To ask landlady not to ?

[PigeonAndPotato]

I've lived in the same house for 15 years and it used to be managed by an agency. In the last 4 years my landlady now manages this and other properties herself. She is an OK landlady and I don't want to cause unnecessary upset. I live here with my children and dog. A lot of cosmetic repairs / updates have been carried out to the house recently which is nice but is obviously reflected in the frequent rent increases.

Repairs are usually done in a decent time frame, and either herself or her partner have done most of the repairs themselves. The issue is that whenever there's a house inspection or repairs, the landlady arrives with her partner and their daughter who is about 6. I would like to preface this by saying that the landlady, her partner and child are all nice enough but the landlady doesn't seem to see an issue with this.

The daughter is scared of my dog, so I usually end up having to pay for a dog walker to take the dog out or for boarding for the dog if the repairs will take hours / days to do - I work from home so taking the dog out for the day myself isn't an option, and he cannot be locked away in a room because the landlady's daughter wanders around the house and opens doors. There was one ocassion when he was shut in the kitchen and she opened the door, realised he was there and ran to the other side of the house leaving all doors open because she was scared and my dog ended up in the street running in front of a car. He was fine but now I'm not comfortable having my dog in the house when the child is here.

One of my children has autism and gets very stressed by this child being in their space and using their things for example if there is work being done outside she will wander in and out of the house, she will empty toyboxes or play with scooters / bikes or anything else that has been left in the yard. There have been two occasions now where the landlady's daughter has broken items belonging to my children and the landlady has shrugged it off in a kids will be kids way.

Do I have any right to ask the landlady to not bring her child?

It may be down to cultural differences as although landlady and family are English and there are no language barriers, they have lived in various european countries

I have lived in various European countries. Can't think of a single one where such behaviour would be acceptable.

Just saw the bit about renovations. She's a CF. I get the impression that as soon as all the renovations are done she'll sell. Great way to get money coming in as generally renovations are done at the end of a tenancy and every day they are happening is a day less rent. Unless they are needed or particularly wanted or agreed by you she has no right to take her leisurely time updating whatever takes her fancy and then charging you for the privalage.

You are allowed to change the locks, and this would stop her unlawfully letting herself in without warning.

Going forward, assuming there is nothing that currently needs repaired (apart from your children's broken toys!) she has no good reason to visit or inspect anything for at least 6 months. Legally, she should be contacting you well in advance to negotiate a time that suits you for such a visit. If I were you I'd aim to insist that this takes place during school hours, when your own children are out (with the bonus of hers then not attending either).

Carrying out repairs is the landlord's responsibility, and not an excuse to raise the level of rent you pay! Any rent rise should only be done with at least a month's notice <check what your tenancy agreement says about this>, and your agreement to the rise, and it should be "fair and realistic".

If she wants to carry out renovations, she should really be offering you some compensation (eg reduced rent) for the inconvenience/ disruption to your family's use of your home, and potentially offering to pay for temporary accommodation while - for example- something essential like a bathroom or kitchen is out of action.

Electrical (and gas) work should be getting checked (and ideally done) by a qualified person, so if she and her DP have been dabbling in this kind of work themselves, please insist on a safety certificate from an independent tradesperson afterwards.

Do what others have suggested, and read up on your rights as a tenant. Good luck!

I think the landlady is a cheeky fucker

If you are a good tenant who pays on time and looks after the house, I guarantee that she will want to keep you on as a tenant.
Good tenants are like gold dust {From what I hear from friends who own flats/houses they let out}

Many years ago I rented out two rooms in my house to students- I'd not have dreamed of taking my DS into their rooms.

Normally yes, but op has been there 15 years. The other choice would be to end her tenancy then renovate. I don’t agree with door changes or building wardrobes unless replacing broken ones. But the kitchen and bathroom may very well have needed changing.

As I said upthread, I’ve changed and will change these items with long term tenants in situ with a choice to go to temp accommodation. I’m not going to throw them out because the kitchen is on its last legs after perhaps a decade of being a model tenant.

The issue is that they’re doing it in their spare time and treating op’s home like a second hobby house for 3 of them.

How to rent: the checklist for renting in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

This gives you all your rights and responsibilities.

Your LL is completely out of order. In fact you have more rights than them, irrespective of the fact they own the property.

I would not be happy with that level of renovation work while you're paying to live there. That's a ridiculous amount of mess and time spent in your home. Have they given you a discount for the disruption? Honestly I think you need to just say no to them doing any more non-essential works, they can do up the place when you move out. You can cover the child in the same visit, just say "I've felt like there's been quite a lot of disruption in the house, so worked out details and there have been X visits in just the last 6 months, each time with 2 adults and your young child coming. With these visits being outside the working day, it increases the impact on my family. The cost in dog walking alone to me has been £Y, due to the need to keep him out of the house for your daughter. In future, please would you therefore restrict visits to essential maintenance and one annual inspection only, and then have only one adult come round. Thank you."

