Our landlord wants us to leave during the viewings

[olyaro]

Our landlord has put the flat up for sale and viewings are due to start soon. Yesterday we were told that we’re expected to leave the property during the viewings.

This would be quite difficult for us. I work from home in the mornings, and in the afternoons my child is back from nursery, so leaving the flat so regularly would be a big problem for me. This is in addition to getting the place ready for each viewing, which already takes quite a bit of time and effort. And to be honest, I’m also not comfortable with people coming into our home while we’re not there.

We’re happy to cooperate with viewings at reasonable times, but we’d prefer to stay in the flat while they take place. What do you think?

This would only be astonishing to a rogue LL. Several other reasonable LLs on here have stated that it is @olyaro's LL who is being unreasonable.

@olyaro I agree with nearly everyone else. You don't have to allow any viewings. You definitely don't need to do any extra cleaning. Given that you are willing to faciliate them, they should be appreciative and be working around what is convenient for you. Ask them to have one or two slots maximum per week at a time of your choosing and tell them that you will be at home with your toddler (or whatever suits you).
Good luck with finding another home.

That will be the LL not the tenants.

Just refuse all viewings. I had the same problem of at first being accommodating until they started trying to insist on really inconvenient times so just refused all.

Landlord is completely taking the piss. I didn’t even put my house that I rented out on the market until I had vacant possession, let alone allow viewings.

It is your home OP, if I were in your position, I say no to any viewings.

Works both ways, just tell the agent that you will
be out at set times (2 x 2 hour slots over the weekend) and other viewings are by appointment (minimum 24 hours notice) and you may be there. You are being fair to the landlord, they understand you aren’t at their beck and call

I sold my flat in similar circumstances and my tenants understood, in return for allowing viewings and being understanding I let them stay on until contracts were close to exchange at their request, the last person left the day before exchange

I can see why they don't want you there but they don't get to kick you out of the home you're paying for just to suit them. They're taking the piss to ask you to do that without any quid pro quo.

When I was renting the letting agent showed people round while I was there and I just stayed in my home office out of the way.

But in that case it was worth it to me as he let me pay the last months rent day by day which saved me at least £400.

I really dont understand who so many people are saying how cheeky your landlord is!
He may be stuck in hard times and need some money which is why he needs to sell up.
Yes its your home but they own it and need to sell. Stop being so awkward.
People are always quick to moan about landlords yet time and time again all I see is people going on like their the bad guys, its no wonder rent is so high when people encourage tenants to be awkward.

Well let’s hope anyone living in a property you like the sound/look of is willing to let you view it.

I'm not really a landlord basher but OP doesn't owe it to the landlord to make sure that they never for one second have to pay their own mortgage. Landlord is very welcome to exit the sector but everything has potential risks and downsides.

The landlord is obliged to behave in what s called, ' a landlord like manner'. In other words he is expected to be professional and obey the relevant laws in respect of private tenancies. The tenant also has obligations, but is also expected to enjoy quiet enjoyment of the property. There is nothing in the legislation that says a tenant has to allow potential purchasers to view the property while the tenants are still in situ. Furthermore unless it's a landlord who is buying a property with sitting tenants, the property has to be vacant to be sold.
So the tenants are doing nothing wrong.

The law is on the tenants side here, for good reason.

Enforcing ones legal rights is not selfish.

The LL will have to deal with the legal reality.

Just say the no to viewings without notice and no, you won't go out.

You have rights.

Or that the landlord waits until the previous tenants have gone, instead of expecting them to risk their possessions being stolen to save someone else the costs of a void.

If landlord has been decent (carried out repairs promptly, not raised the rent every year) then I would facilitate viewings so far as reasonably possible. Otherwise, not really your problem. I do expect owner-occupiers to make an effort to facilitate viewings (tells me they're serious about getting on with the sale), but I can understand tenants being hacked off. I have to say there's no way I would entertain buying a tenanted flat until the tenant had vacated, and I think landlords who allow viewings with a tenant in situ (unless it's being sold as an investment to another landlord) are taking the piss out of both their tenant and prospective buyers.

Definitely not - stay or refuse viewings!

I had a tenant once and they wouldn’t allow viewings and they also would not allow photos of the property with their possessions in place. I had to use old photos from before they moved in. Yes it was frustrating but the tenants were right within their rights to quiet enjoyment of the property and I had to respect that. I did offer them first refusal but they didn’t take me up on this.

My landlord is a perfectly fine corporate landlord and I'm on my way out of the rental sector (which is to say, I don't have much skin in this) but I think the idea that landlords are owed continual occupancy so that they never, ever have to incur any costs, is bloody ridiculous. A lot of small landlords are absolute nutcases who make their own inability to afford landlordism your problem. If you can't afford a few months' vacancy or a new boiler, you cannot afford to be a landlord.

I had the opposite a number of years ago. My original landlord gave the property to his ex wife in their divorce settlement. She put it up for sale as soon as she got the deeds in her name. She wanted me to move out but wouldn't give any notice and kept sending estate agents round with potential buyers with no notice. I argued this and then her estate agents wanted me to show these potential buyers around the property with no agent present. I called the estate agents and told them any viewings I wanted sufficient notice and that I wasn't doing their jobs for them and agent had to be present for viewings. They didn't like this and contacted my landlord who then accused me of purposely sabotaging sales. I told them I have kids and I'm a single parent I am not willing to accommodate strangers walking around our home without a professional representative for my own safety. Landlord massively kicked off and gave me an eviction notice but council wouldn't help as she refused to admit she had taken my original deposit from her ex husband because my tenancy agreement stated there was a deposit and she said I didn't pay one

This is very respectable of you and I'm sure they appreciated it.

Has he given you a section 21 notice? Hope so judging by most of these comments.

It's her HOME! How is she showing lack of respect. OP, I would not allow viewings if I were you. And I say that as a landlord of many years.

Maybe suggest a weekend of viewings to get as many done in one go.

It would seem very unkind and quite weird actually if you refused all viewings. It seems perfectly reasonable to allow a few viewings at your convenience.

If for some reason your future plans fall through and you require a reference from the landlord after you've been unkind it might backfire.

Estate agents can be so unscrupulous. Know your rights and stick to your boundaries.
When I was leaving my rented flat the agency told me they were scheduling viewings for x times and that if I was not available they’d use the keys they held. I told them in no uncertain terms that they did not have permission for this, but still didn’t trust them and I have pets so I picked up a lock I think from Screwfix and swapped it over myself temporarily. I did let them hold viewings, but I provided availability and they had to work within that.

She isn't being unkind! She is entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property. She is paying rent and that means it's her home!