To think having a workman sent to my home every week is absolutely ridiculous?

[Willow79]

I am fuming.

In the last month and a half my letting agency has sent various people round to do gas checks, legionella checks and to fix multiple breakages caused by a result of faulty installations before my arrival. I am working from home and the kitchen and living room is open plan - every time a workman comes they have several questions for me and I am not able to do my work productively.

Now the oven has broken and a guy is coming to fix it on Thursday. And now, as a result of a gas check, they have emailed to say they are sending someone round to install an additional part to the hob. This is a nice to have so I dont need to use alighter to light the hob, not essential.

I have told them multiple times these endless visits are disrupting my working life. It is actually really starting to affect me. AIBU to refuse?

OP can't you treat your working hours as non negotiable, as if you actually were at work away from the property and schedule around your work hours? I have to do that as I can't work from home. I've had a couple of arsey responses to which I reply that if they want their rent on time, I need to work. I don't work 24/7 and have always offered 2 days a week where I would be available. Or I've asked for it all to be on one day and taken the day off.
Yes it's good that a landlord wants to fix things, but they also need to realise if their tenant works, they may not be able to just drop everything to be available for this and that. Most people pay their rent from their wages and need to actually go and do that work to earn the money in the first place.

Great Felicity, except it is also bloody hard to find reliable tradesmen. My properties are in central London so not only am I paying ££££ for any call out (a gas safe cert costs over £200) but I have to accept the hours tradesmen can do.

Luckily my tenants seem to accept that I do my absolute best to bridge the gap between their needs and tradesmen availability. I am not super human. House owners accept that they may have to fit round a good plumber. Sadly tenants may also have to, if they want work done well. Life involves compromise, not just asserting right.

out of interest have you tried getting workman in at any time? Believe me you don't get a choice - they say when they are available & you have to take them often months in advance & for the electrics you get the checks & you have to get things fixed that fail within a very short time period (within a month) or the council might fine you or worse. Trying to book workman or set days - ironic laugh! - & trying to get all the workman to come on one afternoon
& any home owner will tell you (she says having dealt with the dreaded British Gas Service today!)getting workman in at all is a nightmare!

@Needmoresleep

Great Felicity, except it is also bloody hard to find reliable tradesmen. My properties are in central London so not only am I paying ££££ for any call out (a gas safe cert costs over £200) but I have to accept the hours tradesmen can do.

Luckily my tenants seem to accept that I do my absolute best to bridge the gap between their needs and tradesmen availability. I am not super human. House owners accept that they may have to fit round a good plumber. Sadly tenants may also have to, if they want work done well. Life involves compromise, not just asserting right.

Yes compromise, that's exactly what I'm saying, not "asserting rights". Compromise that means the tenant and the landlord compromise, not just the tenant. I wouldn't be able to take 7 working days off in the course of a month and a half, I'd put my job at risk. You know, the job that pays the rent. For a one off repair, I have and would work around it, but not to the extent the OP has described, you might be lucky enough to have a job where you can be flexible, I don't, I can't just nip out or take a half day at short notice, several times in a short space of time. If you're working then you're working and there has to be compromise on both sides.

Felicity, how do you think homeowners manage?

Most letting agents or landlords would be happy to give the workmen keys. It is the tenant who wants to be at home. If repairs need doing or statutory requirements need to be met, flexibility is needed. It is not landlords fault that there are now so many checks. Tenants organisations have campaigned for them. Be careful what you wish for.

This thread made me instantly email my agent to let the tenants know that the EIRC, due soon, is a lengthy process. I had no idea, as the last one was done pre-letting and all handled by my late DH.

I hope I'm a decent landlord, reply instantly to agent's repair requests, and the tenants are prompt in notifying so the house isn't falling apart. All this from Australia when the rental is in the UK, so very dependent on good agent and good tenant.

Possibly @HelloDulling but no cafes or libraries are open here. Everything remains closed so I have nowhere else indoors to go.

And @flaviaritt has it. I actually did try the headphones thing (a good quality bluetooth set) and the client could still hear the drilling!

I think there are actually laws around what level of construction you can subject employees to in the workplace. I don't see this as being any different.

@SweetFelicityArkright if I was actually out at work they would just get the keys from the agent. In this case that doesn't work because until restrictions lift I am forced to be home.

Anyway thanks everyone. If they can come end of this week it could work, if not they will have to wait until Jan.

When I was a tenant, the LL told us a gas check or whatever was due & gave our phone number to the tradesman, who’d call us to arrange. If something needed fixing we’d tell the LL, and they’d either ask us to sort it and bill them for minor stuff, like new toilet seat or washers for the taps or a packed up dishwasher, or give us the number of their preferred person for a bigger job - we’d arrange a time, LL would pay tradesperson direct.

When I was a LL I did the same, unless the tenant cba liaising, in which case I’d arrange it to suit me and go over to let tradesperson in with my key, giving the tenant notice that was happening. I’d have been unimpressed by a tenant refusing to liaise on a suitable time with the tradesperson and also trying to refuse my reasonable access.

