Landlord enters my home while I'm working away!
Discussion
Hi,
I've been renting a cottage for the last year whilst I worked away (it's near my kids' house)
It's been hassle from day 1 - the place was due to be repossessed after the owner didn't pay the mortgage and I've had hot and cold running bailiffs all year
I gave notice on Monday and I'm due to pay £1050 tomorrow in rent for the final month - which would have been fine
However - one of the lovely neighbours who've been keeping an eye on the place called me last night to say the landlady has been to the property and actually been inside! There's a 4K TV, Mac Book Pro, PS4, work documents and plenty of private docs around too - even some cash. It' is after all my home
So - I plan to hire a van and move what I have to my new house on Saturday
My question is - is she in breach of contract and if so am I on the hook to pay for the last month's rent on a house I definitely shan't ben returning to?
This message may seem calm but last night I was struggling to not get properly angry
Thank you in advance for any advice
I've been renting a cottage for the last year whilst I worked away (it's near my kids' house)
It's been hassle from day 1 - the place was due to be repossessed after the owner didn't pay the mortgage and I've had hot and cold running bailiffs all year
I gave notice on Monday and I'm due to pay £1050 tomorrow in rent for the final month - which would have been fine
However - one of the lovely neighbours who've been keeping an eye on the place called me last night to say the landlady has been to the property and actually been inside! There's a 4K TV, Mac Book Pro, PS4, work documents and plenty of private docs around too - even some cash. It' is after all my home
So - I plan to hire a van and move what I have to my new house on Saturday
My question is - is she in breach of contract and if so am I on the hook to pay for the last month's rent on a house I definitely shan't ben returning to?
This message may seem calm but last night I was struggling to not get properly angry
Thank you in advance for any advice
But you've been away. How can your landlord arrange to come to her house (it is hers, she just lets you use it) if you're in Dubai or the North Sea or Calcutta or wherever?
She owns not one but two (at least) houses, at least one of which earns her £12,600 pa and you think she gives a s
t about your £250 games console (which she didn't actually steal)?
I can understand this from a purely rights based angle, but beyond that, you seem to be upset about nothing.
Have a nice cup of tea, it's what I'd do.
She owns not one but two (at least) houses, at least one of which earns her £12,600 pa and you think she gives a s
t about your £250 games console (which she didn't actually steal)?I can understand this from a purely rights based angle, but beyond that, you seem to be upset about nothing.
Have a nice cup of tea, it's what I'd do.
What does it say in your contract? If the AST specifically states that the landlord won't enter the property without 24 hours notice unless there is an emergency (as they usually do), and there was no such emergency, then she is in breach of contract.
What you do about it is up to you, but it doesn't allow you to breach your side of the contract by not paying rent. Actually I strongly suggest you DON'T do this as you could end up in a lot of hot water.
In practice, given that you are leaving and you only have a third-party telling you something, I doubt anything will happen. Sure, call the agent and try and make them feel bad. Same with the landlord if you have her number. But nothing bad happened, those shiny-shiny things you own haven't been touched, she hasn't taken a dump on your sofa and the world is still spinning as it should. Get over it.
(I'm a letting agent).
What you do about it is up to you, but it doesn't allow you to breach your side of the contract by not paying rent. Actually I strongly suggest you DON'T do this as you could end up in a lot of hot water.
In practice, given that you are leaving and you only have a third-party telling you something, I doubt anything will happen. Sure, call the agent and try and make them feel bad. Same with the landlord if you have her number. But nothing bad happened, those shiny-shiny things you own haven't been touched, she hasn't taken a dump on your sofa and the world is still spinning as it should. Get over it.
(I'm a letting agent).
