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?

The worst threats of this thread are about the landlord making life difficult for a tenant who doesn’t do something they have zero obligation to do.

not giving a reference or delaying the release of a deposit is ridiculous, vengeful, unprofessional and unfair behaviour

luckily the TDS will release it anyway, but yes in theory a difficult landlord can delay it a bit.

best to rent through agencies so the landlord doesn’t control any of this.

It is, until the end of her tenancy.

She has a legal right to "peaceful enjoyment" of her home until the end of the tenancy.

I was a landlord for 10+ years but I am totally on the tenants side in that scenario. I would hate there to be viewings on my home while I was living there.

OP refuse if you want. Landlord will just have to cover a void period. That's just the nature of the landlord business, they'll have to just get over it.

As long as you’re happy that if tenants generally take this approach then landlords will increase the rent, then fill your boots OP. Personally I’d rather not pay more rent to cover the increased void periods that your approach will lead to 🤷‍♀️

It would depend entirely on what sort of landlord they have been.

I've had excellent landlords that I have bent over backwards to accommodate.

Current one, I've been waiting 2 years for a fairly important repair so I'm much less inclined.

It very much is their home while they rent it - it's not their property, but the law certainly sees it as their home for the duration.

No, I think it's the price of being a landlord, to cover the gap between tenants. It's odd when landlords say they 'make nothing' from a property as rent covers the mortgage etc. Well in that case you're gaining a huge financial asset that is costing you very little or nothing. That's not nothing.

I have never viewed a rental property with someone still living there. It would be very awkward.

When we left our rental (to buy our own house) we had been there for 7 years, so turned down viewings. The house was empty for 6 weeks after we left.

Most landlords just want (need?) the money, if you have been at the previous place say five years and never missed a payment they are going to take you, what sort of bad reference could someone possibly give if they had you living in their flat for years?

She's not just making life harder for the landlord, she's making it worse for the future tenants too. If her refusal to accommodate viewings means that the property is empty for, say, an extra two weeks then the landlord will likely need to mitigate their losses by incorporating the lost rent into the following 12 months rent. Contrary to popular belief, most landlords are far from "raking it in".

Also, it means that tenants will not be able to view and secure their tenancy well in advance. Instead, the viewings and contract acceptance will all need to happen in a space of 1-2 weeks, so very rushed and inevitably creating a race between tenants for the property, even more so now that many landlords are leaving the rental market.

Given the timing of the post I can't help but wonder whether the OP gave notice herself or was given a Section 21 notice by her current landlord.

I wish my landlord was like you. We're moving next week and have had to accommodate 6 viewings in the last 3 weeks. It's been a pain to be honest, and they still haven't found any takers. They've been fine as landlords, but I'm tempted to say no more viewings while we're here.

Not sure all landlords are "gaining a huge financial asset". If they have mortgage debt on the flat, voids, lease problems, non-paying tenants, the fact that most recently bought flats are falling in value etc. etc. mean they could have a money pit, landlording is strictly for those who know exactly what they are doing, and favours people who bought the properties many years ago.

It is her home

But landlord who hasn’t already factored in void time to their current rent is stupid

theyll just have to fund it themselves if they made a mistake in their calculations.

why should OP care what they do either way?

Erm no. It’s not all OP’s fault.

If landlord puts a premium on the next tenant’s rent, that’s on them.

Later viewings will benefit another potential tenant who’s leaving two weeks later.

Im a tenant in the process of buying myself, as a is LL who served their eviction notice. LL has of course asked for the survey to be done in my home and as a tenant, you either agree to their terms or worry about your deposit and they’ll screw you over later (references). Good on OP for saying no, not convenient.

You're making plenty on it

Don’t do that. My OP clearly says I gave notice because that’s what happened.
If I’d been given a Section 21, I would simply have said that.

This. Reluctantly Needing a flat as it’s the only way your children could do poorly paid work is fucking hysterical.

Tenants are leaving the sector faster than landlords, a tenant can very simply not be part of the renting sector by continuing to live with parents or if overseas not coming to the UK, a landlord with mortgage debt on the other hand will have a much harder time leaving the market as they have to find a buyer and pay back their debt, many landlords will just want to cover their debt, they won"t be trying to bump rents to cover past losses in case they lose the new tenant.

https://ukandeu.ac.uk/the-coming-collapse-in-immigration/

Our landlord was reasonable so we said we'd go out for one Saturday and they fitted in back to back viewings. Easily sorted for the landlord and very little impact on us...would something like that work?

What if the LL paid you for the inconvenience?

Sorry @WryJadeWren but I think YABU. How is your landlord supposed to get someone else into your property (as soon as you leave) if people can't view it while you're still there? We were in private let for about 2 years some one and a half decades ago, and 3 families came to have a look around in the last 10 days we were there... I warned the landlord to warn them that the place was upside down, but the landlord and the prosepctive tenants were all OK with it. Only 3 sets of people came anyway, as the third lot decided to take the property!

Maybe you don't HAVE to let people in, but YABU to not do so IMO.

That rather agrees with my point. If landlords have to factor in extra time where the property will be empty because the tenant might refuse viewings, then the landlord will not "just have to fund it themselves", they will simply increase the rent to accommodate the anticipated extra loss. OP might care about that because it means increased rent generally. But maybe she is happy for everyone, including herself, to pay more ¯\(ツ)/¯

It doesn’t agree at all. The market doesn’t tolerate the landlord charging above market price because the want to recover a few months void.

the market dictates the price they can achieve, not what they fancy covering.

Just because you were happy to waive your rights, doesn’t mean others ABU for not doing so.

Its not awkward for the sake of it, its a huge disruption to arrange your life around landlord/agent needs.

The market does take into account landlord costs and losses. It is two way, based on the amount that tenants can or will afford to pay, and the amount that landlords can or will afford to accept.