To refuse viewings once I’ve given notice

[WryJadeWren]

Once I’ve given notice, I’ve always felt that my time and space should be mine.

In the final weeks I’m usually packing, organising a move, working and trying to keep life ticking over. Having people come in and out for viewings feels disruptive and stressful, especially when it’s framed as an expectation rather than a request.

My view has always been that landlords or agents are free to show the property once it’s empty, on their own time but that I’m not obliged to facilitate viewings while I’m still living there.

AIBU?

Yabvvu

But this isn't "am I being legal", it's "am I being unreasonable"

It doesn't matter if there is anything added in their rental/tenancy agreement the law of quiet entitlement trumps that.

The tenant doesn't have to allow any viewings whilst they are legally living in the property.

We rented for a short period in a new town - two houses within 18 months, and the contract wasn’t extended beyond the 6 months in either case because the landlords wanted their houses back. One to sell and one to live in.

The selling landlord asked us to allow viewings and we just laughed at him. The estate agents backed us up and told him to leave us alone. Cheeky fucker.

It’s an incredibly stressful experience to be chucked out of your home - even when you’re fortunate enough to be able to buy and get out of that game.

It's not being unreasonable to not want barely supervised randoms going over your house and looking in your cupboards.

Who's insuring these people? What happens if someone nicks or breaks something?

Like I said, I always used the short void (and it was only ever a short void - possibly because I actually maintained the property) to do all the bits and pieces that need doing every few years - painting, replacing stuff in the kitchen/the occasional radiator/the flooring/patio doors or blown double glazing etc. Much easier to do when the place is empty, and showing a place empty is much better.

Having unnecessarily long void periods does nothing to help the housing crisis - all those empty properties.

I don't get this repeated suggestion tenants should be 'nice' as though it's somehow in return to some niceness of the LL. You're not renting your property out to be nice?

As a landlord you absolutely should know the legalities of it.

Landlords not knowing the legalities of stuff like this is part of the problem.

How do you ensure that your letting agent isn’t breaking the law in your name if you don’t know the law?

Because If my tenants don’t want to do something I don’t look at the law to see if I can force them to do it. I shrug and move on. I deal directly with my tenants and it isn’t, and shouldn’t be, adversarial.

You should know the basics and the law around ending tenancies is basic.

You should know before asking them, especially if it’s in the contract you’ve given them to sign as both of those things will only to tenants that they are legally obliged to do so

*will imply to tenants

You sound like hard work.

I don’t end tenancies, my tenants do. They tell me they’re leaving. I say that’s a shame, good luck in your new home. Would you mind facilitating some viewings (which their contract does mention). They say that’s fine. If they don’t want to, I don’t start quoting the contract and getting legal advice as to whether it’s enforceable.

I generally return the deposit in full but I’ve never had a flat where I couldn’t have legally charged them to rectify stuff on departure. Good will is a good thing for everyone. If you’re pushing things as far as the small print will let you, everyone loses.

I’m not asking anyone to do anything I wouldn’t be willing to do myself. The last place we were tenants (before being landlords) we hosted the viewings ourselves and we’re still friends with the family that rented after us over a decade later.

The point is you shouldn’t need advice to know if it’s enforceable.

as the landlord you should know the law around things like that. You should know that you’re choosing to put an unenforceable clause in the contract already.

The law isn’t “small print” and being a decent landlord in other areas doesn’t make it ok to suggest to your tenants, as you do with your contract and by asking, that they’re legally obliged to allow viewings.

landlords pulling that line is exactly why so many people, landlords and tenants, think there is a legal obligation on tenants.

That's not OP's problem though, it's not her business. It is her home.

I'm appalled but sadly not surprised at landlords that actually don't know the law. I do genuinely have some sypathy for landlords with all the tightening up and changes, some tenants can absolutely rip the piss, but then I read something like this and I'm like no wonder it's come to that.

Most tenancy agreements will say viewings are to be permitted. If a viewing doesn’t happen until after you’ve vacated, the landlord would be out of pocket as most people would have to give their current property one month’s notice.

You are perfectly within your rights to ask for viewings to take place in a block one day (average rental viewing takes 10-15 mins, so a couple of hours should do it).

But why would you start quoting the contract, when that particular stipulation contravenes your tenants’ legal rights, and you had no business putting it there in the first place? You make it sound like you’re doing them a favour by not compelling them to facilitate viewings.

Tenancy agreements could say that the tenant has to make the landlord dinner every Tuesday - that would be as enforceable as stating that viewings must be permitted…

Landlords being out of pocket for void periods is something all landlords should factor into their business plan (and all landlords - accidental or otherwise - should have a business plan)

There is no shortage, lots of landlords can"t sell, property is the most illiquid asset class, you can"t exit the same way you can sell a stock or stock index.

https://www.realyse.com/blogs/rents-flatline-supply-improves-private-rented-sector-2026

Totally agreed, in my time I've known LLs to ask all sorts of illegal things, it's not really good enough for people to say they don't know the legality and that they don't push it if their tennant says no - it's not fair to put the tenant in a situation to have to challenge their LL when they can be worried doing so will jeopardise their tenancy. Just check the law before asking or putting something in your agreement surely.

"Why on earth are landlords trying to sell a property they bought within recent years though?"

Any number of personal reasons plus a main reason - new legislation - even buying two or three years ago they might not have seen the new tighter, tenant favouring legislation coming, and the smarter landlords might have realised that the next 15 years are not going to be like the last 15, i.e the flat could be losing value as interest rates rise, so they might be trying to bail out and take profit (probably too late now though without juicy asking price drops) A classic investing mistake is thinking that the future will be like the past.

Another reason could be that the brakes and reverse gear are being applied to mass immigration, that means voids for a lot of landlords, and as councils who can"t run their own books are now gouging financially naive landlords for double council tax on empty property for many the sums no longer add up, the constant HPI due to low rates is gone and the constant supply of tenants due to mass uncontrolled immigration is going.

None of that changes the fact that flat prices are falling and rates are going nowhere but up so your advice - "All they need to do is hold on to the property and over time they will absolutely have gained a valuable asset." doesn"t make sense to me, over time a flat with a BTL mortgage, voids and all the expense that can involve is a money pit not a "valuable asset", most basic property in the UK is nowhere near a valuable asset with rates looking to rise, the whole property bubble/Ponzi was built on cheap mortgage debt and endless immigration!

What a stupid thing to say.

They profit from allowing you to use their asset and all that entails.

Thats like saying machine mart profit from nothing when they hire you a tool.

Absolutely daft.

When the tool is not on hire though it sits in storage, they have costed for that as they still need to pay their overheads.

They've been floating renting reforms since 2019 or so though. Of course I understand there can be many personal reasons why someone may sell a property and none of can guarantee the market will be favourable at the exact moment we need to sell but none of what you're saying justifies your statement that landlords aren't accusing an asset because their properties are losing value. None of their properties are losing value as a long term investment which is exactly what a BTL property should be. Everything you're describing is just agreeing with my point that lots of landlords are upset they don't also have the short term wins and gains of renting a property out, but our housing market shouldn't have been predicated on that anyway. If you they can't afford to be a landlord and you don't have the funds or a business plan to navigate ebbs and flow of the market and void period, then they should have researched that beforehand. And they're still not worse off than a tenant who can't get on the housing ladder just because times may be tighter for them than they were in the past.