Need advice. Really upset by landlords behaviour

[amazegumball]

In a 12 month fixed term agreement which runs out on 12th march and go into a month by month contract.
In the Summer (when my baby was 2 weeks old) I was advised the landlord is selling the property. I explained my situation and said not only will i find it difficult to accommodate viewings with a newborn but we are halfway through a fixed tenancy so he cant.
A week after xmas i get an email saying the property will now be put on the market and two months notice will be given after my fixed term runs out.
Im devastated as i love my home and my kids are in the local school not to mention i have a fitted kitchen and bedroom so will have to fork out for new.
Letting agents emailed last week. Said landlord will be coming on monday to take pics. I was away at the time and said its wasnt convenient.
Just received another email( 5.30pm today ) saying the landlord WILL be coming this monday morning at 10am bringing with him several agents and can i make the house presentable?
I responded saying Monday wasnt convenient (its my bday and ive planned a day out) but the next day was.
Ive just received a email back saying -

Sorry it's going to have to be Monday as it's all booked in with the agents. The landlord left it last week as you were away but cannot change it again.

The landlord wants to keep disturbance to a minimum and will work with you as much as possible but is only required to give you 24 hours notice to enter the property.

Surely i have to agree to this first??
Also if he sells the property do i (as i tenant) go with the sale?
Fed up of moving house every 3 years

notagenius I totally agree. Obviously it's good to be able to use your right to reuse viewings if it really is inconvenient or if the agent/LL really are bastards- but if it's been a polite request and they're willing to work around you a bit then refusing out of spite just seems mean. I know if I'm renting or buying a house Id like to have a look at it first and would want to offer others the same courtesy!

I realise the agent was underhanded saying they'd enter anyway- but tbh in all my years renting this was always the impression agents gave me, I only learned about the right to refuse on here. I expect it's the 'done thing' - plus if you were somewhat accommodating to begin with I'm sure they wouldn't threaten it!

There are some ill-informed people on this thread: the OP never refused viewings, she just wanted some consideration and decent notice rather than a potential steady stream of people through the door whenever it suited the LL who chose to replace her with another tenant.

No LL has the right to insist on viewings during a tenancy - only in an emergency can they gain access. The tenant's right to quiet enjoyment overrides any illegal nonsense in the tenancy agreement or any jumped up intimidation tactic used by an agent or landlord to compel the tenant to allow viewings.

Especially where the LL is giving notice to the tenant, the LL may have to just wait until the tenancy ends before taking marketing photos and having viewings.

Do you honestly think they won't let the place unless the tenant allows viewings genius? I'd have been more concerned about the conduct of your potential LL to elicit such a response from the outgoing tenant had I been you.

LLs have to treat letting places as a business. If you serve notice on a tenant you have to bear in mind you may have a void period and budget accordingly.

I was fully prepared when our gave notice that we wouldn't be able to do anything to re-market until she had vacated. As it was, she offered to let us have the EA round and to accommodate any viewings. Which is exactly as it should be and if you have a good relationship it is perfectly reasonable but not a LL's right.

Oh and that agent who used a key to get into the house acted illegally.

Not ill informed at all wowfudge, we are on the same page that it is never a legal right. Your interpretation of the situation is:

"the OP never refused viewings, she just wanted some consideration and decent notice rather than a potential steady stream of people through the door whenever it suited the LL who chose to replace her with another tenant."

By op's own admission, her view is

"If the landlord wants to sell why should the tenant go out of their way to clean the house and allow viewings ??"

Very different, you don't need to go out of your way to clean at all, but in my opinion, not allowing a viewing because "why should I" is a landlord's nightmare. I believe in being nice, even when you are not obliged to, without sounding philosophical here.

I think you reap what you sow and too many tenants are coerced into bending over backwards when they have the right to say no.

The OP on this thread was amenable, but then the agent started taking the piss and interpreting that as meaning they could do whatever they wanted and the tenant would roll over.

I have been a LL and would never dream of treating a tenant the way some landlords do.

I wasn't refusing viewings.
I couldn't make the 1st two appts but offered the next day .thats when things turned difficult and they accused me of being awkward .
If I am paying for the privilege to live somewhere why should be happy about people nosey through my things

True you do reap what you sow. I think Amazes LL had treated her well.

Quite surprising the number of people on here who consider that illegally entering the property without the tenant's permission is treating her well.

I'm a tenant and I would be livid if my landlord or the letting agent entered the property without my knowledge or permission.

Luckily my LL has been excellent in the 10 years that I've lived in his house.

Wowfudge: you seem to be an lovely exception here.
The other LLs on this thread think OP is being a nightmare.

The woman opened a FITTED wardrobe didn't she? Given that she was looking at paying money to live there, just like you, it's not unreasonable that she wanted to know how big it was.

I'm not a landlord but I do think you have behaved in a most entitled fashion.

pax we don't know that they are landlords. genius thinks it's fine for an agent to let themselves into someone's home to do a viewing and she is a tenant. If they did that to a homeowner they would rightly hit the roof.

