Anyone else’s Landlord do this? AIBU to be irritated?

[Specksofwhiteallaround]

For context we’ve been renting this house from our Landlady for just over ten years now and she’s hands down the most intrusive landlord I’ve ever had. Can be very free with her opinions on how we live and has form for dropping in unannounced as she’s passing by, if she does let us know she’s coming it’s with as little notice as possible.
So fairly or not I find her very irritating generally but what’s really annoying me is the last couple of years she's developed a habit of scheduling in visits to the house every single time my son is off school. My son has autism and attends a special school, he really doesn’t like having strangers in our home which she is aware of. As my husband frequently travels for work at short notice I don’t work so she could come anytime during term time but she repeatedly turns up during the holidays, usually with one days notice and disrupts our plans. I just don’t understand why she herself wouldn’t rather come when my sons at school, everything is tidied away etc.
The last straw is her texting me at 6:30am on bank holiday Monday to say she wanted to call in at some point that afternoon to drop in some paperwork to us. She wasn’t too happy at being told we weren’t available that short notice but agreed to reschedule so now she’s coming today at some point between late morning and early afternoon so we’re wasting a day just hanging around waiting for her and I spent the hottest day of the year deep cleaning downstairs to circumvent comments on my not having hoovered over the bank holiday weekend and how my son really doesn’t need that many toys out…
Is anyone else’s landlord like this? Am I unreasonable to find this annoying and wish she’d try to schedule this in outside of the holidays?

I work for a big landlord. We contact tenants all the time and say can we come next Tuesday to look at your fence / the bathroom you've raised an issue about / for a rent review etc etc. And 9/10 they say they can't do Tuesday but could do the Friday after, or 3 weeks later, or whatever. It's fine, and entirely normal to give her a time that's convenient for you and not rearrange your life at short notice to facilitate her at the drop of a hat. Stop being available when it inconveniences you.

Obviously for actual problems or repairs that's one thing, and you make time because it's beneficial to you, but for her to have a nose around and moan about your son's toys is entirely unnecessary.

What does that have to do with anything? Tenants rights are such irrespective of the amount they pay.

For her to just drop in for nothing much or for paperwork is weird I think. If it was coming round to sort out repairs or for things like gas safety checks then I wouldn't expect her to keep track of school holidays as it can be tricky to get tradespeople booked in

To be perfectly honest, unless your house is in a state which is damaging her property, like your son has drawn on the walls, or you've left so much dirty washing up everywhere that dregs of food remnants are soaking into her carpets, I don't think she can really comment on mess.

Legally you don't have to let her in if she doesn't give you 24 hours notice, you can refuse to let her in, unless there is a very good reason for her to believe that her not entering within a shorter time frame would likely cause serious damage to the property - for example a water leak that might ruin carpets and walls, or an electrical fault which might lead to the place burning down.

Please contact Shelter or CAB for further legal advice.

At this point it’s just wear and tear but we learned early on that she will just ignore some things while throwing money at other things. The bathroom towel rail has been hanging loose since we moved in and it’s just ignored, but she’s spent a small fortune replacing fancy taps that repeatedly leak. The water softener broke, instead of repairing it she had it removed and now all the taps, sink etc are encrusted with limescale no matter what I do and the shower makes such alarming noises I’m convinced it’ll break any day. The paint around the door frames in peeling off and the laminate flooring must have been badly fitted as it shifts when you walk on it and has quite big gaps showing but I’m reluctant to mention it as I’m worried she will say we’ve caused it.

She has to give you 24 hours notice at a minimum. If if it the new renter's rights agreement you do not have to sign it, just confirm to her that you have received it (this can be done over email although i did prefer to send my tenants a hard copy too). I am a fairly relaxed landlord, I do admit that but for paint jobs etc I would be happy with a photograph, as long as the tenant is happy with it then fine, it isn't me living there and I usually have it redecorated between tenancies anyway.

By law you have the right to quiet enjoyment. Now equally legally she only had to give you 24 hours notice, but there is probably scope under the equality act to say that this needs to be longer given the autism.

I would speak to CAB and see what you can do but I would be sending her a formal letter explaining things.but after 10 years you are probably better to try to move, she isnt likely to change

Check the renters bill, becuae i am fairly sure they are only allowed to raise the rent every 12 months now, but every 6 months would have likely been illegal previous. What is your tenancy length?

Twenty four hours notice would be so much better but yes I doubt she’ll change at this point. Her idea of notice is to message you saying she’ll be coming tomorrow, if I’m lucky she’ll message in the morning so I can get everything tidy but usually it’ll be late at night so I’m having to rush around late or early the next morning.

We've finally saved a deposit and have had an offer accepted on a house so hopefully we won’t be dealing with this too much longer. Previously we were very worried about being evicted because few properties in this area come up for rent and we have a cat so our options are limited. We’re grateful the rent has been lower until recently but it has come with lot of condescension, she speaks to me and husband like we’re young teens in our first home rather than two adults who are now in their forties with a twelve year old. I’ll never forget when she commented that we were like hoarders because our off season duvets live in the box room as there’s no where else to store them.

