Landlord coming to view the house!

[MeMyBooksAndMyCats]

Please help calm my nerves.

Moved in over six years ago, seen the landlord once in all that time when the oven broke and he replaced it. Was in and out within half hour. That's the only time I've seen him.

Got a email from the agency today asking if the the landlord can come next Tuesday to view the property. He's in the area and wants to see his houses as he's not seen them in years.

Problem is, we have a mould issue in two bedrooms (agency aware they came last year and fixed the roof but still damage from the mould!)
the carpets upstairs (that must of been here at least 15/20 years) all need replacing as thread bare.
Kitchen cupboard under the sink had continuous leaks, which they are aware of and had to be rebuilt numerous times and still went mouldy!
None of this is our fault more just house problems.

Should I worry that he'll look bad on us like we haven't looked after the property? Or is it likely he just wants to see what repairs/what state it's in?
Worried I'm going to get kicked out of my house, I'm a huge worrier. Just need advice from landlords really.

It's more likely that he wants to check what repairs he needs to do as things like carpets need replacing. He might also be assessing if the agency have kept on top of things. It doesn't sound like they have really.

Depends on the landlord tbh.

Really, all of those issues are his/the agent's problem. If you've kept the agent up to date, and they haven't been sorted, it may well be the LL gets pissy with the agent as they can cause further damage. It happened to my LL. I kept informing the agent of issues and they were slow/didn't bother to sort. LL had no idea and was furious at them as a small leak eventually escalated to a whole bathroom replacement!

Or, you could have someone like my first LL. Super precious and you're to blame for everything. There isn't much you can do ime except push it back on the agent, but this type get in a flap and make it all your fault for 'ruining my house'.

Out of interest, when did the agent last inspect the property? Does this count as an inspection or are you expected to let him waltz in and poke around out of courtesy?

If you’ve kept the agent up to date on any issues and what needs repairing/replacing, I don’t see much of an issue here.
You never know, he might actually be a decent landlord and will hurry up the process once he’s seen what state his property is in. I would perhaps be slightly concerned that he wanted to view his properties because he’s considering selling up. I think I’d take the opportunity to have a conversation with him about what needs to be done.

No one can guess on your landlords mind set. But as they don’t do regular inspections, if assume he’s just looking at state of repair,and what needs doing.

If there's a paper trail of you reporting issues to agent then you've nothing to worry about, it's not you who hasn't looked after the property.

Most likely just wants to see what repairs need doing, or perhaps update insurance valuation.

The agency has NEVER done a house inspection.

They are lazy at doing repairs, I told them about the roof and it took them 6 months to sort and told me when I told them it was causing rain to come into the house "you can't demand we fix these things straight away they take time" even though two bedrooms had a serious amount of mould to them.

The landlord was great when he fixed the oven had it replaced the very next day, just the agency are slow.

Thank you, hopefully it's just repairs he's thinking of! I've had an issue before where I've asked for the landlords number as repairs weren't being doing (guttering gets left for two years at a time despite me continuously reporting it) and they refused to give it to me so maybe landlords clocked on.

Really hope he's not looking to sell.

If the agency's bad get in proactively - tell him you're glad he's coming around since they've been so bad at keeping on top of repairs, what a shame for the house...

That's a good idea!

Got to the point once where they gave me a list of plumbers and expected me to sort it and tell them to bill the agency! 😳 it is a shame as it's a nice house, just quite a few issues like there's gaps in the floorboards upstairs so going to make re-carpeting hard.

Guess I'll just have a good clean this weekend, and clean the carpets and hope for the best.

I mean he might be, it's always a risk with rented properties I guess. You'll have to ask I guess. Appreciate it's worrying though.

I think this is a good opportunity for you to politely point out that the agency are difficult to deal with, perhaps grab his number in case of emergencies. You might find they haven’t kept him up to date about the state of repairs and he might be annoyed about that.
Hopefully he isn’t looking to sell, but be prepared for the possibility. More landlords seem to be doing that at the moment. You will be able to gauge that tomorrow when he visits. If he was decent the last time he visited, try to see the meeting as a positive.

I would be walking the landlord round all these issues and asking him to get these fixed.

I’m not sure, if he tells the agency she complained about them, it is likely he will tell them that, which may make it worse

I’d personally rather know the real situation from my tenant, especially if the agency aren’t diligent about updating him. He’ll be paying a fair chunk a month for their services, and they don’t sound particularly competent. As long as my tenant was polite and honest about it, I’d be appreciative.

I’d greet him and say how glad I was to see him and you wanted to ask him about a few things you’ve tried to remedy through the agency but have had no luck. That way you’re drawing his attention to things that need doing rather than him discovering them and having the opportunity to put the onus on you.

It would be in your best interests to be the model tenant and show them what a good investment their property is. Thank them for coming and show them that you cherish your home. Maybe let it slip that the agent doesn't inspect.

They will be paying about 10% of your monthly rent to manage the property.

Ask if there are some improvements they would like to make, such as the carpets.

I think it would be worth playing the game rather than going on the offensive. Even if it doesn't feel like what you want to do.

I'm happy to replace the carpets myself, I was going to do it last year but my youngest was hostipalized and then I had to deal with learning how to take care of him so it went on the back burner.

should I say that to him that I'm happy to replace the carpets myself? Think that might give us a bit of leeway? Then again I don't want to spend thousands on carpets if he's planning to sell.
I did ask the agency if he's planning to sell but they said it's because he's took the day off next week and just wants to look round his houses as he's not been in a long time. I also asked if it's a house inspection again said it's just to look around?
It's a tough one!

A friend's DS had problems with the agents sorting out repairs etc.. The LL came for an inspection, he and his flatmates pointed out all the problems and showed emails reporting them to the agent.
Apparently the LL had been suspicious that the agent wasn't doing their job, and was looking for evidence. Friend's DC now has a contract with the LL, the rent has stayed the same as the LL us not paying agency fees

No! Do not do that. It’s an expense for him alone. If you offer to replace his carpets, he could become complacent and reason that you’ll replace other things off your own back. And then he might turn round and sell it anyway.

This, it sounds like a perfect opportunity

Hoping this is it!

He's a builder by trade so he is capable of fixing the issues himself, he only recently increased the rent and sent us a letter stating thanks for looking after the house and he was happy with us as tenants (despite only seeing us once 😂)
There's another issue like the front door handle comes off (been a few times I've been locked in the house and had to squeeze out the window to get the door handle back on!) that was reported six years ago and continuously reported ever since, and agency has never fixed it despite it being a house insurance problem?
Never had an issue with the rent bar one time I was late by a day as my online banking wasn't working! So here's hoping... going to be anxious now till Tuesday cleaning like a mad woman even though it's just every day mess!
Would he see every day mess as a problem or do you think he's just looking at the structure etc?

@PossumintheHouse okay I won't say about the carpets, if he brings it up I'll just say I was thinking of doing it but my son was poorly etc. and not actually offer to replace and see if he offers.

I will clean them with my carpet cleaner though but they are rank. You can see the floor board gaps through them they are that bad. 😬

Landlords are having lots of new things added to their list of responsibilities. He may just want an idea of how much he's going to have to do to comply.

I can't see asking to replace carpets at your own cost being a problem.

You said you were going to do it last year, but you are aware you can’t make big changes like that to the house without permission right?

@MeMyBooksAndMyCats don't even say you were thinking of doing the carpets! It’s the landlord’s responsibility. I’d be drawing his attention to them asking for them to be replaced when your rent gets increased at renewal time!

if you change the carpets your landlord can deduct it from your deposit. It’s for him to do.