Can LL enter flat without permission?

[wildsummerdreams]

Hi all, our landlord wants to enter the flat for a routine safety inspection, but I'm away travelling and don't want her to be in the flat without us there. I've asked her to rearrange the visit but she's being quite persistent.

I feel this is an invasion of our privacy. Would it be breach of contract if she enters the flat without our permission?

@Jon66

I agree in the short term there will be more pressure on housing if/when landlords withdraw from the market and it will inevitably cause disruption for tenants. However when these ex rented properties transfer to owner occupiers there will be a corresponding drop in tenant demand. In my opinion the luckier/more financially stable tenants will be exiting the private sector. To be a good landlord requires experience, a financial buffer and a time commitment. If amateur landlords with 1 or 2 properties they run on the side disappear from the market that is no bad thing. These people are often too emotionally attached to the properties, upkeep is poor and tenant rights ignored. Local authorities don’t have the resources to police this sector thanks to cuts and that won’t change any time soon. Central government therefore can only make the environment so hostile that landlords sell up or become more professional. Sentiment has changed especially among the younger generation and landlords are by and large regarded with suspicion and hostility. They are an easy and very visible target so will remain the focus of attention.

I'm not requesting. I'm giving notice. It's not a discussion but a legal requirement

THIS IS ILLEGAL. It is literally the opposite of your legal requirement as a landlord. You are not allowed to enter the property without permission from the tenants.
Are you the thickest landlord in England?

If my tenants decide that they are not worried about my constraints and are not prepared to me me half way, then easy. Life is short. I neither want a criminal conviction nor a massive fine. I alway do my best. If that is not good enough for a tenant, then I dont renew. Simples.

So you evict tenants for not allowing you to trample on their basic legal rights?
Yes, you are simple.

Maybe. But I have no problem finding tenants. And I stay out of jail.

Only because so many landlords are as bad as you, so tenants have no choice but to put up with your illegal bullshit.

Personally my moral code means I have a somewhat higher aim point than "staying out of jail" but what can one expect from a sewer rat landlord.

It's not about moral code. It's about obeying the law. The HMO rules are no red herring nor is it legislation that LLs can chose to not follow.

The inspection is a lot to set up. Each inspection takes half a day if everyone is there. I'm there if the tenant can't be. The vendor I use is able to do all the checks which is very rare. Normally you are coordinating between 4-6 contractors who need to come into the property in order (i.e. Floor plans are done before fire, gas and electrical checks). It's very very rare to find one person who can do everything in one go so no I can't just go with another contractor and no I'm not going to reschedule with 4-6 other contractors because a tenant wants to be there.

Why would you not want your landlord to carry out safety checks?

@Nanilas please, please do tell us more. I'm assuming that crazy rule is not the only one in the lease?

I used to work for a huge property firm that broke so many rules and yet got away with it every time. They had letting fees (illegal in Scotland) would go into tenants properties even if they had said no, they managed to almost always retain at least some of the deposits. They wouldn't repair boilers in a timely fashion citing lack of plumbers (aka they refused to pay for decent ones and would have one chap who did it on the cheap) leaving tenants with no heating in their run down rural cottages for at least 4 week's in winter and relied on the fact that their tenants couldn't afford to take them to court. Boss liked to say they could vote with their feet. The tenant turnover was massively high. New tenant every 6 months - 1 year.

Maybe just send 'failure to plan on your part does not constitute a crisis on mine' to calm the waters . The landlords on this thread aren't exactly covering themselves in glory.

@MissEliza

Why would anybody not want people letting themselves into a private home and rummaging about, unaccompanied?

You wouldn't mind me letting myself into your home - would you?

It's not about moral code. It's about obeying the law. The HMO rules are no red herring nor is it legislation that LLs can chose to not follow

You are BREAKING THE LAW. What are you struggling with here? You have certain legal obliagtions as a landlord, which YOU need to schedule at times that are convenient for your tenants, not YOU.

No it's not at a time convenient to me. It's at a time when the contractor is available. It's not so easy to go with someone else for HMO inspections.

It's actually really quite inconvenient for me to do these inspections and it's expensive. However the purpose of the legislation is good and it does enable LLs who don't maintain the home to be dealt with appropriately.

It's also not about a tenant just letting anyone into the home. It's about the LL having access to perform legally required checks. Its not as if the LL is giving the key to the contractor who is letting themselves in to do the work.

All of these regulations to protect tenants and tenants are complaining about LLs who are doing what is necessary to comply. You should direct your ire at the LLs not interested in doing the inspections or the councils who don't enforce the rules because they are underfunded.

