Landlord not giving notice to enter the property

[Progressive]

In my rental contract, it states the landlord must give 'reasonable notice' should he or anyone with his permission wish to enter.

Yesterday, he called at 7am and said he was coming round at lunch time to get the place valued. Reasonable?

Today, somebody, who I've never met before let themselves in (with keys) to "do a survey". No calling ahead, not even a knock. Reasonable?


Is this notice period to enter the property just there for the sake of it and what has the landlord actually done wrong by paying no attention to the contract in this respect?

[5potTurbo]

Progressive said:

Yesterday, he called at 7am and said he was coming round at lunch time to get the place valued. Reasonable?

NO. I think you should have the opportunity to be present in case anything goes missing .... (or in PH mode: in case someone's sniffing your boxers)

Progressive said:

Today, somebody, who I've never met before let themselves in (with keys) to "do a survey". No calling ahead, not even a knock. Reasonable?

NO. Not at all!

[Progressive]

Does it give me the right to do anything apart from just say I'm not happy? It doesn't constitute a breach of contract or anything?

[Davel]

The Landlord is probably in breach of his / her own Tenancy Agreement.

You are entitled to quiet enjoyment and reasonable notice.

You should also be there when anyone enters the property unless you have specifically agreed to them doing so without you being there.

As a landlord myself, I'd always want the tenant to be present.

Not sure what you can do about it though except complain.

[Jasandjules]

Progressive said:

Does it give me the right to do anything apart from just say I'm not happy? It doesn't constitute a breach of contract or anything?

You can if needs be seek a court order to enforce the terms of the contract. I think (but it's been years) that 24 hours notice is about the minimum required, unless you agreed to the contrary.

But IIRC the "reasonable" notice clause is for the landlord to be able to check on the property and ensure you are doing nothing wrong with it, not so he can get valuations and viewings etc... I am sure someone will correct me on that.

[Davel]

I suspect the two are different.

It's one thing to give reasonable notice for the Landlord to inspect the property with the Tenant present.

Forcing viewings on the Tenant is another matter.

[anonymous-user]

Change the lock barrels!

[Simpo Two]

garyhun said:

Change the lock barrels!

The property belongs to the Landlord so you'd up in a much bigger breach of contract than he is.

[anonymous-user]

Simpo Two said:

The property belongs to the Landlord so you'd up in a much bigger breach of contract than he is.

Nope. If you simply change the barrels and return the originals at end of tenancy then no issue. The LL cannot just turn up without agreement from the tenant and this would prevent that.

[fphsecretservice]

garyhun said:

Simpo Two said:

The property belongs to the Landlord so you'd up in a much bigger breach of contract than he is.

Nope. If you simply change the barrels and return the originals at end of tenancy then no issue. The LL cannot just turn up without agreement from the tenant and this would prevent that.

of course the op could have "lost" their keys and had no option but to replace the lock....


also replied on other thread OP

[Wings]

Simpo Two said:

The property belongs to the Landlord so you'd up in a much bigger breach of contract than he is.

Wrong Simpo Two, the landlord has leased/rented the property to the OP, therefore the law protects the tenant.

The right advice is for the OP to change the locks with immediate effect, advising the landlord that any further entry without due notification will be reported to the Police as breaking and entering.

I do believe that a few months ago a poster on PH actually followed the above advice, with the Police warning the landlord against entering the premises again.