Is it because she thinks your child is damaged things due to his disability? I'd ask her out right is this why as his disability means could she please schedule visits when he is in term time as he is anxious with strangers in his home, perfectly reasonable request

The one time I rented, my landlord didn't do this. She'd schedule around our needs as well as her own. Never arrived unannounced either. She DID try and keep the deposit and made up a bunch of lies at the end of the tenancy, but that's a different story! (we won)

Oh she can fuck right off with her comments.

LL like her give the rest of us a bad name. Fuckers.

Your landlady is overstepping the mark. She has to give you notice if she is coming on a visit. In the current instance tell her you are out and to drop paperwork through the letter box. Don't let her in when she arrives unannounced - she has no right of entry, it is your home.

She could use royal mail tracked and signed for delivery.

You could prepare some paperwork of your own showing her all the ways she could be a less intrusive landlord and take it round to her house and make her sign for it.

Stop letting her in. You have absolutely no reason to accept her bombarding you with unwanted and unnecessary visits..even if she was your mum you've the right to say no. And she's not even a friend.

Every single time she tries it just keep refusing. Tell her your only obligation is to the tenancy agreement and part of being a tenant does not involve constant visits from your landlord.

That's appalling but I can't help think you've built a rod for your own back by allowing it for so long.

We are landlords and we get no end of work done to our flat without ever seeing what it's like. If she wants to inspect the work, she can come when you are out or when YOU say it's convenient. If she is late or vague, she'll miss you.

She doesn't need to drop off paperwork, that's what the postal service is for and she should use it. Tell her you're unavailable for such a visit. Since you've already said yes I'd claim illness, be "ill" for weeks, all of you and tell her to put it in the post.

Put your phone on silent overnight so she can't disturb you.

Tell her, literally, to mind her own business about toys or how often you vacuum, when she comments. She won't like it but tough shit, she started the rudeness by commenting and you don't owe rude people politeness. She's not the queen and you don't have to treat her like she is.

She has a right to come in for annual inspection and repairs/maintenance work, that's it. I expect she chooses school holidays because she works term time herself. If it's a short holiday not the summer one just tell her you're unavailable for inspection that week but can accommodate the next week (when DS is back at school). She's being totally unreasonable. If she's working she'll have to take the day off to inspect. You can tell her your son is unwell, every time, if it helps. It's not a lie, he has a permanent condition that affects him.

You'll have to be a bit flexible if something needs doing as an emergency over the summer though. If it's not an urgent repair I'd leave reporting it until he's back at school. For annual maintenance and inspections just bring it forward to before the summer holidays, that will reset the date to a more convenient time for you.

If you are buying then you dont have to put up with this any longer. Next she will be wanting to show prospective new tenants around while you are packing. I would say no just for the hell of it and make her wait until the property is empty. But then I am a vindictive bitch.

@Specksofwhiteallaround , I am a landlord of multiple properties. Your landlord is supposed to let you enjoy your home and is being very unreasonable. You just need to stop being so accommodating and when she next asks to see you at short notice tell her you’re busy and set a time that suits you. She’ll get the message eventually.

@Specksofwhiteallaround
Is it this she wants you to sign for?
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-renters-rights-act-information-sheet-2026

Your rental rights have changed under this government. Have a read of the document above,

Well she’s nothing if not predictable she told me my olive tree needed a trim within seconds of me opening the door, said 'oh look at all these toys' to my son on the way past to check out the bathroom paint job and pointedly commented on new cracks in the bathroom ceiling that was painted in march, not sure if she somehow thinks I’m responsible for those?
Asked me to sign for the paperwork, mentioned it was the law for me to sign, no idea if that’s true or not… then wandered in my kitchen on her way past. Was not impressed I’m soaking a casserole dish in the sink and mentioned needing a talk about health and safety regarding the trip hazards on the floor (a brand new box of cat food that I can’t fit in the cupboard yet).
I cannot wait to be done with this. Hopefully before she turns up again to lecture me on kitchen safety probably sometime in the summer holidays.

I guess she’s visiting and wanting you to sign the documentation as she has left it too late to post the new government information regarding renting. The deadline for this is the 31st May. After this date, she can be fined.

Your landlady is completely unreasonable to be visiting you this frequently with very little notice. I suggest you read up on your rights, especially with how much notice you need to give if you’re planning to move into a new property. This information is freely available on reputable websites.

I have twice had rather posh landlords who actually let themselves in - and this was on modestly expensive houses in upmarket areas

after that we refused to let from anyone where it wasn’t ‘managed’ - and communication went via the agent . ( some better than others) the best were Savills - they were fantastic both times and someone told us it was because they had a lot of foreign tenants who were corporate lets and were very business like and didn’t put up with any slow service/repairs.

onr of the guys who let himself in ( this was Oxford) was an ex Lord Mayor - he was an absolute arsehole, he actually let himself in to check we hadn’t done a bunk because we were once 1 day late paying rent because we were on holiday and I had forgotten to take the little code generator machine you used to need with my bank to make payments online ( about 13 yearsago) we only knew because my cleaner was there at the time.

Do not EVER let her in again. Tell her to post paperwork Signed For.
If you need her to come round, or for the annual inspection, do not allow her to come with less than 24h notice, and if it's inconvenient, tell her that you'll be there on X day at X time and you'll see her then.