you OP
I utterly despise - truly rruly fucking hate the BTL Market.
I just wish government would crack down on these greedy fuckers and force them to charge only what local housing charge

@contentedsoul you do realize the government wants to increase social housing rents?

@mumwon
No I didn't know that, But if they succeed, the private sector will increase theirs no doubt. They should be made to pay extortionate tax for what is unearnt income in the majority of cases.
I know so many that have jumped on this bandwagon - I also work with people trapped in the renting cycle.
I have nothing but pure hatred towards the private landlords - just greedy fuckers. I hope their lives transcend into the misery they force on others.

ah, here comes the usual knee jerk Guardian swallower. 3 pages, doing quite well.

yes, this is a crap landlord. you presumably do not believe in the deal/steal/trash tenant brigade and if you do, you think it is ok as they are getting back at landlords.

making money from business is not greedy. Do you work for free? If so, how do you get food etc? What do you exchange for it?

I'm definitely not here to landlord bash but he made his decision to stick the rent up and to not negotiate and serve us notice and we have decided to allow probably around 15 viewings over the last 6/7 weeks and now ask for them to stop whilst we pack and clean.
I agree from his point it's a business but he's made a bad business decision over effectively £50 a month (we offered to meet in the middle of the proposed £100 hike)

I refused to allow any viewings on one of our rentals, we have every other but that landlord was an arsehole.

Just say no.

contentedsoul but what if the rent in private housing is aligned to rent in social housing, and lowers, and the landlord is getting less than his mortgage payments/expenses? Why would you be a landlord if you weren’t making money, or if you were losing money? It’s a business and not a charity. And I say this as someone who has rented for years and I’ve never been a landlord.

I allowed work and viewers when I’d moved from the property. Someone left a foot print on the carpet and it was taken from my deposit.
So if say no more viewings.

Not all private landlords are out to shaft people. The government have spent years selling off council housing and taking it out of supply for those in need. People in social housing often have no re evaluation so you have single people or couples living in three bedroom family homes after their kids leave home and thus depriving other families in need of that housing stock. Some LL’s will take advantage just like some people will take advantage in all walks of life - it doesn’t mean all will. The maths have to stack up too. Most of the time rental prices are lower than the cost of buying the property at the time of a new rental contract if the tenant had to borrow the full value of the property. £1200 rent may sound like a fortune but if the house cost £360,000 to buy and that was all mortgaged the payments would far exceed £1200 pm. The tenant hasn’t gone through the blood, sweat and tears involved in raising the 20% of more deposit required to buy the house so why exactly should they benefit for a lower rent.

I am a landlord. I'm not out to shaft my tenants, although I am out to make a profit (it is a business after all). I still think the OP has been more than reasonable (and much good it has done her, sadly).

it is an unfortunate truth that without the private landlords there would be even fewer rental properties than there are now. The long-term plan is to drive the private landlords out and put all rental in the hands of housing associations. Be careful what you wish for.

When we were private renting, after being royally shafted by viewings a few times (LAs coming in whilst we were in bed, having a shower, saying they were just round the corner and so popped in, coming in whilst we were at work no notice and then we'd find belongings moved around or even missing or get a bollocking from the LA about having left breakfast dishes in the sink) we stopped allowing them at all and changed the lock barrels during the time between notice and moving out so they've been lucky with you.

Be very, very scrupulous with recording the state of the property at the end of the tenancy, take photos and video of everything, insides of drawers, cupboards and appliances. If you can stretch to it, hire a cleaning company that offers end of tenancy services. They will also record their work in case of disputes over the deposit.

They're now saying on our last day we have to return the keys by 10am! We've arranged an oven cleaner to come at lunch time so that won't happen. Nothing in tenancy agreement about what time we have to vacate, surely we've paid for the day we can utilise it!?

@TrixieFranklin you'd think so! Anyway, they don't have anyone moving in do they? So what's the rush 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm going to politely tell them I'll take them the keys before their close of business.
Nope, no one lined up. Maybe they're keen to restart viewings..

TrixieFranklin Again, what exactly are they going to do if you don't? As long as keys are returned by close of business (if to letting agent) on the agreed day you leave then you have fulfilled your end of the contract.

I really hate bullying landlords/agents who think that stating you must do something in x way by y time is somehow law. It's not. Just make sure you get the keys back to the agent before they close. They're probably trying to rush you so you don't finish cleaning in time so they can try and deduct from the deposit.

My old landlord years ago tried to let himself in 24 hours before the inspection/handover (we suspected he would and locked the door from the inside, left the key in and sat in darkness and silence with stifled giggles until he left), and then turned up an hour early for the actual handover the next day to try and catch us out. He had clearly been sneaking in before because he made a beeline to various 'problems' we were aware of (ring marks on furniture which we removed etc) but hadn't told him about. He couldn't find anything Not to derail but just to say some will try every trick to try and trip you up

Too late to tell you that now!!

Havent read the whole thread. But your contract should have a clause that gives a notice period for access. It is usually 48 or 72 hours notice in an assured short hold. If that is given you have to let them in. I don’t know the legal implications if you don’t but I wouldn’t risk it because you’re in breach of contract. Hope that helps.

Did you sign an inventory when you moved in? If you haven't, then you will get all of your deposit back (if it is held in a scheme).

@84wood No you don't have to allow viewings whatever the contract says.

As others have said:

1. You can refuse viewings at any time; they cannot retain deposit for this. Assuming you have a bog standard AST (and almost everyone does) any implied breach of a contract clause is overriden by the law, that "uiet enjoitment" explained upthread.

1. Did you get a full inventory and the deposit certificate at the beginning of your tenancy. Double check the paperwork, it coudl be useful to you if they made a mistake.

1. They cannot stipulate 10am for return of the keys. I am an inventory clerk and y first appointment time is 10am, but if the tenant doesn't want to move out that early they get to say no... it is still their home at that point. BUT once they have agreed to a time that does end the tenancy, when they give me the keys and sign my paperwork (or even if they refuse to sign!).

Don't let them rush you. Be calm, email everything and carry on regardless!

Hope your move goes well tomorrow.

I got my deposit back in full!! They took their time replying to the request through DPS but didn't dispute anything or the fact that I'd left it in better condition than when I moved in..

Just wanted to say thank you for the advice and for putting my mind at rest.

Crikey. Reading this opens my eyes. Our landlords sold our house during our term so the contract was not renewed. First we heard was when we went to renew. They showed people round when we were at work and never informed us. They never dealt with the leaky gas cooker, the mould or the dodgy range flue. I wish there had been the same protections then as now.