TrickyWooWoo said:
Yep it's through an agency who've been less than useless
The deposit is with the TPS but this bloody woman - well, I'm 200 miles away and feel like I've been burgled. She could've done / read anything. Bank stats the lot
Wow, the outrage! This thread reads more like you're looking for confirmation that you can just disappear and not pay the final month's rent. That'd be really handy for you too, as you'd not have to double pay this month. The deposit is with the TPS but this bloody woman - well, I'm 200 miles away and feel like I've been burgled. She could've done / read anything. Bank stats the lot
Suck it up, she shouldn't have done it, but nothing bad happened.
ferrariF50lover said:
But you've been away. How can your landlord arrange to come to her house (it is hers, she just lets you use it)
No, she owns the property - but she has no right of access without prior arrangement. The tenant does have a right to quiet enjoyment of their home.The landlady is _bang_ in the wrong. But, as has been said, there's a "what can you practically do?" here. Not much. You could give a month's notice - but you're moving in a month anyway. You could change the locks - but you're moving in a month anyway.
The fact that you won't be going back there is irrelevant. That's your decision, and makes no difference to the tenancy you are contractually bound to.
Edited by TooMany2cvs on Wednesday 9th December 08:40
ferrariF50lover said:
But you've been away. How can your landlord arrange to come to her house (it is hers, she just lets you use it) if you're in Dubai or the North Sea or Calcutta or wherever?
She owns not one but two (at least) houses, at least one of which earns her £12,600 pa and you think she gives a st about your £250 games console (which she didn't actually steal)?
I'm a landlord, so I'll give a landlord's perspective:She owns not one but two (at least) houses, at least one of which earns her £12,600 pa and you think she gives a s
t about your £250 games console (which she didn't actually steal)?I wouldn't be interested in the console.
However, the 4K tv I would definitely have checked out. Especially how well it upscales the premium Sky channels if the OP had them - which of course I would check.
TooMany2cvs said:
ferrariF50lover said:
But you've been away. How can your landlord arrange to come to her house (it is hers, she just lets you use it)
No, she owns the property - but she has no right of access without prior arrangement. The tenant does have a right to quiet enjoyment of their home.The landlady is _bang_ in the wrong. But, as has been said, there's a "what can you do?" here. Not much. You could give a month's notice - but you're moving in a month anyway. You could change the locks - but you're moving in a month anyway.
The fact that you won't be going back there is irrelevant. That's your decision, and makes no difference to the tenancy you are contractually bound to.
The Tenant has a right to "quiet enjoyment" until the last month, when the Landlord is entitled to enter and market the property to new tenants. The notice required, what OP should do about it, and how it is influenced by what he has done about similar notices to enter in the past is very complex and sumarised here: http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2014/09/09/all-ab... It doesn't matter that you were away if she served notice on the address for notices to you in the AST. Even if she didn't there is not much you can do, if you want your deposit back swiftly...
OP - you need to make sure you follow the exit process in your tenancy to the letter, with all notices served by you in writing and recorded means of delivery (i.e. email plus read receipt). Having been in a similar position I strongly recommend:-
- paying a professional cleaner for an end of tenancy clean, and getting a VAT receipt for it
- carrying out a joint inventory check with the Landlord or her agent, and if it can't be done to meet your diary then take a bazillion photos of how you left the place
I haven't been back - not back until Friday. So I don't know what if anything has been done.
Are we really sure she can just turn up whenever she feels like it with no prior warning? I think I read somewhere that 48 hours notice is needed.
The idea that someone can just rock up and open the door then mooch around when I'm either in / not in / on the job or whatever is nuts.
I'll pay the rent. It's not about the money.
It's not my main home I just kept it on for the kids
Are we really sure she can just turn up whenever she feels like it with no prior warning? I think I read somewhere that 48 hours notice is needed.
The idea that someone can just rock up and open the door then mooch around when I'm either in / not in / on the job or whatever is nuts.
I'll pay the rent. It's not about the money.
It's not my main home I just kept it on for the kids
AS everyone else has said,also depending on who drafted your AST, my agreements say you cannot leave the property empty for more than 14 days, so maybe you have been in breach all the way through the the tenancy. I wouldn't worry about the landlord visiting. Much worse will be the prospective tenants who will be shown round during the final month.
