Our holiday home is for sale. Lettings agent blocking viewings by prospective buyers.

[MillyMollyMama]

We have been trying to sell our holiday house. Someone wants to view it on Tuesday but the Agent has told us the holiday tenant is not agreeable to this. The Agent has known for months that the property is for sale and this is the second time a viewing has been blocked. I know it can be difficult to get tenants to agree to viewings when it is their home, but this is someone renting my house for a week's holiday and it is not their home.

The agent was miffed because we instructed another agent to sell the house for us. There were sound reasons for this. Our letting agent, for the past 4 years, is also an estate agent but they quoted the highest percentage for selling and do not use national coverage advertising, or even much locally. They are also closed at weekends. This made us go to a more dynamic agent.

Can the tenant refuse to accommodate our request for a viewing? Can we say to the letting agent that, if the tenant will not accommodate this request, then we will not make the house available to the tenant that week? I have offered a discount of 10% off the rent if they allow the viewing. We need to sell but we need to keep the income stream coming in too. Our letting agent told me they always accommodate viewings, but obviously this meant only if they came through them at an extortionate selling fee! Any advice would be very much appreciated.

I am also sorry for the position you are in but the way Cornwall has been bought out by second homers and over inflated the prices is appalling.
I am assuming the fair price you paid would not attract a fair long term rent to people who live and work locally to there either.

I used to live in whitstable and the same happened there but on a smaller scale. It has a devastating effect on those that have always lived there or who live there full time

OP, stop being so touchy. Your holiday home might be lovely (it might be awful - how should we know?) but that is not relevant as to whether it is reasonable to expect someone on holiday, wanting a lie in or whatever, to let potential buyers traipse through the place. I wouldn't consent to it.

I think you should be prepared to bribe the tenets with a more attractive incentive than a paltry 10% discount. Try offering a decent discount and I bet they will be more than happy to accommodate you. I'd suggest a minimum of a third off.

This shows the tenant that you realise that it is a bit off to expect them to let perspective purchases around. I would happily agree to that type of discount. You could perhaps ask them to agree to one or two viewings for that amount of discount.
Money talks.

If it's somewhere like st mawes I'm not surprised it isn't selling over the winter. That place is the saddest place I have seen in the winter. Destroyed by seconnh

Second home owners.

If it is somewhere like that get viewings in the summer when the village has some life in it & isn't just empty holiday homes. You'll have to stop renting it though. Or only have viewings on changeover days.

It's a pity no-one local can afford it - there are many Cornish families who would love to be able to but their own home.

I feel for you - because you have to do viewings in order to sell, and you cannot afford to stop renting it out. But your week-long tenant doesn't care about your problems - they are just there for a holiday. Personally, I would probably allow the viewing in exchange for a 10 per cent discount – what is that, £50 or so? – but lots of people wouldn't.

So you do have to tell your agent that viewings are only possible on changeover days or when the property is empty.

If you've had no realistic bites since last October it probably isn't competitively priced tbh. Any home will sell at the right price.

Flowery - the OP expects to sell to another second home owner. It priced accordingly - so yes probably too high.

Yes I realise that's her target market.

OP is not doing much to help herself. She wont have the property available for viewings, and she wont lower the price enough to entice any potential buyers.

I should think a potential new second home owner with a view to let the property would be encouraged by the property being let, and mindful not to disturb holiday makers, after all they will be their bread and butter. Having to fit in with holiday makers would therefore not put them off.

I think at the very least it has to be a one-sixth discount, as it is one of their six full days that is being disrupted. 10% is pitiable - it doesn't change my decision-making about a purchase.

Even with a discount I wouldn't go out either, if it was before 10.30 am. I would quite comfortably be there, breakfasting or whatever while they traipsed around.

if i had to keep the place reasonably tidy and available for people to pop by at a moment's notice on my holiday, that i had paid for, and will now not be able to relax on my holiday, i probably wouldn't take the rental. i'd want a pretty sizeable discount for the hassle. it would have to be a house i couldn't normally afford that was now with the discount, within my reach.

