Annoyed about by our Landlady while we’re moving out.

[Weightwoes]

More of a rant really as I know there’s nothing I can do about this but curious if I’m justified in being annoyed by this.

We’ve rented this house from our landlady for just over decade now but having finally saved a deposit we have bought a house so are moving out. We contacted her to ask how much notice she required in light of the new renters rights changes even thought our contract said one month. She insisted on two months so we’re paying rent up to the end of September although we move on the 18th of August, bit annoying but fine, we figured that meant more wiggle room getting end of tenancy clean and garden tidying booked in. What we
hadn’t anticipated was that she was going to start bringing a seeming endless stream of tradesmen in while we’re packing as she selling up and now all the stuff she refused to fix for us needs doing.
We let in the first few as it was quick but then she tried to come on the day we are moving out and we told her absolutely not. My husband politely messaged her after that to suggest as she has a whole month and a bit of us paying rent where the house will be standing empty where she can do what she wants could she not just wait until then and she just replied with a comment about not doing conflict, whatever she thinks that means.
She was here this morning for the third time in fours days and as she was leaving she dropped in that she’d see me again tomorrow at 6pm. She’d never mentioned this before and when I questioned what it was for she said it was for a a decorator to come measure and eat for painting. I asked how on earth he’s going to manage that when the house is full of boxes etc and she was implying I’d have to make room. I said it wasn’t possible and could she not possibly wait until we’ve left for all this. Well she blew up at me about how her husband is ill and she has every right to come in as much as she wants and left slamming that door.
For the record I’ve met her husband many times over the years and genuinely like him, but I fail to see how waiting until next Wednesday is going to make any difference to his health.
She’s been here twice to measure the same taps and just lingers chatting at me while I’m trying to pack, on Friday she kept a poor plumber chatting in my door way for a good 30 mins. I’m just so stressed with packing and everything else for moving and utterly fed up of her so not sure if it’s just me over reacting and she’s being entirely reasonable.

We agreed end of September as the new renters right rules weren’t very obvious to us and to be fair when we gave notice we were struggling to find movers with any availability so figured it’d make life easier if we did have to move later. I think she would kick off if we tried to change that at this point although it’s tempting.

Put a chain on inside and message her to say no work that is not an emergency can be done while you pay rent. Get chat gpt to draw up a message for you including your legal rights

There is something you can do about it. I’d be saying that she cannot access the property again until the end of your notice period in September unless there’s an emergency, and if she wants to negotiate a shorter notice period you’d be happy to vacate any time after 18th August and cease paying rent at that point.

She’s not allowed to have it both ways - keep you for months on notice and have access, you don’t need to accept it. I’d even spend £20 on changing the locks until the end of your notice period so she doesn’t have access. You’re entirely within your rights to do that.

then you dont give her the keys back until then-her choice

I know you said you can't change the front door lock but can you do anything about the back door? So you can secure the front from the I side then exit out the back with a key she doesn't have a copy of?

Likely needs to declare the house as unoccupied for insurance. I'm not a landlord but I know that was something we had to have in place when moving house a few years ago as we weren't moving straight in.

Otherwise, she is very unreasonable and definitely trying to milk everything she can out of you. If she wants to do work on the house, she needs to end your tenancy before that starts. Good luck with the move and annoying landlord!

I'd be damned if gave her an extra month of rent and paid all the utility ills when I'm legally able to only give one months notice and I didn't need to!
For God sake, stand up for yourself!!!

I think I mentioned on a previous post that when we agreed the end of September notice period we weren’t intending to give her the keys early. Originally we said we’d let her think we were moving out at the end of our notice period so we could pack and get organised in peace and she wouldn’t be able to do the place up on our money, but the minute we’d given notice the requests for access started and we realised what a pain in the arse she was going to be so thought maybe better to just get rid of her by giving the keys over to her early.
We won’t be paying the utilities as we’ve already contacted them to give notice for us moving so she’s only really gaining the rent from that month when the house is empty. This is why I naively thought she’d be decent about it and wait but was obviously wrong.

As an aside, maybe people are telling us to just stop her coming in full stop but can we actually do that? I’m not so sure we have the right to ban her from accessing her legally own property? Also who do you actually complain to when she insists on coming, even if I wanted to go to the extreme of phoning the police on her I can’t imagine they’d even turn up these days, or if they did they’d probably allow her access to her property?

You don't have to let her in. You can change the locks if you want, as long as you change them back again. It might be legally her property but while you're renting it she can't do whatever she likes.

@Weightwoes have you ACTUALLY said in writing that she does not have permission to enter the property until your tenancy ends at the end of September? And have you suggested that you are happy to end the tenancy early if she wants access?

PS - you are responsible for utilities until the end of September. You can't just give a meter reading when you move out! So if your LL enters and runs up big bills then it is you who pays.