If an agent is involved it’s more annoying still, I think, as they’re yet another middleman person and in order to earn their fee they don’t usually let the tenant liaise direct with the tradespeople they employ as they’re on contracts so less flexibility.

But for OP, in this scenario, it’s all a total non-issue as COVID and self-isolation is a get out of jail free card for not letting people in, and she’s leaving soon anyway so she can just say no.

Our landlord has suddenly started fixing things that we've been asking for them to do for ages and they were dragging their heels.

Got an email today telling us that we're being evicted. The repairs are obviously being done for the person they're moving in.

You'd think that renting from the church would mean a more Christian approach but no.....

I get that it is disruptive, but it seems like just a stream of bad luck. When things break repairs must be made and at least you don’t have a landlord who lets things deteriorate .

I think there are actually laws around what level of construction you can subject employees to in the workplace. I don't see this as being any different.

I think you are wrong. The landlord does not have a duty to provide you with a work space. They do have an obligation to meet statutory requirements in terms of gas, electricity etc.

In fact during Covid, building hours have been expanded. So our neighbours buggered off to Wales whilst their house was gutted. Building noise seven days a week for seven months up to 12 hours a day. (And yes, she is an up and coming Labour politician.) Yes unpleasant but nothing we could do.

I would either say no to your landlord and let them do it all after you move out. Or negotiate constructively with your landlord in the hope everything is done quickly. You seem to be in a no mans land of not saying no but remaining unhappy.

Wow imagine having a diligent landlord who baited by H&M requirements 🙄

*abides not baited

I think there are actually laws around what level of construction you can subject employees to in the workplace. I don't see this as being any different.

The landlord doesn’t need to provide you with a workplace, just a safe and functional home.

Wear ear defenders and apologise and tell them you don’t mean to be unsocial but you’ve got a deadline

Go find a cafe to work in then.

@Needmoresleep

Felicity, how do you think homeowners manage?

Most letting agents or landlords would be happy to give the workmen keys. It is the tenant who wants to be at home. If repairs need doing or statutory requirements need to be met, flexibility is needed. It is not landlords fault that there are now so many checks. Tenants organisations have campaigned for them. Be careful what you wish for.

Home owners manage by being able to arrange with the tradesperson directly a suitable time. As a tenant you're often not afforded that, the LL makes the appointment and if you can't be available well you're just being awkward, when in fact you need to be at work, cannot take time off at the specified time. If that applied to a home owner, well they'd not make the appointment for then would they, they'd make it when they could be there. I have to be in for any appointments like this, they won't take the keys and do it themselves. In previous houses I've been fine with them going in while I'm at work - same as a homeowner, but with this tenancy and one other the LL has insisted I'm there - well if you're going to insist that I'm there it's going to have to be at a suitable time for me, and by suitable I don't mean not being available because you want to go out for a walk or something, I mean because you're at work. But you seem determined to paint tenants as just awkward, no doubt there are some, in the same way I've had awkward LLs in the past, I have nothing against LLs in general, just ones who think I'm just being awkward and obstructive when I can't get time off work, at short notice, without having the choice to give times/dates I could actually be available, or even set up the appointment myself with the tradesperson. In the same way I make a Dr or dentist appointment on days when I'm off, I'd make those types of appointments when I'm off. The OP isn't being awkward by saying they're working xyz days at so and so times and therefore those times are unsuitable, it's the same way people make appointments every single day, but tenants must just do as they're told and be grateful that an LL is willing to take their money in return for living in their house?! Such a huge favour they're doing, not like it's a two way street or anything!

YANBU if this is every week. As you are leaving anyway, just say sorry I can't this week, sorry I can't this week and put it off. Don't waste time being fuming, just say no. You can turn down non-essential things.

Your landlord is using your time instead of their own, many landlords are cheeky fuckers in this way.

I can’t actually believe this thread. A landlord who wants to improve things for you by arranging tradesmen to visit? How terribly rude of them. Im sure you’d be unhappy if things weren’t being repaired though. I get it’s distracting from work, but answer the door, put headphones on and work while they do their bit to make your property safe.

Keeping you safe and ensuring your home is fit to live in. How awful for you. Absolutely, refuse and demand your right to risk. Be unsafe. Be cold. Have carbon monoxide poisoning as a treat. Move.

Seriously people don't read full posts do they, the op is not arguing about the actual essential safety aspects it's the additional visits that are the issue, I. An understand having the safety checks that's fine but as she stated the landlord is happy to ignore things she has actually asked to be fixed but wants to fit an extra part to the job that op doesn't want it need! You do not have to allow these extra visits especially at the moment, say that they need to be at a time convinient to you, they would not arrange an app at their own home which would disrupt their day so why should they disrupt yours!

So these "endless" visits are actually only once a week for the past month and a half. So 6 visits in total.

I suppose they "endlessly" "traipse" through the kitchen. Visitors to MN homes generally seem to "traipse" a lot.

Yes and as I’ve said I’ve had about the same recently. No fancy upgrading but just basic things that needed doing that I would struggle to do myself. This honestly sounds a lot like normal life.