Legend, I haven’t looked for a while (I have a 5 year lease) but lots of craziness.

Can’t dry washing in the garden OR in the house

Can’t have a bonfire on random days and times (no idea where they plucked them from)

Landlord gets first pick of any storm blown trees

It’s all a bit weird. I just cross them out and then sign and give his copy back. I doubt he even knows I’ve crossed it out!

piglet They aren't rummaging around. They are entering to do specific work related to required legislation. As a LL I'm present to make sure nothing untoward happens. I also only hired insured contractors and require tenants to have renters insurance.

Yes and you need to do it within the law.

Can’t dry washing in the garden OR in the house The drying of washing outside is actually in most apartments and some leasehold house head leases and nothing to do with the landlord. The issue of drying washing indoors is a real problem. I do not allow my tenants to dry their washing indoors because it causes condensation and mould, which is very detrimental to living conditions for the tenant themselves, plus damages the walls, ceilings and furnishings with mould and mould spores and will probably lead to the tenant losing some or all of their deposit due to the damage this causes. That is why as a reasonable landlord i provide a condensing tumble dryer. Perhaps you should speak nicely to your landlord and ask them to provide a tumble dryer in the property. I can't believe some of the stuff on here. The vitriol really should be directed at the landlords who couldn't care less that the tenant won't let them in because they don't carry out the statutory safety checks anyway. Not the ones who are concerned that the tenants do have their rights to live in a safe, clean and nice property upheld.

If my LL insisted on letting themselves into my home and private space where all my precious belongings are after I'd explicitly asked them not to, I'd be seeking legal advice and would press charges if able.

I'm sure I'm not the only one and if they tried to serve me a section 21 afterwards, I'd take them to court over that and make life for them as difficult as possible.

It might be the LL's property but it is the tenants home, why can't some LL understand that? It is those LL's which give the whole profession a bad name.

That is why as a reasonable landlord i provide a condensing tumble dryer

I have a condensing dryer, which I ran under an open window. The LL still tried to stop me using it. I filed that request in my 'smile, nod and carry as normal drawer'.

Now I've moved they're trying to say the black mould in the bedrooms is my fault. The dryer was downstairs. I opened the bedroom windows daily.

When I moved in the property had been freshly painted and there were an excessive number of air bricks throughout the property. My guess is the property has a damp issue and they knew full well it did. I didn't notice the mould until I moved furniture but I did mention a damp smell on every inspection, of which there were many. Too many.

You should direct your ire at the LLs not interested in doing the inspections or the councils who don't enforce the rules because they are underfunded

No, I'll direct it at you for your illegal entrance to your tenants homes under threat of eviction.
You are WRONG and I think you know it. You can't be nearly as stupid as you appear.

Slievenamon you do realise that a contract exists and that breaking that contract can lead to possession proceedings under statutory law don't you? You need to have a look at your attitude too. You seriously have issues with the manner in which you post. You seem to take things very personally when we are having a perfectly reasonable discussion about whether s11 gives an authority for entering the property. You seem to think that because people are saying to you actually we don't agree with your reading of the law, you are calling them stupid. That's rather childish.

^ that's actually hilarious projection

Slievenamon and one last thing. My tenants are quite happy thank you very much. If they have a problem with something they call me and ask me to fix it. You see I need to enter the property to do that. They understand if they want a nicely maintained and looked after property thats what happens. They call me, I fix it or call in a contractor to fix it, usually within a day or two if possible although relying on a contractor it might take a little longer. That's how landlords and tenants work together to ensure a nice quiet life for all concerned. They know that if they don't tell me there is a problem, I can't fix it. Easy. I have tenants in my properties for some years. Your attitude is really sad.

Piglet don't be so stupid and goady ffs. These are not random strangers having a rummage through her knicker drawer. They're doing something in her benefit. She doesn't specify what kind of check. Let's say it's gas safety. Would she rather risk carbon monoxide poisoning?
Tell you what. If it's such a fucking invasion of tenants' privacy let them be responsible for safety checks.
Of course on MN tenants are always right and landlords are always wrong.

MissEliza if you had a contractor coming into your house to do some checks would you want to be there, or would you just give them a key so they could let themselves in?

My tenants are quite happy thank you very much

I'm sure they are very "happy" that you don't actually evict them, just threaten to if they won't let you in any time you want to enter, even if they aren't there

My attitude isn't sad, its called basic common courtesy and don't being a lawbreaking landlord dicksplash. Maybe you should try it