Yes you CAN stop her coming by baring her way. and telling her that entry is refused If she forces her way in its trespass or possibly harassment and you can phone the police. They may not come but it will scare her if she hears you calling the police. My nephew and I had a row with a neighbour who denied she had my parcel. Nephew takes out his phone and got as far as "Police please" and she panicked and stopped him.

Yes you can stop her coming in for non-emergencies.

Send her a letter she has to sign for immediately saying you will not be allowing her access to the home for her tradespeople/work while you're still paying rent and in the process of moving.

The utilities are being cancelled or transferred to our new address though? Surely once that’s done they can’t just continue to charge us, otherwise wouldn’t I still be paying for utilities for every other place Ive lived? It’s not like the utilities know when the notice period on the property runs out, they only know when we say we’ve vacated?
I’m more worried about any tradesmen causing damage and her attempting to say that it was us so clearly we can’t be handing her keys early unless she wants to change our notice. It’s just going to be a battle to block her as she fully believes she has the right to enter whenever she wants as it’s her property and I could have done without it.

Its your tenancy so you are responsible for the bills still. You can transfer it to your new place but whilst you still have a tenancy then you are still responsible.

You would need it in writing that the LL is now responsible for all bills from X date.

Its why it is so much easier to agree an early tenancy end date. Saves you money too.

We’ve messaged her several times and I asked her to her face yesterday to wait until after next week when we have vacated and she just repeats I have a right to enter. Oh and of course throws in some emotional blackmail about sick husbands before flouncing out the door…. She’s impossible to deal with.

I can’t fathom why she’s pushing so hard to get her decorator in to look at the houses this week anyway, there’s boxes absolutely everywhere and furniture that’s awaiting charity collections taking up an entire box room, she could see this with her own eyes yesterday. She’s made a couple of comments about us putting the boxes in the garage and I think what she actually was implying was that we move them to give this guy access. She’s the most entitled person I’ve come across in a long time, it’s like no one matters but her and what she wants.

OP honestly I would heed the warnings about damage and utility bills once you've moved out, and tell her she's not getting in till the end of your tenancy. Let her strop, protect your own interests.

It may be her property but it's your home and you have a right to quiet enjoyment. Therefore you can refuse her entry. Her repeated entry is harassment. Message her saying she has no right of entry to your home, she has been denying you quiet enjoyment. and it is now amounting to harassment. You will call the police if she makes further efforts to gain entry.

A quick google would inform you of your rights as a tenant. Why are you more inclined to believe your landlady? Do you actually want her to stop or not?

I’m not believing my landlady, I just don’t think we do actually have a right to block her access completely for over a month? I think she should be reasonable about it being at a mutually convenient time but I’m not sure I’d get away with a blanket ban in reality. Who’s realistically going to enforce it either way, the police aren’t coming out because I’m a bit annoyed at being disturbed when I’m packing are they?

I thought I was pretty clear in my original post it wasn’t about stopping her, just whether I was over reacting with how annoyed I am by her. Obviously now the potential liability with tradesmen in a house we’re paying rent on has been pointed out I think I can reasonably decline any work she has in mind to do, her getting them in to give her quotes for the work maybe not so easy to refuse.

You have an agreement untilt he end of Sept.

You are responsible for rent, contents insurance, utilities etc until your lease finishes.

You need to tell her explicitly that she has no right to access, except for emergencies until end of Sept when you hand the keys back.

If she has spare keys I can see her giving these to the trade people to decorate next week once you've moved. Do not allow this. You will be responsible for any damage and any utilities.

Please take control of this situation.

If she wants earlier access you agree to pay rent only until X day and hand keys back then. She can then do what she likes but you read the meters at this point and photograph everything to secure your deposit return.

If you insist on being a doormat people will walk over you.

Your landlady has a simple choice - she accepts you pay less rent and she gets the keys back and can enter as she please or she stays out until the end of September. You dont pay the last month's rent, go back at the end of September, read the meters and if you find there has been someone in using utilities or causing mess you take photos and dispute any claims from her for payments.

Sure, and who exactly is going to enforce that?

We are only moving a five minute drive away in a relatively small town, no way am I phoning police over this kind of issue, our new neighbours would have heard all about it before we’d even finished loading the vans to move. If not wanting that kind of embarrassment makes me a doormat that’s absolutely fine by me.

It's not a Police matter. It would be a civil matter breach of contract, for claiming back your lost deposit, the extra utility bills, etc.

You have a written contract. If she's expecting you to still to current conditions for notice, she needs to stick to same terms for quiet use of your home (regardless of it you live there).

You will still be legally responsible for at least the standing charges on the utility bills and council tax whilst you still have the tenancy, regardless of whether you're actually living there.

I know it’s not a police matter but plenty of people on this thread have suggested I ring the police if she comes when I don’t want her to.