If the agent is really bad they could be letting any old 3.14dooropening device type people into the house to view during the final month as the landlord won't want a void. I would remove anything shiny, particularly if its hand portable
As for checking out, the things that are really a pain for landlords,
oven and fridge not left as spotless as they were on entry
windows not cleaned
just the above can add up to £100, multiply that by every tenant change in each property
when you suggest to the tenant that you will deduct the cost of pro oven cleaning they think its unreasonable
If the agent is really bad they could be letting any old 3.14dooropening device type people into the house to view during the final month as the landlord won't want a void. I would remove anything shiny, particularly if its hand portable
As for checking out, the things that are really a pain for landlords,
oven and fridge not left as spotless as they were on entry
windows not cleaned
just the above can add up to £100, multiply that by every tenant change in each property
when you suggest to the tenant that you will deduct the cost of pro oven cleaning they think its unreasonable
Although she's in the wrong, it's not really worth getting worked up about if you are leaving.
Pay the rent, claim the deposit back from TPS and IF she tries any funny business then use the fact she entered without permission as leverage.
Other than that, move on with your life with a smile on your face...
Pay the rent, claim the deposit back from TPS and IF she tries any funny business then use the fact she entered without permission as leverage.
Other than that, move on with your life with a smile on your face...
If people read the link given by Collectingbrass you will see that subject to certain conditions she CAN enter the property.
"What about legal rights of access?
But what about those circumstances when the landlord is given a statutory right to do something – such as s11(6) of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 which provides for landlords to be authorised to enter the property after giving not less than 24 hours written notice?
Or clauses in the tenancy agreement which provide for the landlord to have a right to enter, to (for example) carry out the annual gas safety check or show round tenants during the last month of the tenancy?"
http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2014/09/09/all-ab...
Goes into more detail, but you'll have to read that for yourselves
"What about legal rights of access?
But what about those circumstances when the landlord is given a statutory right to do something – such as s11(6) of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 which provides for landlords to be authorised to enter the property after giving not less than 24 hours written notice?
Or clauses in the tenancy agreement which provide for the landlord to have a right to enter, to (for example) carry out the annual gas safety check or show round tenants during the last month of the tenancy?"
http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2014/09/09/all-ab...
Goes into more detail, but you'll have to read that for yourselves
paintman said:
If people read the link given by Collectingbrass you will see that subject to certain conditions she CAN enter the property.
"What about legal rights of access?
But what about those circumstances when the landlord is given a statutory right to do something – such as s11(6) of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 which provides for landlords to be authorised to enter the property after giving not less than 24 hours written notice?
Or clauses in the tenancy agreement which provide for the landlord to have a right to enter, to (for example) carry out the annual gas safety check or show round tenants during the last month of the tenancy?"
http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2014/09/09/all-ab...
Goes into more detail, but you'll have to read that for yourselves
However, the right to quiet enjoyment will trump the landlord simply turning up and entering unannounced, unless for a reason such as listed above. "What about legal rights of access?
But what about those circumstances when the landlord is given a statutory right to do something – such as s11(6) of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 which provides for landlords to be authorised to enter the property after giving not less than 24 hours written notice?
Or clauses in the tenancy agreement which provide for the landlord to have a right to enter, to (for example) carry out the annual gas safety check or show round tenants during the last month of the tenancy?"
http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2014/09/09/all-ab...
Goes into more detail, but you'll have to read that for yourselves
garyhun said:
However, the right to quiet enjoyment will trump the landlord simply turning up and entering unannounced, unless for a reason such as listed above.
This, surely, is common sense? Let's say - I'm a landlord
My tenant is a 19 year old woman
I rock up at 3 on a Saturday afternoon
She's out shopping so I use my key to let myself in
She comes back and asks what the hell I'm doing
I tell her I'm her landlord and it's my right to be there?
Shome mistake shurely?
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