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?

I don’t think boundaries and cooperation are mutually exclusive though. People can be cooperative while still feeling there should be some limits/consideration around repeated access to a home they’re actively living in.

YANBU and TBH when I was a landlord, I liked to use a few weeks between tenants to do any disruptive maintenance/check the property over properly.

But then my tenants often stayed 2-5 years (small property - a couple would move in, stay a bit, then have a child and move on).

Doesn't matter what the contract says, you are completely within your rights to refuse viewings, you absolutely don't need to tidy up (which is one of the reasons I never showed with tenants in place), and I wouldn't be letting people in my home with all my stuff without me present either.

Even if I'm your contact your right to quiet enjoyment trumps it. Refuse viewings. Estate agents hope you don't know that

Should have clarified that this was in the past and I'm not a tenant right now, although, I note your advice for the future. Thank you.

I would not leave my place for a viewing if i wasnt there, its my private space with valuables in it, so unless the landlord wants to give me a discount for the month, im not waking up early, taking time off work or giving up free time as a favour. They've made enough money off me already.

That makes no sense. I was an accidental landlord when my mum died. I had to sell her rental property to pay her care debt. But until probate was sorted, and then until the notice period was over, I remained a landlord and had to behave according to the law for the 18 months that took.

I didn't put the house on the market until the tenants had left, because that's how it should work. And just as well as it turned out that the house was in a terrible state, so any viewings would have been counter-productive.

It inherently bloody is.

What about the landlord who will have an empty house for over a month maybe longer because you have refused viewings. There nothing to say you have to accommodate everyone, but I think YABU to not allow the landlord some time to find your replacement.

It's not being selfish to want to use the thing she has paid for on the terms she has paid for it. Why doesn't the landlord be nice and unselfish and just let her off the last month's rent, eh? Because it's business for him/her and business for the OP too. Doubt the ll would budge on anything they're entitled to by law.

It's not for the sake of it. It's because she doesn't want to. So she doesn't have to.

God forbid they don't squeeze out every penny, eh.

It's not her problem.

Borrowing 😂it is not borrowing and the ll is not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. What a silly choice of words.

Every rental property I’ve viewed has been empty too.

It’s not the same as selling your home, because the tenant normally has nothing to gain whatsoever from the disruption of allowing viewings, whereas a homeowner selling their property might have a huge amount to gain!

Maybe landlords should offer a discount on the rent for the final month in return for the tenant making the property available for viewings and making themselves scarce at someone else’s choice of dates and times?

They may be running a business, but they have to run it in accordance with the law.

LOL. the ll is the one being entitled here.

I refused some when I rented because the letting agent phoned me snd told me they would be showing x amount of people around at x time on Monday morning. This was a time I wws WTH so said no. I gave them the date's and times we would be out as we were still paying rent and it was my toddlers home.

Why is she a dick for keeping to the terms of her contract and expecting her landlord to do the same?

My landlord used to use that time to repaint the property and spruce it up a bit. Or do landlords just not bother doing that anymore (except when a tenant complains that something has broken and needs to be repaired)?

Not even then in my experience! 😂

This is a perfect example of the take but no giving.

If tenants refuse to do viewings and the landlord has to wait until it is empty, they potentially will lose 2 or 3 months rent. Who do you think will pay for this? Yep, the next tenant who will probably have to pay more rent to make up the lost months.

Landlords are not in the business to lose money. It's getting harder and harder to make even a small profit from renting. They will only pass on the financial pressure to the tenants and it's not hard to do when there is so much more demand than supply.

I know, right? The fucker ll who feels entitled by virtue of a title to his property, the bastard!

Once you rent a property out and recieve money for doing so, you do cede some control. If you'd prefer not to, the option of not renting it out exists.

They do. I agree. If they're not supposed to be having tenants over to do viewings as this time, then they shouldn't do it if that's what the law says.

I think offer a couple of time windows for a few weeks. I refused viewings when I wasn’t home (in case they stole something). I also refused viewings if the time didn’t suit me/baby’s nap schedule. Don’t inconvenience yourself and don’t bother tidying up.