I live in the far south west - I'm allowed to have an opinion on the damage second homes have done to the economy. The problem with pretty much any picturesque village in Corbwall is that it will be half empty in winter. The businesses there (expensive art galleries & London style coffee shops) cater only to the tourists because there aren't enough locals to keep the usual local sort of businesses going. They may not even open year round. The balance has tipped & destroyed some of these villages.. It's not ideal when local families cannot afford to buy a home because you need a City salary to afford a small terraced house.

I'll repeat - the OP put her house on the market in October. If she's selling in a village with a high % of holiday homes she needs to sell in the summer when the village looks lively & inhabited. If she's getting no interest at all then she needs to reduce the price.

I understand that you are in a difficult situation but your tenants really don't care, and why should they.

Whatever they are paying is the going rate I'm sure! Obviously being March that's not as much as August but it's still the going rate and they are paying for sole use of the property during the week.

We rent holiday cottages and I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to accommodate property viewings, not without a significant discount and I don't think 10% would cut it tbh.

I think yabvu but how about booking one week letting a one week empty for viewings. Compromise maybe?

Legally I think ( which is what you were asking) you forfeit rights to enter the property when you let out the property so you or any viewers have no legal right to enter the property.

We have a holiday let.

I wouldn't dream of asking the family renting to allow prospective buyers to look round. The renters 'own' the house for the week.

You need to stop renting it if you want people to look round.

BTW I would possibly allow people to look around if
(1) I knew before booking
(2) the discount was substantial - thus allowing me to rent somewhere I couldn't otherwise afford
(3) there was a maximum number of viewings confirmed at time of booking (say 2 or maybe 3) - all on one day only.

Otherwise forget it. I'd book somewhere else.

Hi everyone. Thanks again for your views. We have lowered the price. I had asked the letting agent to tell tenants it was on the market but they appear not to have done so. I have a few weeks with no bookings so I am hoping we get viewings then and agent is relocating Easter booking in line with suggestions that I should not have tenants in when I may get a viewing.

Current Tenant has now happily accepted a 10% discount. I have learned a lesson from this because I would have let one set of prospective buyers into a house I rented and, have actually done so. I did nor realise people would be so vehemently against it, but I do now.

My Agent never asks for tenants to pay for breakages and never checks inventory so I have to replace things. Tourism is a major industry in Cornwall and necessary for the economy of the region. I have detected quite a lot of dislike of landlords on this thread so I am glad I am getting out! I have been, over the years, flexible on price, happy to offer pro rata prices, provided picnic equipment and lots of extras including wi fi and iPod docks. I cannot do much more. Regrettably, we now need the money!

I don't think you're awful. I think you're in a really tricky situation. It must be so frustrating to lose viewings when you know that they will take less than an hour and you have offered a discount.

I can also agree with the tenants that it is their home for the week. Is there any way that prospective tenants can be told about the viewings (or possibility of) prior to booking? If I knew in advance (plus the discount) then I don't think I'd mind being out. I would most probably be out anyway!

Is there a possibility of you having an open day or a few consecutive open days? Then you can write off a week without any tenants. A bog standard terrace on my street was SWAMPED on an open day.

I wish you luck. We have recently sold a rental property (not holiday home though) and chose to do so when it was empty. It took 7 months from tenants leaving to completion. The costs were crippling so I understand why you need to keep the business going.

Oops, sorry if I repeated ideas, I didn't refresh the page to see all the other responses

It wouldn't bother me, especially if they came at a mutually agreeable time and I got 10% discount

Can you not get the agent to arrange the viewings for a Saturday morning during changeover? Alternatively let it out on a monthly basis for people between houses so to speak, on the understanding that there might be visits from time to time. I don't think it's acceptable for prospective buyers to be shown around while holidayers are there.

Hi as an accidential land lady of a domestic property we were quite keen to sell but waited until the tenants of 14 years moved out we then decided to take a six month hit on loss of rental income to renovate and market the property.
Two offers which fell through and we re rented at the six month cut off at a loss of around £4,000 rent.
The new tenant hopes to stay six years and we would not dream of asking anyone to view "her" house during this time.
I guess the difference is we could afford the loss.
You do have my sympathy's if you can't.