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?

Only have inspections during regular 9-5 working hours. You are in control of this.
how many inspections are you having as they are usually annual.

no more renovations or work unless emergency in your evenings or weekends. It’s up to landlord to arrange time off from their work.

Well done, OP!

@PigeonAndPotato

Firstly. You can tell her to come without the kid!

I'm just not understanding why you can't keep the dog in with you when you're working? Just put something heavy in front of the door or fit a small bolt on the door.

@PigeonAndPotato sorry, I hadn't read your last post. That's a great outcome & hopefully it'll all go smoothly.

If I were your landlady and someone said "Look, my kid's autistic and he gets really stressed by other children in his space, would you mind not bringing your daughter? It's nothing against her of course" I would completely understand. If she pushes back against that even slightly she's on extremely shaky ground, so she almost certainly won't. It sounds like a communication thing really.

LL was really out of order and ONLY capitulated when you said 'it has been brought to my attention' thinking a solicitor told you.

Owning multiple properties and having a husband meant she could afford a childminder but didn't want to bear the costs; and old her DH can always look after the child.

Sorry you have had to go through this- yes, I too own multiple properties with some rented out for over a decade and not once would I behave with outrageous level of disrespect and entitlement. I hope you have a relaxing weekend.

yes, I was going to suggest you address it way before she asks to come so you can have a clear and straightforward dialogue without it being clouded by urgency on either side, just as you have done. well done.

and 'or' her dh could mind the child, at their home.

Those bringing children in living rooms to watch iPad etc is also not on. sorry. It is not their home. people are paying rent so they need their space and privacy!

Yeah might be a cultural thing. I had an Eastern European handyman who used to bring his 3 year old daughter to my house when he came to do stuff. It’s so unprofessional

Oh how annoying and awkward for your family.For a starter she needs to be more sensitive to your situation.If she must bring the child she need to teach her to respect your home, she is old enough at 6. It can't be nice if upsets the children and the dog to that extent.
You might have to put your foot down about doing the inspection while the children are at school. She or her husband will ha e to make themselves available, what is co nvenient or not to them should t be your problem.

Unsure why you would make arrangements for the dog, if the child is scared then best she doesn't come.

Also to add to this- have everything in writing from now on- you rather be safe than sorry- no phone call conversations and if you do- make sure you send a re-cap email of what has been said- take pictures of the property- and as for the regular inspections- there is no need- a yearly or 2 at most is what is reasonable and expected.
do not hire a dog walker- they need to be accommodating to your timings as they cannot be present during ‘working hours’ when all these visits and repairs should actually take place.
also to add- do you have correct paperwork? And is your deposit protected? And were you given the deposit protection certificate within 30 days?
I’m only asking this as once you start keeping a paper trail of conversations- the landlady might become funny- so you need to make sure your protected as she can’t then suddenly decide to kick you out.

She brings her 6 year old to the house you rent, your home, and allows her to wander around opening doors into rooms they are not working in? That is absolutely unacceptable. This is your home, and her child is nosying around it. She either needs to pay for a proper repair person to do repairs, and not bring her child to inspections.

How bloody rude! She cant let her child poke around your home. It's not like they are visiting family and if her partner is there too then clearly childcare isnt an issue so one of them needs to stay home with the child, stay in the car, go to the park... anything but being in your home. She may own the property but you have a right not to allow them in, especially if they cant control their child. After all it's essentially a business meeting so completely unprofessional.

Lock all the rooms they dont need to go into when they're around?
If any comment is made then you can subtley say why - you dont want toys/things broken or moved, her kid runs riot, and the dodgy is there as you can't afford to house him elsewhere every time they're there ....

How often is she coming round to carry out inspections?
Usually they should only be carried out either quarterly or every six months. If it is more frequent than this, then she is definitely preventing you from being able to have “quiet enjoyment”. As far as entering your property whilst you were away, this is definitely a breach of your rights. She has to make an appointment to come round and is required to give you a minimum of 24 hours notice prior to any visit or inspection. You can also insist that any repairs are carried out within the normal working day.
Did she change your contract at all when she started managing your property herself?
It all seems very unprofessional and should not be having a negative impact on you and your family.

If you want a softer approach I'd tell her from now on her DD needs to stay in the room her parent/s are in and not wander around or use the backyard and that they need to bring their own toys for her. That they're making you and your DC uncomfortable and you've had to pay for your dog to go to kennels to kid him safe, so they can either give you your privacy by stopping their DD wandering or they can make alternative arrangements for her care.

I should have RTFT 😅. Sounds like a great outcome OP.

No, she shouldn't do those things.

She shouldn't allow the child in the house in the first place!

When she next asks to visit, simply say that you can only do times when the children are at school, as it's disruptive for your child with autism.

If she's there regularly as they are doing work on the house themselves, why does she need to come to inspect too?

I think there's a degree of truth in this, sadly. It's bloody ridiculous that tenants have to think twice about exercising the few rights that they have for fear of getting a S21 notice.

My late DP's last landlord used to let himself into tenants' flats while they were out at work and snoop through any correspondence he found, then gossip about them to other tenants. DP knew the size of one neighbour's overdraft and that another was under the care of the local mental health team, ffs!

Whilst you’re paying rent on the property you have the right to expect that the Landlord respects your property contained within (so no free reign to her 6 year old trashing your children’s toys) and respects your privacy by not bringing extra people along for a gawp and poke around. She may not have grasped how awkward this is for you (some people are not that intuitive) so kindly explain in advance of next visit over phone that you “think it would be best if she came alone, as your family find it unsettling having her daughter around, touching/breaking their things, albeit accidentally, plus her fear of your dog is very disruptive” - I don’t think she can argue with that. I would say, however, most landlords don’t allow pets, so hopefully she won’t turn round and decide you can’t keep pets anymore, though I don’t know the laws on than. Good luck.

Not unreasonable at all! She's not only bringing the kid along, but not supervising her and letting her roam your home. It's ridiculous - why's she bringing her child anyway?

100% you should tell the landlord that when carrying out repairs you would rather it was done without an entourage as ita not appropriate taking their child into your house. What if the child damaged your prooerty. They cant do work and supervise her so it shouldnt happen

I dont think you can say most landlords dont allow pets as plenty do and also having had the dog there this long with no issue it seems to change that now would be very difficult esp as the only issue seems to be when they rock up with their child