Landlord wants belongings moved out in order to do repairs

[MandyMotherOfBrian]

So I think I know the answer but I’m asking you lot as you’re probably more clued up than me…
DD is in a student house at Uni, and the agent has sent an email stating that the landlord requires access to her room to put in new flooring and a new door. However in order to do this she has to remove all of her belongings for the whole day - and they have said it might actually be two days but they won’t know til they start. There’s no where else in the house she can put them where they will be able to be locked away - only space is the kitchen and a small reception room but they aren’t lockable and also, of course, there’s no where else for her to sleep if the work goes on for two days. So I’ve told her to say, sorry that’s not convenient and suggest they do the work once the tenancy finishes in summer, in between tenants. Does the landlord have to have permission to access and do this work or does he just have to give notice and is then allowed in to do it?
I know about quiet enjoyment etc and I feel being asked to move all your belongings out and maybe not being able to use the room overnight is excessive.

Might be better in Legal? How do I get thread moved MNHQ?

You can just report your post @MandyMotherOfBrian , I've done it for you.

I have no idea of the legalities but since a pretty floor isn't urgent, unlike a broken boiler, I don't blame your DD requesting them to wait until end of tenancy. It's only a few months.

Cheeky bloody sod. He’s only doing it to limit the empty time between tenancies. It’s a non urgent issue and doesn’t fall under the emergency access requirements. If your daughter felt inclined, she could agree if he pays for removal and secure storage and puts her up in a nice hotel. I mean, hell would freeze over before I did that, but it’s an option. If he says no then that’s that.

No she does not have to agree, as it's non urgent. Tell her to refuse.

Perfectly reasonable ask to be just honest. I recently had flooring put down and I had to move stuff. Obviously it's harder in a student place but not impossible. She can ask for it to be done between tenants but to be honest it just shows a good landlord that they want to keep the place nice. So many student places are grotty so fair play to them.

Well, the main thing that jumps out to me is whether she's been complaining about issues with the floor and door. Or if it's unsafe.

If she has, I'd say she's now unreasonable to refuse access for repairs but not UR to refuse to decamp for days.

What flooring is going down? Pretty standard to empty a room to carpet it.

What's the issue with the door?

I'd just kip on the sofa but if there's nowhere to fit her things that's another issue.

No she hasn’t requested it, unsure what flooring is going to be but currently it is a poor quality Lino. Very old and worn but covered with her rugs atm so not something she’s bothered about. The door is also fine - shuts and locks as it should. Both of these things were on a list from the agent of things they recommended be done before she and her friends moved in last June 2023. They weren’t done at the time and she did in fact contact the agent back then to say she wouldn’t actually be moving her stuff in until September so they could have done it then. Feel it is unreasonable to ask for everything to be moved out to do it now when she will be leaving in June.

I’d leave it up to her - either she agrees or she doesn’t. I would say that having to empty her room and possibly sleep on the sofa for a night is hardly the end of the world!

As before, they were just two things on a long list of recommendations from the agent that they said should have been done before DD and friends moved in last year. None of them were done. It is not kept so a nice standard at all and we spent hours cleaning the kitchen and bathroom when she moved in, it was disgusting. The agent is uncooperative and aggressive too. DDs bed was actually broken when she moved in and took two months before they replaced it. They all just want to ride out the tenancy and move on to a better place next year.

Maybe not but it’s not an emergency and the tiny front room with the sofa is the only room she could put her stuff in - and she’s got a lot of expensive instruments as she’s a music student and there is no door on the room, let alone a locking door.

So to clarify, she is within her rights to refuse and they can’t do it without permission? Is that correct? Theres really no reason it can’t be done when they’ve moved out, it’s only three and a bit months away.

LittleGreenDragons - thank you!

Thank you. She has said it’s not convenient and suggested the date she will be moving out. Just checking he actually needs permission from the tenants.

Contact Shelter to check but I think that she is perfectly within her right to refuse.

So it's improvements, not repairs.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/housing_conditions/responsibility_for_repairs/problems_during_repair_work#:~:text=Access%20for%20repairs&text=Reasonable%20notice%20is%20not%20defined,breach%20of%20their%20tenancy%20agreement.

Having investigated further.

The landlord has the right to enter the property to make repairs and according to Saner v Bilton says the tenant is not entitled for damages if they have to vacate for this.

However the landlord has no automatic right to enter the property to make improvements or upgrades UNLESS that is specifically stated in the tenancy agreement. So check the tenancy agreement.

It is possible that the door might be necessary if it is a new fire door. There are lots of new fire safety regulations coming into force at the moment.

Could the lino have asbestos in it? Might that be why they want to replace it.

The Lino is worn and had a rip down the centre - which is under the bed so not causing any issue for DD and the worn areas are covered by her rugs. As I said, it was on a list of improvements from the agent way back before they even moved in, so can wait until June. There is no mention of the new door being a fire door but even it was, there are no fire doors anywhere else in the property so presumably it wouldn’t be the only one they were doing. I suspect it’s because they want to replace it with a door that has an actual door lock rather than the keypad it currently has, but not certain and they haven’t made it clear. I will get her to check the tenancy agreement.

I should have put in my earlier post - get her to contact Citizens Advice. Some of them let you email basic queries rather than make an appointment, so check your local website.

Otherwise Shelter, or even your local council might offer advice.

Ask LL to pay for a travel inn for a night or two whilst she can't occupy her room.

She doesn't have to contact shelter, it's very clear, she can refuse this. However PP had a good suggestion about travelodge. She could offer to move out for 2 days if the landlord covers removals, storage and accommodation for the duration. Otherwise she just says no, not convenient, and the landlord will have to do it when they move out.

Even if it's in the tenancy agreement it's not enforceable unless they are safety related repairs, which this isn't

I’ll get her to check the original tenancy agreement but it’s just that this is not convenient and it isn’t urgent/for safety reasons. They’ve been accommodating before when the landlord wanted access for other things it’s just that this request is a bit ott. And waiting three months til they’ve moved out doesn’t seem like it’s too unreasonable. Especially when the landlord has known this was recommended by the agent the middle of last year.