Is this fair landlord probs

[CambsAlways]

Please help I know someone just moved into property very recently week ago’ had signed a year contract! Landlord now being difficult, person asked could they decorate, no, also no shelving or pics mirrors could go up, no satellite dishes, he would be coming in couple times week to pick up post, surely though they get their post redirected, as doesn’t want them coming in, twice week, they have keys to come in they live very near! I’ve never heard of anything like this, it doesn’t sound like a home to me, sounds like wants the rent but not allowing the tenant to live freely more like a prison cell, nothing of this was in the contract

Landlords have to give at least 24 hours notice to come in, and even then the tenant can refuse. The tenant have right on their side and the right to have private enjoyment of the property. Look up shelter and renting to find out all the rights of the tenant.
You can change the locks [ as long as you keep the original to put back once you leave ]. This will stop the landlord getting into the house.

It is fairly normal for most private rental's to not allow anything on the walls or be allowed to decorate.

Yes them popping round whenever is an infringement of the harassment act and the landlord and tenant act.

However a standard AST will have the property taken as seen so no decorating/satellite dishes is very standard

The post is out of order. He needs to put a redirection in place.

No decorating is pretty standard, ime. CA they get some free standing shelving, wicked can ten move with them?
We have hung pictures without glass, but not mirrors, with command hooks, which dont involve drilling. Might that work?

I can understand the No decorating, but I’m shocked they want to come into the property twice a week for post, surely this is insane ( 8 times a month to pick up post) when surely post should be redirected) they don’t live there, they are renting it out, I wasn’t sure about the sat dish but the person was told the landlord thought them ugly so didn’t want to allow it! Seems strange also that nothing on the walls, he doesn’t want holes in his walls, he was told that the tenant was very happy to fill in the holes when leaving the property from pics up clocks up mirror etc, but was told he couldn’t do it! We rented years ago and did all that! The tenant is very respectable professional person. Just wants to live in a comfortable calm home as we all do, I was thinking if when they at work what’s stopping the landlord just walking in.

Just seen your post karrotcake, great idea command hooks never thought of that. Yes could get free standing shelves

Actually no, you can't just change the locks. Most tenancy agreements state that you can't do this without the landlord's permission so don't do it without checking your tenancy agreement first.

person asked could they decorate, no, also no shelving or pics mirrors could go up, no satellite dishes

is this a joke? Of course the tenant can’t do most of this stuff. A few shelves or a mirror is probably ok but redecorating and adding a satellite dish would be a hard pass. Tenant very unreasonable.

he doesn’t need to let the landlord come in when collecting post, fine to say let him know what time he’ll be over and he’ll leave it in an envelope on the doorstep / hand it over in person on the doorstep

your friend should read through his contract and see what he’s signed up to (can’t believe he hasn’t done this already!)

Terrible advice, you cannot change the locks without landlords permission. If there is a fire / flood / electrical issue when the tenant is away the landlord needs to be able to access the property.

The landlord can only enter with notice and permission. Quiet enjoyment and all that.
Changing the locks is a good idea if you have a landlord who doesn't respect that basic principal of it being your home.
They will only discover this if they come in without permission (With agreed permission and notice you could change the lock back. )
Perhaps a lot of faffing around BUT it's a great plan for keeping your home private.

The landlord shouldn’t be coming around without a valid reason, picking up his post is an infringement of your rights to free enjoyment of the property.

Decorating it is normally achieved by asking for permission and stating you will return it to its original condition on exit.

All of my tenants have asked to paint a wall or put things up and I don’t mind, it makes it their home which is what it is. In return, I get long standing valued individuals which is invaluable.

I’m with the landlord On the satellite dish and no decorating, there are ways round pictures on walls etc, but the post, no way José!

Saying that we once had a tenant go ballistic because 1 single piece of Mail (Sod’s law it was an important one) slipped through redirection and I politely asked when either I, or our letting agent could collect it, whichever was more convenient! She marked it “return to sender” and put it in the postbox. We weren’t sorry to see the back of her!