Wowfudge you have really twisted my words. We booked an appointment to view, the tenants agreed to it, according to the agent, very reluctantly (apparently the guy had lost his job and gave notice). We were five minutes late, of course the agent was given a spare key by the landlord, I don't know about where you are, but this was in central London, and this practice (given prior consent) is standard. The agent knocked to make sure the tenants weren't in, no one answered, so she used the key she was given. We were confronted with aggressive behaviour, I was SHOCKED, and it was a wasted commute during my lunch hour. I apologised for being five minutes late, but it didn't warrant this horrible reaction from the tenant

So what if it was fitted . Still wasn't nice having people look at my things .
I PAY TO LIVE HERE IN PEACE!

You seem quite tense about this OP. You don't pay for peace, you pay to rent the house. At the end of your tenancy, or sooner if the landlord or you give notice on the arrangement, then you move out and somebody whether it be buyer or tenant moves in. That will naturally be a stressful process but it is necessary for all parties. I think your problem here is that you are thinking as if this was your home. Well it wasn't, it was the place you rented but it's never been yours. The house you are going to now will be your home because through the grace of the council you will be secure there. I wish you well with the move. Renting must have been so very upsetting for you.

genius I haven't twisted your words at all. Unless the tenants had expressly agreed to the agent conducting viewings when they weren't present then the agent had no business using a key to get in. In your earlier post you stated she presumed they weren't in. Now she knocked to be sure they weren't in. There is a difference.

I'd have been mad as hell if an agent had done that to me. She should have rung them to see if they were in fact in. In those circumstances a bit more empathy for those tenants and their situation might have been nice.

Just because something is standard practice as you say doesn't mean that the agents have actually behaved ethically and got the go ahead from the tenants. There are numerous threads on here about unscrupulous agents which demonstrate this.

Northern - of course it was/is the OP's home, especially given the period of time she was there. The place where you live is your home irrespective of whether you own it or not.

A tenant pays rent for the quiet enjoyment of the property as their home.

But in the real life world, who cares if people look at your things? In a wardrobe especially - it's clothes. Clothes you wear in public. Where people look at them.

I'm not being sarky (or, maybe a little bit), it just.. I dunno. I don't mind if people look in my wardrobes if there's a reason to do so. And 'I might rent the house' seems reason enough to me.

Wow that was fast, it took me 13 weeks to get a council house in the North on the homeless bidding system, that was 5 years ago, the wait is much longer now.

You have been very lucky to get a council house and so quick, most people in private would kill for one and recent people i have known who have had to move out have had to live in temp council flats till a property camme up as the lists are so big.

I can't understand why your moaning about cleaning it tbh and hows it the PLL's fault you have no furniture for it. The church offer a service where i am, you go down with your new tenancy agreement and take what you want, probably not the best stuff but if your desperate every little helps, the council also offer a rental scheme where you can pay weekly for furniture on your rent.

Just move into the council house and make the best of it, you said you are sick of moving every 3 years, now you don't have to, there are people i know in much worse situations who would kill for a council house that quick when they have no where to go but a council tower block or a B&B

But they went looking t your things. They were looking at the space in the wardrobe, you know to make sure it was big enough for purpose. Imagine viewing a property, not opening fitted units, buying the house, moving in, go to hang your clothes and oh shit not big enough for a coat hanger. Or open a kitchen door, and it's a manky shell. False draw.

Yes you are paying rent. But imagine buying the place and the units are not what they appear to be.

The OP was specifically talking about cleaning for viewings Singing.

We moved just over five years from a two up two down with loads of built in storage to a three bed semi with no cupboards except in the kitchen. Before we moved we budgeted for the essentials we would need - we had to buy a large storage unit for the dining room as the kitchen is only small - and it took us six months and a very generous cheque from a relative before we had any wardrobes at all. Before then everything was on some very sturdy rails from Ikea which only cost about £6 each at the time. I bought some of their hanging shelf things for undies and folded clothes.

You've had lots of good suggestions for where to source furniture and white goods OP. Concentrate on the move now.

NorthernLurker: do you really consider that people living in private rental houses do not have a home? In that case they are 'homeless'.

Surely you home is the house that you live in regardless of who owns it, whether that is a HA, a private LL, a bank/ building society or if you own it outright?

I am very lucky to get somewhere so quick. I'm overwhelmed with the work that needs to be done but excited too.
My new neighbours seem lovely ( they are private owners)
I will get there .
My mum is babysitting all weekend so I'm going round today with sugar soap and a sander.

The whole viewing thing has been a pain in the arse to me. Mainly because of amount of my time it's taken. I don't care if anyone thinks that's entitled.

I'm still waiting to hear about the final month. I have said I do not want to leave on back terms so will see what they say.

Honestly, do not trust that email about the last month being free. They would just try to take your deposit money. That would backfire for them though - as they haven't put your deposit in a secure scheme you can claim up to 3 times your deposit from them. They must be utter muppets not to realise their mistake about the deposit - and just how costly that could be for them.

Really glad you got the council house OP. Try and put everything else behind you now.

Paxtecum - the point is the OP was behaving in a territorial manner over something that isn't hers. That's a mistake and has caused her much heartache.