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?

Just because your LL is not a total shit doesn't mean you have to be so grateful to them for letting you rent their property that they treat you like a mug. You have a business arrangement with them and there are rules to protect you both. They don't have the right to enter your home without prior arrangement. They don't have the right to wander round your home, touching private possessions. Dropping hints hasn't worked and I wouldn't get bogged down in explanations about autism and dog-care costs, simply say you are available at these times on these days for LL or husband or tradesman to do inspection or repair.

I advise people on this all of the time in my job. It’s not right, it’s not fair, but a landlord does not need to give a reason to give a section 21.

It is called a no fault eviction, and it results in two months notice. Obviously OP wouldn’t have to leave until the court evicts them, but a section 21 will still result in an eviction.

Yes she doesn’t have to put up with bad behaviour, but the risk is there if she psses her landlord off enough unfortunately. All you have to do is research that before telling someone it is bllocks lol

Yep, and then what happens is the tenant doesn't move out because they can't find somewhere else to go, stops paying rent and then it takes months to remove them via the court. So yes, it is bollocks. Only a fool would go for a no fault eviction.

The landlady can then recover the court costs and rent arrears via the court. Or leave the tenant with a CCJ. Either way it’s messed up, but it’s a possibility

Of course she shouldn’t bring family members! She definitely shouldn’t come without notice, if necessary send her the rules re quiet enjoyment/24 hour notice. She can’t come in at all if you don’t agree (bar emergencies eg flood/fire) She’s taking the piss.

Also, many many landlords go for a no fault eviction, because they can no longer afford their mortgage for an example, or they need to move back into their own house. Judges often look negatively on tenants who stop paying their rent, so it’s not a good idea.

Hopefully the OPs landlord wouldn’t evict for something as silly as this though

Doesn't matter what the judge thinks though does it? I know that if my back was against the wall, I would not hesitate to stay put and wait eviction. The housing market is in tatters.
In the same way that if I was a LL, I would be conscious of this, at how difficult it can be for tenants to move on, and make sure I am financed and insured appropriately.

Whilst everyone is technically correct that you're not being unreasonable and she shouldn't bring the family along, I personally wouldn't do anything that might even vaguely upset your landlord. The rental market is absolutely hideous at the moment and you want to avoid anything that means you might have to find somewhere else.

For context a year ago our landlord of 12 years died and we had to find a new place as the house had to be sold due to inheritance tax. It took us 3 months to find anywhere that would accept us. Every house we looked at had 10 people viewing it a day and we got turned down because we had children. We eventually found somewhere only after offering £300 a month over the listed rent. We are now paying 50% more rent than we did in our old house in a location we didn't really want, commuting 7.5 miles each way to the kids' school 4 times a day.

This was in March 2022, since then things have got even worse.

I can only assume you don't actually rent because in the current rental market you basically do have to put up with it. If you don't like it they can section 21 you and have a queue of people waiting to rent the place at likely a higher rent than you're paying. Bidding wars for rent are now commonplace.

I personally wouldn't do anything that might even vaguely upset your landlord.

But what does that look like in reality @andrew10642 ?

What should the OP tolerate, how frequently and over what period?

Sure they could do that but it's a kamikaze approach. The council won't help you unless you're about to be literally on the streets and even then you have to meet certain criteria to be helped. Even if they do decide you can be housed, it will likely be "temporary" accommodation in a B&B or a clapped out hotel. They'll certainly never have a private rental again, they'll be found out and letting agents will just turn them away, they're picky enough even when everything is perfect.

You'd have to decide whether the inconvenience of whatever they're doing and asking them to stop is worth the risk of getting kicked out, or the landlord simply selling up because they can't be bothered to do it anymore, as so many are now. Certainly check rightmove first and see what your local market is like, it's horrendous around here.

I would stay as long as it took to find suitable accommodation. And in that time, perhaps the LL could ponder how owning a second home is problematic and contributing to the housing crisis.
You don't even need to use the reference of the last LL you had - I have had several crap overseas ones. Referencing was proof of address and finances, not 'Was I a good tenant' from a previous LL.

You can only stay for as long as it takes for them to get a court order against you which will be on the public record. It's far better to stay put if you can, part of that is not annoying a person that has massive control over your life and finances and can kick you out on a whim.

This idea that LLs are contributing to the housing crisis is not really true at all. There is a massive shortage of rentals with demand far outstripping supply. Some people like me are never going to be able to get a mortgage for the amount I'd need and the amount of working years I have left, if there are no landlords I will be homeless.

Andrew is right in what he says though. I have a friend currently living in a hotel room with her two children. One 18 years old and one 16 years old. Sharing one room! Because they can’t find anywhere to accept them and their dogs. The country has gone down hill

It would take as long as it would to get an eviction which is months.

I mean, this is hypothetical. A good LL would not be in such a precarious position that they need to kick someone out of their home because of their own financial mismanagement.

Should my LL decide to sell, because he is both smart and compassionate, I know he would give me WAY more than two months' notice, because he understands the benefit of working with me, not against me. I recall a post on here a few months back of a LL quibbling that her tenants were moving out as requested but two weeks before the tenancy ended and she wanted to chase them for that two weeks, rather than recognising that she has been very fortunate her tenants were able to find suitable accommodation and move out without fuss.

Being a LL should be treated as a business, with the associated risks and the proper finances and insurance to ensure you do not jeopardise a tenancy because you cocked up somewhere.

Not to mention someone said they’d stop paying rent, that would land them with a CCJ preventing any other landlord wanting to rent out a property to them

If you stay in a property without paying rent, the judge will give you a CCJ, then no landlord will want to rent to you, as they all do a credit check

Sure, but by definition the LL in question is bringing the family round which suggests this is not a person who is acting in a business-like manner and (very reasonably) asking them not to do that might be taken personally by them.

The OP shouldn't have to put up with it, but personally I'd put up with it, because the rental market is so dire right now.

Could you frame it as a question - like, thanks so much for agreeing to come so quickly, I wonder if we could talk about a plan for when you are here if you are bringing your daughter? I cant afford to board the dog or pay for him to be out, and my son becomes agitated if anyone touches his stuff, so I wonder what we can do to ensure your daughter is safe and happy while she is here, given these things?

Wow I've just come back to this thread today and wasn't expecting so many replies. Thank you to everyone who has commented there have been some interesting points raised.

I dont think she is planning to move into the house herself because she owns multiple properties and has been doing the same repairs and renovations to them all which is probably another reason that each thing takes so long to be completed.

I text her this afternoon and I think I was a bit more assertive than I have been in the past. It was along the lines of

"Hi Jane, as you're the only person I have ever rented a home from I've nothing else to compare to but it was recently brought to my attention that it is not usual to bring along your child when you are doing repairs or house inspections. I usually wouldn't mind having her in the house but because she is scared of Max I don't think it's fair to bring her along anymore because I can't afford to keep paying the dog walker and not only that you know that Jake has autism and his home is his safe place where he needs to have as few people as possible. I've always been a good tenant and never caused any damage or asked for anything and I always pay on time so I hope you don't think I'm being fussy by asking this"

Names have been changed. She replied saying that she will rearrange for a time when she can get a childminder. So thanks again because I had built it up in my head to be a much scarier task than it was.

Sounds like an excellent outcome, @PigeonAndPotato.

Good for you @PigeonAndPotato Great news!

That’s a great outcome, and I’m glad your LL was reasonable about it.

If the child is scared of the dog that's her problem, not yours. No way would o be paying to have him out of the house.