AIBU to refuse access to my bedroom?

[SecretChocolateStash]

My landlord and I arranged mutually agreed a time today for a gas engineer to come to do the gas safety check which is due.
This was arranged several weeks ago.

The day before yesterday he emailed to say the EPC (energy rating) needs doing too so he will send someone at the same time.

I’ve had a google and it seems that this epc inspection involves the assessor checking windows lights and radiators in every room of the house, plus the loft and for cavity wall insolation.

The gas engineer would only need to be in the downstairs to check on the gas meter and boiler so I hadn’t especially worried about cleaning and tidying as the downstairs of my house is usually tidy enough for unexpected guests. (That’s the rule I try to live by)

However, the upstairs isn’t guest ready.
The bathroom and guest room/office are fine and I could quickly have a wizz around DS’s room to make it presentable but the master bedroom is a bit of a dumping ground and I have piles of washing (clean to be ironed) and boxes of clothes and shoes to go to the charity shop and stuff in bags to go to the tip.
Really it looks a mess and I really don’t feel up to sorting it out and making it look presentable just for a check that I wasn’t expecting.

Wibu to say I would prefer to rearrange but if the do want to do it today they can do every room except the master bedroom?

Be strong, you know in your heart of hearts that you DON’T need to tidy your bedroom for the gas man, it’s your anxiety playing tricks on you. Let him in, let him do his job. You will then be safe and secure in your home, and what is more you will have proved to yourself that you are can take charge of your life and not let your anxiety rule you.

Just let them in, they'll have seen worse.

You want to be glad it's not council.

Helped my friend move into a council place last year.
Boxes everywhere, right mess, sod it let's go back to mine, get some sleep and come back first thing to get it all sorted.

Get there on the morning, man from the council knocks the door before we'd had chance to get started who introduced himself as the Estate Officer, here to do a property inspection. She asked if it could be postponed as it was a mess, he said yeah if you insist but I will have to report it as "non-compliance" which can get you evicted.

He nosed around every room before asking her why it was in such a state. Asked her if she was going to actually be living there (of course she was) or just using it as storage because that's not allowed (well, duh).

To cap it off, he tells her to stand in the middle of the messy living room and basically took a mugshot of her with his laptop for "their records" incase "you try to sublet or participate in illegal activities in the property" like she was some sort of fucking criminal already. He asked to take mine but I soon told him where to go.

She's since had a variety of inspection notification letters with not much notice to arrange time off work for various things like gas check etc (despite there never being any gas, no pipes or meter). In the initial letter they always include the threat of eviction if you don't do as told. Even before you get chance to do wrong by refusing, they assume you're a scumbag.

They can't wait to get in and poke about, that is until you ask them to fix anything. Her water heater broke down, they said month for someone to even look at it. She then had to tell them her embarrassing medical needs for hot water to get them out sooner. They sent someone out in less than an hour who twiddled with the electrics for 10 minutes...all fixed. Why would that have had to take a month initially. Then the kitchen cold tap was running, not dripping, running...noisily. They did make her wait over a mount for that fix. Took fifteen minutes for repair man to change the tap head. We measured how much per minute in a jug and estimated over ten thousand gallons of wasted water. That upset my friend a bit as she is big into conservation and does not waste water.

@anotherwinkywinkybumbum

I was wondering if there had been confusion. I also thought it best to give you info as if you're anything like me, forewarned is forearmed!

Yes, thank you.

I’m going to go around the house and make note of where every socket is so that I can make sure they are all easily accessible.

Also to be clear to anyone who may have missed my post at 11.38

I have cleaned/tidied the bedroom to an acceptable level for access and will not be refusing access to the room if the energy efficiency inspector does turn up.

Unless you keep your house in such a state that he needs to wipe his feet on the way out it's fine.

Im sure they are not arsed about the state of your bedroom. Stop worrying, let them.in amd get it out the way

You could have had a quick tidy round in the time it took to write this thread. Just put things in piles.

You really don’t need to note down all the sockets. Make yourself a cup of tea and do something you find relaxing.

Epc isn't interested in the state of the house. They just want to look at the age of the radiators whether they have individual thermostats and the age of the windows. That's all. No biggie.

The post by Chocolate above does show that council lettings can be worse than private tenancies actually in some respects despite some posters saying we wish every letting in the country was from the local council.

I know it's embarrassing but an EPC is a legal requirement so it should really be done.

A friend of mine is a plumber and he was telling me or absolute horror stories of a LOT of the houses he's been in. Ones that make you wipe your feet on the way out. Rooms covered in dog and cat pee and poop, fur and fleas everywhere. Every kitchen surface covered in dirty mouldy pots and pans and bins overflowing. You know, the type you see in tv shows.

My other friend works in housing the homeless and general social housing. Many of the places she visits require her to wear safety boots just to go inside so she can't have a needle stuck in her ankle. She's seen floors littered with bottles of piss and drugs paraphernalia everywhere. She's actually thrilled that masks are a requirement now so she can put something strong smelling inside it.

Whatever your cluttered bedroom looks like, as long as it's not stinking and gross, they will not bat an eye about. Trust me. They see REAL messes on a regular basis

@DreadingSeason2020sFinale

I know it's embarrassing but an EPC is a legal requirement so it should really be done.

A friend of mine is a plumber and he was telling me or absolute horror stories of a LOT of the houses he's been in. Ones that make you wipe your feet on the way out. Rooms covered in dog and cat pee and poop, fur and fleas everywhere. Every kitchen surface covered in dirty mouldy pots and pans and bins overflowing. You know, the type you see in tv shows.

My other friend works in housing the homeless and general social housing. Many of the places she visits require her to wear safety boots just to go inside so she can't have a needle stuck in her ankle. She's seen floors littered with bottles of piss and drugs paraphernalia everywhere. She's actually thrilled that masks are a requirement now so she can put something strong smelling inside it.

Whatever your cluttered bedroom looks like, as long as it's not stinking and gross, they will not bat an eye about. Trust me. They see REAL messes on a regular basis

This makes me so sad. WTF is going on in the world? And covid is our #1 problem? I don’t think so...

I just had one of these type checks and I was embarrassed to let them in too. I only live in one room and the carpet is ratty and there is mould on the walls (neither of which are my fault) but apart from that I try to keep it as neat as I can. Which only means a quick hoover, shove mess in a drawer and make the bed So the guy came and he said my room looks like a palace compared to most of the places he visits. I know part of that was being nice but also I'm sure they do see a lot worse. So as long as your home isn't a health hazard/ unhygienic for those going into it I wouldn't worry. And I think your email sounded fine - it makes clear what they should expect and that you are willing to change the date if it's not satisfactory for them. (Which it will be, but for your own anxiety levels you know you've put that info out there first.) x