Its worth directing your friend to the Shelter advice - england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/harassment_by_a_private_landlord/what_counts_as_harassment

Then if it continues to be a problem put the concerns in writing using the template at england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/what_to_say_if_your_landlord_turns_up_without_permission

Its worth having a written record of everything whether on paper or email.

It sounds to me as if the landlord is up to something - he may be trying to escape capital gains tax or may be on a residential rather than buy to let mortgage so be very careful

You can have Sky Glass so no dish needed. My DD had these restrictions. She had to prop a mirror up against the wall. It was very dangerous with toddlers.

This shock horror of BUT WHATIFs at the thought of changing locks always makes me laugh. You'd do exactly the same as if it was an owner's home - in an emergency you'd call the emergency services. If the house is on fire are you really going to wait for the landlord to come round with the keys and a bucket of water?

And would you really want a unknown number of strangers having keys to your home? I'm quite sure of the response if I were to give a copy of the key to the landlords home to my mum, my mate, a random bloke who does odd jobs, Fred from across the street, dodgy Dave, and every previous occupier of the house and all their families!

Are you a landlord? You're being rather naive here. Being a tenant is NOT the same as being an owner. If a tenant changes the locks without the landlord's permission, in most cases that constitutes a breach of the tenancy agreement. Legally that means the landlord can issue a section 8 notice and if approved by the court, eviction swiftly follows (section 8 is much quicker than section 21).

Errrr no, clearly not.

But the house doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to the landlord who should be able to access it in an emergency. If the flat below yours complains that the upstairs flat is flooding, with water coming through and electrical issues then that would constitute an emergency that the landlord might need to access the property for if they can’t get in touch with the tenant.

No landlord would go “oh ok, I’ll ruin my own property and all the tenant’s possessions and home and just wait for them to get in touch with me”

How is the landlord an unknown stranger? You’ve literally got a contract with them to live in their property, it’s totally different to giving copies to random strangers.

The landlord shouldn’t ever be using the keys to access the property without express permission from the tenant but of course they need to have a copy of keys!

ShirleyPhallus good name by the way, no it’s not a joke, and yes he did read the contract before signing
he asked about changing the colour of couple of small walls, which he then said he would change back before he vacated the property he was then told nothing to go up on the walls, which he was surprised as all other property’s he’s been allowed to clock and mirror, of course it’s down to landlord, he was told no sat dishes, but was told they would be picking up post twice week! This is ludicrous as it doesn’t cost that much to get redirected

Tenants shouldn't be changing locks no but stop spouting about 'contract terms'. It doesn't matter what is in the contract if there are unlawful clauses. Unlawful contract terms do not trump the law. The landlord has no legal right to enter the property, unless in an emergency, without the tenants permission, with 24 hours notice given. This is the law. They certainly don't need to be allowed access for collecting mail twice a week. The right to 'quiet enjoyment' is law and no negotiable and repeated entry is harassment. In the instance of harassment the tenant allowed justifiably to change the locks. If they enter, the tenant should ring the police.

It's worth very much directing your friend to the above links on the shelter website OP.

How is the landlord an unknown stranger? You’ve literally got a contract with them to live in their property, it’s totally different to giving copies to random strangers.

But unless the landlord changes the locks after every tenant, they have no idea themselves who has a copy of the keys. The previous tenants could have given them to anybody (who in turn could have then given them to anyone else..)

Who has said, anywhere on this thread, that it’s ok for a landlord to enter the premises without permission / advance notice?

Thank you 😊

So one option for your friend is to decorate the walls himself, making sure he redecorates the walls when he moves out to the original colour. On a checkout report it’s very unlikely to be flagged - ie checkin - white walls, checkout - white walls

@ShirleyPhallus excuse me, what's with that shitty rude attitude towards me? I gave advice to the OP on their query about a landlord who wants to enter the property twice a week without good cause/non emergency. I didn't direct any attitude, anger or aggression at other posters, unlike you.

What are you talking about, I said:

”Who has said, anywhere on this thread, that it’s ok for a landlord to enter the premises without permission / advance notice?”

what is angry or aggressive about that?

@ShirleyPhallus ok then. I will bite. Where then did I say anyone had said this was ok? Please enlighten me.

Hopefully the OP got some useful information from the posters actually offering advice and support on this thread.