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.