@PigeonAndPotato this is outrageous, my DH is a solicitor and yes I know I know. However he specialises in landlord and tenant law and he'd have an absolute field day with your landlord. So would shelter.

Please contact them. You don't have to have a random child in your house at all

It sounds like they are getting it ready for themselves to move into at your convenience. Fitted wardrobes? I'd definitely not make this so easy for them.

Leave your dig in a closed room with the toys.
No, Honestly, I wouldn't want to make waves, but her duty to fix things in your rented home should not cost you money.
I would tell her, you're cant afford to pay to get my dog sat while they are there Their child screaming upsets your handicapped child in his/her home. & damages their personal belongings.
Please find another solution

So they are refurbishing the house but also getting rent. Bit of a cushy number is it.
Next time they ask to come round say that your child is unsettled at the moment and you cant afford a dog sitter so they will need to come without their daughter. It completely inappropriate that they bring her along.

Your LL needs to re-read the contract. She's not allowed to turn up without notice. And I would not be putting your dogs elsewhere. Its your home. If she brought her child with her and she's too scared of dog the child can stay out in the car while they inspect. They should make arrangements for their child, not expect you to change your arrangements

This! ^

She's absolutely taking the piss, @PigeonAndPotato. For renovations on that scale, she should be putting you up in alternative accommodation while the work is being carried out. How long were you living there without a proper functioning kitchen and bathroom and were you still paying full rent throughout? And if they are doing it around their jobs, does that mean this is happening in the evenings and every weekend??? They are taking you for mugs.

You need to speak to Shelter urgently. You need to invoke the quiet enjoyment clause and tell them that their daughter's presence is too disruptive. They need to be doing the renovations at a time that suits you and providing alternative accommodation/rent reduction if needs be. Shelter can advise you on wording.

I wouldn't say anything tbh - at the end of the day she does own the place and she let's you live there with children and a large dog you are very lucky - if you scause an issue over this she could serve u with a notice to evict you and then you may find it difficult to get another private rental with the dog - there is a new law going through parliament to stop restrictions on dogs and children and to stop no fault evictions but it is not in place yet.

If they won't do it I'd just start enforcing boundaries for the child in my home myself. If they don't like it, they can arrange care for her.

Bit of a tangent, but some of these renovations sound worrying. Depending on the age and construction of the property, rendering over brick work can be problematic and increases the likelihood of damp (despite some people thinking it will solve it!). Hope the fitted wardrobes aren't on an external wall too.

I'm sorry, but it sounds as like they're getting the property ready to sell or to live in. Their behaviour is unacceptable and they are taking advantage of your understandable wish not to do or say anything that might affect your tenancy.

I don't often post these days but just wanted to come in on this one and say if you're on Facebook look for Tenancy Matters UK. They're fantastic for free advice from experts in tenancy law and you'll get quick responses compared to a lot of channels.

www.facebook.com/groups/tenancymatters/

If repairs are required and you’ve agreed to these on certain dates then the only people that should be there are those doing the work.
Im assuming the child isn’t, so she shouldn’t be there.
Your landlady cannot bring the child.
If you agree to the child being there then fine, but you haven’t.
Nor can your landlady take along random friends to run around your property nosing in your rooms. It’s the same thing.

Also
The repair people, landlady, husband etc only have access to the area being repaired whilst work is ongoing.
They cannot walk around your property, they don’t have permission to go where they like.

I would email when the next inspection is due and say that you have been reflecting on the previous inspections and you do not feel it is appropriate for her child to attend the inspection. You are unable to facilitate having the dog out of the property for the duration of the inspection and it is not safe for the child or dog to be together in the property in light of the incident some time ago where the dog was put in danger.
You have loved meeting DD but regrettably it is not something you are able to accommodate on an ongoing basis.

I privately rented for 20 years so I have a LOT of experience at being a tenant and I can tell you with absolute certainty that they’re planning to sell up. Without a doubt. They don’t do THAT level of renovation (I’m not referring to new kitchen & bathroom, obviously that’s essential, I’m referring to rendering outside, built in wardrobes and putting fancy internal doors in etc) to a rental property, not even the best landlords on the planet. Not unless necessary. They’re selling up…… :(

Next time she asks for access say ‘please note I cannot accommodate children during your visit, at it is inconvenient for me and I am not legally obligated to do so.’

She is being unreasonable but as a tenant I wouldn’t rock the boat on this to be honest. I’ve had so many LLs sell up and had to deal with finding a property in today’s awful rental environment. I’d probably just put up with the inconvenience.

Unfortunately I’m with a couple of others on here: they’re either planning on moving in or planning on selling up. That’s a lot of renovations for a three year period.

If her child was coming and sitting quietly on sofa it prob wouldn’t bother me too much but being allowed to wander around opening doors?! Wtf!! Just say you can’t afford to keep having the dog boarded when they come so it would be better if the child doesn’t come along as you would hate for something to happen to her or the dog. Think they’re really rude!