Can landlord legally enter communal areas of HMO with no notice?

[anon1289]

Hi,

I am a tenant and my landlord routinely enters communal areas of the property with absolutely no notice.

I know it's unethical etc but those kind of arguments make no difference to him. There are no clauses in the contract saying he can.

Is he legally entitled to enter with no notice - I thought it was 24 hours notice unless an emergency but have been challenged on that.

Thanks in advance :)

I believe it depends on your contract. If you rent the house jointly with others then the communal areas of the house are shared between you and the Landlord has to give you 24 hours notice. However if you have a single contact just for your room, then I think it's different and the Landlord can access communal areas without giving notice.

I'm not legally qualified though, so hopefully someone else can confirm if that's correct.

This article might help www.linkedin.com/pulse/access-communal-areas-shared-houses-anne-woodward/

Is your tenancy agreement for exclusive use of your private bedroom with license to non-exclusive access to communal areas such as living room, kitchen and bathroom? If so then the landlord isn’t legally obliged to obtain permission or give notice to enter those communal areas - although it’s considered industry good practice to do so, as much to ensure a good relationship with tenants as much as anything. Unfortunately, if you can’t encourage the landlord to do the decent thing you’ll need to lump it or move out.

However, if you have a single joint tenancy with all the tenants in the house on it covering the whole property then yes, the landlord does have to give notice (and you may refuse access unless in an emergency.)