To refuse access to my rented property at 7:45am?

[chocolatesorange]

My rented house is in the process of being sold and an offer has recently been accepted.

I was told on Monday that a survey was booked for tomorrow, time to be confirmed. I have just heard now that the slot they've given is 7:45 - 8:45am.

I don't work a regular 9-5 and would usually still be fast asleep at that time.

I could obviously get up early but I'm reluctant to do that since it benefits me in no way at all. It's also far less than 24h notice, although I do appreciate I was given a warning earlier in the week. I have been (what I think) really reasonable through the whole process so far. I'm not trying to be difficult for the sake of it, but I don't want to be tired the whole day.

AIBU to tell them they need to reschedule?

If you explain that your shifts mean that time is effectively the middle of the night I don’t think you look unreasonable

Did you tell them what time slots would work for you?

Not unreasonable at all.

It is still your home and there is law they must follow.

You’re entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property. If you genuinely would have been asleep then and you’re not being disingenuous, then by all means say no. The 24 hours’ notice thing is a grey area as you say they told you earlier in the week, though presumably not what time. You could go back and offer, eg from 12 noon due to working a night shift tonight, that doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. In all fairness, the landlord should have waited until you’d moved out to sell if he didn’t want issues, rather than relying on your goodwill (aka lots of disruption for you).

YANBU. You don't have to let them in at all if you don't want to.

YANBU. Don't give a reason, just tell them it's not possible and give them a couple of convenient times they can make the appointment for.

I did the opposite - told them that 4-5pm does not work for me. I didn't think to mention that before 9am was also inconvenient as I naively thought they wouldn't want to come before then.

Tell them no and, if they give you any shit over it, remind them that they have absolutely no right of access unless it's an emergency or they have a court order. You would be within your rights to refuse any surveys, visits, etc and they would just have to wait until you move out.

There is no such thing as a 24hr rule and it doesn't matter what your tenancy agreement says, the right to quiet enjoyment trumps this.

Thanks all, I've replied to their email to say that time doesn't work and have clearly listed out the times tomorrow that they can visit.

I've also said that if other times tomorrow don't work on their side, they might be best contacting me before confirming a slot in the future to avoid a similar situation. I don't want to be a pain but I am paying a considerable amount of rent to live here still!

You specified 4pm-5pm wasn't suitable which one would assume meant you were at work till 5pm so the knock on would be to do it before 9am. You need to be more specific if you're facilitating access.

This happened in September 2022. I imagine the OP is sorted now...

Just get up and let them in. It's hardly a big ask