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?

I think it's fine to say look your daughter is lovely but when you're here you're working and I'm busy working and looking after my own kids so it isn't possible for her to be properly supervised. She has left doors open and let the dog into the road, she gets into my kids things which distresses them and she has broken some of their stuff before. None of this is her fault but for her own and my pets safety I'd appreciate if you didn't bring her next time.

This is fine to say. I perhaps wouldn’t mention the broken toys. The rest is enough.

Or this.

I think you have every right to say could the repairs and Inspection be completed without her daughter. Simply say your son has autism and finds it very stressful and is having an adverse affect on him . You appreciate repairs and inspections are necessary but you need them to have as little impact on your life / enjoyment of your home as possible.

OP I am concerned that everyone is telling you take the LL on.
As you know, no-fault evictions are very common, and if you complain you could find yourself with a two-month notice. Finding a new rental that allows a Leonberger will.be like finding hen's teeth.
Be very subtle and political and DONT complain.
Say something like 'you are welcome to let your daughter come over, but the dog WILL be present and she will have to stay by your side at all times for her own safety.'

Obviously what she is doing is awful, but landlords have all the power, sadly.

As a landlord this is very unprofessional behaviour from your Landlord.
I would never treat my tenants this way.
You speak up, she is giving us all a bad name.
As thing have changed from an agent to amateur. Have their been changes to the holding of your deposit.
Like, where is it now?

When speaking the landlady about this I would lead on how distressed it makes your autistic son that someone is entering his space and messing with his things. Opening cupboards and wardrobes is not acceptable and a 6 year old should know better. It's also over an above the intrusion of an inspection. Maybe next time she arranges an inspection just say please don't bring your family because of the distress/upset it causes to my son and to your family with the dog.

One reason we would never allow pets!

The reason being...in case you inappropriately brought your child to your workplace and they let the tenant's dog out?

Indeed. The pet doesn't seem to be a problem for the landlady. Her inappropriate behaviour is the actual issue here.

She may own it but its your home and she should not be allowing her child to wander around that's just plain rude !! I wouldn't be making the dog leave either if she doesn't like the dog tough I would ask her not to ring the child anymore as she is disrespectful and wanders round tour home which is a violation of your privacy

She needs to come at your convenience, I'm sure she can find a suitable time

And definitely without the child

Shame that won't be the case soon...

Hi landlady, really appreciate the work you and your DP are doing on the house.
In view of the fact that I work from home and have the dog, could I now ask you to do this work while your Dd is at school? Thank you.

If she attempts this again be more formal. “I think it fair enough to ask you to observe the ‘quiet enjoyment’ aspect of the <<tenancy laws>>” etc

YANBU at all. She is meant to be doing you a service, not having a family day out. It is ridiculous and not businesslike.

its not a trip out to the park shes being ridiculous bringing her daughter-if she cant afford to get someone to do the repairs thats not your problem

either her or he partner should come alone

Not unreasonable. I say this as a landlord who sometimes has to bring kids with me if things need sorting at short notice. I either leave kids in the car or they come in but watch a movie on the tablet or play quietly with toys. This is in a HMO, so they are only allowed in the living room under very strict control. At 6 yo the child is more than capable of respecting other people's homes. This is just rude and the landlady need to either arrange childcare, or failing that, control their damn child! Even if it was a friend's child I wouldn't be happy with that situation.

I agree with the consensus on here, @PigeonAndPotato - you would be entirely reasonable to tell your landlord she can’t bring her daughter any more.

You can ask her, but if you're in the U.K. and you’re not in a fixed term tenancy, she can evict you at anytime with two months notice. Do you think she’s the type of landlady to take offence and evict?

This post illustrates precisely why private renting is so shit in the UK. Not wanting to upset your LL because they might throw you out even though they are the ones in the wrong.

I don't know what the answer is. In theory there should be no issue with ending no fault evictions. If the tenant is a good one and pays the rent the LL should not be concerned with a provision like that in rental legislation. However because of the terrible state of the housing market in this country and the fact that many private LLs are not very businesslike, this is likely to make it even harder to find rental properties.

Other European countries seem to manage so why can't we?

LOL what a pile of bollocks.

That is not how it works, FYI.

Tenants do not and should not put up with unprofessional Landlords just in case they get evicted. The law protects the tenant.

That is the dog’s home. That child has no business opening your doors up. Her parents are stupid and their behaviour outrageous. Assuming your dog doesn’t actually pose a threat, I’d let it at the child and let her be scared. It might teach them all a lesson. I’d also write to the landlady, pointing out my rights as a tenant and tell her to stop being there whenever a job is being carried out, especially allowing her unsupervised child to access my private space.

This 100%. And coming into your property while you’re away with no notice is, I believe , illegal in England. Speak to Shelter, they may help you construct a letter to her.

I'm also a LL and this post is spot on!

I'm a LL and what your LL is doing birders on harassment. I'd be asking her why does it take 3 of them to do an inspection? Why can't one of them stay home with the kid? If you've lived in the house for do many years surely she knows you're not trashing it. After first 18 months, so 3 inspections, I only do one nursery inspection each year. I don't go into the bedrooms, just the kitchen, the sitting room and the bathroom. It takes about 4 minutes then they resign for another 12 months. Nobody should be touching your belongings or going into the house when you're not there unless you agree to LL letting in a gas engineer for inspection.