Advice on Landlord wanting to Show Tenants Around

OP is being perfectly reasonable imo. I would never allow strangers in my home without either myself or someone I trust being present. When a landlord leases a property out they must understand it is no longer only their concern.
 
the_r_sole said:
Is that what he said? in the op it sounded like he said he would deny any viewings where he wasn't present or didn't fit with his working hours - if he had a discussion with them without the attitude it may be easier to reach compromise.
Reasonable would be a compromise from both sides imo.
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The OP can confirm his intentions but this:

"until I vacant the property on the 8th August, I will deny any viewings when I am not present and as such they must be around my working hours (8-4)."

Seems very reasonable to me.
 
it's hardly the way to enter a discussion! Obviously it doesn't suit them to not show the flat until after the op leaves - all I'm saying is there is possibly a compromise to be had here but looking for legal reason not to allow your landlord access to a flat you have handed in your notice for is making it very awkward for everyone - why can't they discuss a suitable time with them rather than stating blankly they will "deny" this or that?
Being very awkward in these situations and appearing not to be willing to compromise will always put people's backs up and then everyone starts stamping their feet.

My advice for the op is to have a discussion with them, outline the concerns and have bit of give and take - no point in demanding this or denying that when its pretty obvious a friendly attitude would be a lot more useful to the situation in the long term.
 
The issue is sorted now as they know I will call the police for trespassing if they enter.

I was friendly at first, in my letter giving my 30 days notice I stated my issues regarding viewing times and next day they sent me an e-mail saying they had booked a viewing completely ignoring my viewings times, which I phoned them up to ask why and they said effectively 'because we can' and if you are not present we will use our keys. Their instant hostile reaction is why I went down the path I did.
 
R_Sole, other than being entitled to not allow people in the premises without being present unless in an emergency, you understand that Kitkat is paid up until the end of the month, but is leaving on 8th? If a letting agent can't let a property in 3 weeks they should consider a new career.
 
malfunkshun said:
R_Sole, other than being entitled to not allow people in the premises without being present unless in an emergency, you understand that Kitkat is paid up until the end of the month, but is leaving on 8th? If a letting agent can't let a property in 3 weeks they should consider a new career.
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how does it matter when they they have paid up till?
If the tenancy agreement has a clause in it saying that reasonable access should be allowed for viewings after the notice is handed in, surely it's only reasonable to respect that, I'm sure if the letting agent/landlord decides not to bother following their commitment to return the deposit the tenancy agreement will suddenly become a useful bit of paper to have…
Again, what I am saying is there is a way to deal with people and come to a reasonable compromise that suits everyone without doing a judge dredd straight off the bat… all it will end up in is everyone getting annoyed and throwing their toys out when there could be a nice friendly way to sort it out.

I have been a landlord and a tenant and luckily i've never had someone being so awkward when trying to sort viewings out - trying to be a bigger penis than a letting agent is never going to work either, that will end badly
 
I tried to be friendly by saying when I'm free and saying after the 8th, they can enter without my permission. They then said were coming round and will come in whether you like it or not after I asked nicely, so then I had to play hardball.

They have 3 weeks of 24/7 access, not hard to rent out anywhere is it?
 
the_r_sole said:
So by the same token, if you are renting someone else's property you must understand that they may require access to it at some point?
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He has offered access "at some point" and I described that as reasonable.
 
the_r_sole said:
in your op you said the letter you sent serving notice said you would "deny" them access - that is not a friendly way to discuss access to the property!
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They loose a lot of rights to the property when they rent it out except the right to make money of it. It might be their house still at this point but not their home.

It's obvious your just a Landlord like the rest who think you are always right and never in the wrong.
 
Can't see any problems with what Kitkat has offered. Viewing after 4pm is hardly a chore... perfectly reasonable. I also wouldn't want strangers wandering around my stuff while I wasn't there.
 
I'm more interested in how/why someone has £30,000 of electronics (whatever that looks like!) laying about in their house :confused:
 
the_r_sole said:
it's hardly the way to enter a discussion! Obviously it doesn't suit them to not show the flat until after the op leaves - all I'm saying is there is possibly a compromise to be had here
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A compromise... you mean like the OP making himself available to supervise viewings every single afternoon/evening this week, along with free reign for the remaining 3 weeks whilst the property is still technically his home?

You realise compromise works both ways, not "do whatever the other person wants? The landlord/agent also needs to be reasonable in this, it's not entirely the OP's responsibility to just blindly do what he's told.
 
Lopéz said:
I'm more interested in how/why someone has £30,000 of electronics (whatever that looks like!) laying about in their house :confused:
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My Desktop, 2 Servers, Macbook, Surface Pro, iPad, 2 TV's, PS4, Xbox One, Camera, Peripherals, 3 Rigs I'm building for friends, 2 High End Monitors, Cheap Monitor for Server, Projector, Ps3, Sound Systems, Bose Headphones, Loads of Components, Stacks of games etc etc
 
Haggisman said:
A compromise... you mean like the OP making himself available to supervise viewings every single afternoon/evening this week, along with free reign for the remaining 3 weeks whilst the property is still technically his home?

You realise compromise works both ways, not "do whatever the other person wants? The landlord/agent also needs to be reasonable in this, it's not entirely the OP's responsibility to just blindly do what he's told.
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no, I mean like a compromise between what works for both parties! has the op offered supervised viewings every single afternoon on evening - it seems they haven't tried to discuss anything, only laid out the viewings on their terms, this is not a compromise or a discussion to find out what suits best is it?

The landlord/agent need to be reasonable as does the tenant but if there is no attempt to discuss anything everyones back is up and everything becomes laboured and everyone gets annoyed, it's pointless and unnecessary

I have been on either side of flat viewings and never run into anyone so obstructive, any time I wanted to do viewings for my flat I would speak to the tenant and work something out, sometimes it was better for me and sometimes it was better for them, it's just about compromise and being reasonable. On the same token after I handed my notice in at my current place, we had a discussion with the landlord about times that suited everyone, we didn't demand anything, they didn't demand anything - but we had a grown up discussion and didn't stamp our feet or bring out threats of police.

letting agents are generally terrible people so if you get their backs up you will just end up with loads of hassle, whereas having an actual conversation with them usually ends up better for everyone.
 
the_r_sole said:
no, I mean like a compromise between what works for both parties! has the op offered supervised viewings every single afternoon on evening - it seems they haven't tried to discuss anything, only laid out the viewings on their terms, this is not a compromise or a discussion to find out what suits best is it?
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In my opinion (and it seems like one shared by most of the people responding to this thread), the OP has been perfectly reasonable in what he has suggested. It's not like he's picked really obscure, awkward times for viewings like 5am on a Sunday morning.

Unlike letting agents, it sounds like the OP has a real job which requires him to be present. If he's going to be doing viewings when he's supposed to be at work, then he would be out of pocket due to having to take holiday.

I guess if the agency/landlord were willing to compensate him for this it would be OK, but that's unlikely :p
 
An order of possession costs in the realms of like £800 or something stupid (although then when successful you will have to pay some of this) and that figure is likely to put them off :) Just state you're present at all times of viewings they come within these dates and if your landlord isn't having it tell them you want your 24hrs written notice.
 
Haggisman said:
In my opinion (and it seems like one shared by most of the people responding to this thread), the OP has been perfectly reasonable in what he has suggested. It's not like he's picked really obscure, awkward times for viewings like 5am on a Sunday morning.
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that's the thing - stating in your first letter you will deny viewings that do not meet with your criteria is not suggesting anything - speaking to people in a polite non-threatening manner is usually the best way to reach an agreement - even more so when you are dealing with letting agents!
 
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