Is my flat mate being reasonable?

PaulStat

PaulStat

PaulStat

Soldato
Joined
1 Mar 2003
Posts
5,508
Location
Cotham, Bristol
He moved in at the beginning of December, replacing my old house mate who could no longer afford to live there.

Come the beggining of January my landlord gives me a call and let's me know that his business will be putting the property up for sale. And that it would probably take quite a while to sell so not to worry.

Anyway obviously this means we have to let the estate agents arrange viewings for propective buyers.

Now my house mate being pretty P'd off with this has said Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, that's it!!

We don't want strangers wandering around while we're there.

Obviously the landlord isn't too happy about this.

Now I think a compromise may have to be made! What do you guys think?
 
I'm not too up on the whole landlord/tenant legalities, but doesn't he have to give you notice of when he's going to be dropping by, and as long as he does that he can come when he likes?

Like I said, I have no idea if this is right or not

Try to talk reasonably with your landlord, and explain why you don't want people dropping by at those hours (busy cooking yourself dinner after stressful day, trying to relax etc). Perhaps the compromise would be to allow weekends as well?
 
I think your landlord has to give 24 hours notice before they can come around. But bearing in mind its their property you cant be too inflexible. And seeing as most prospective buyers are going to be at work all week, Monday-Friday during the day isnt much good. How about you say Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings and Saturdays, but not in the rest of the time? Gotta make a compromise somewhere.
 
Yup he needs to give you notice and then you generally have a large say in when is a reasonable time for someone to view the property.

But don't be too awkward as it can come round and bite you and your housemate in the ass. In terms of him being awkward in future.
 
Most landlords can come round whenever they want provided they give 24 hours notice.

Probably best to let him really, if he loses a sale because the buyer could only come to see it on a saturday, then he'll be mightily annoyed and find any petty reason to reduce your deposit, and there wouldn't be a thing you could do about it.
 
Since I think my house mate is being a little bit unreasonable, and it's within my best interests to reach a compromise i sent him the following email. I'll chat to him later too

"Hi Mate,

Just had a call from the landlord, he wants us to allow Ocean more time in the evenings and weekends. I think we may have to work out some sort of compromise otherwise he's going to serve us with a 2 month notice to leave, which may be ok for you, but it sure aint for me for a little while yet.

I suggest we allow them an extra 1-1.5hrs in the evenings on weekdays i.e. 9am-6:30pm and on Saturdays allow them the afternoons 12:30-5:00. This could potentially allow them an extra 12 hours a week."
 
Ok my stress levels just went up!!! :(

"None of its ok with me, I've just forked out the best part of £700 to move
in. Not to mention the hassle and expense of moving.
While you were away I was being constantly hassled by an estate agent, which
has really ******* me off.
He is now attempting to divide us.
I usually finish work around 4.30 - 5ish so what your saying is I have to
then find something to do for 2 hours before I go home. And have strangers
walking round the house at the weekend as well. I don't pay £350 a month to
do that.
I don't think he can do that legally.
He has to send a minimum 48hrs written notice for any kind of access. We can
respond and say when is convenient within 24 hrs, the only exception being
if the building is at risk, which it is clearly not
Basically he is blackmailing us which is illegal.
If he would like to put that threat in writing I will check out if he can
legally do that.
As far as I'm concerned this is harassment. He has offered no compensation
or anything.
You are going to have to move anyway so do you want loads of strangers
wandering around in the mean time and maybe an extra month? Personally I
would rather have 2 months peace and quiet.
I'm going to send another email to shelter and find out if he can do this.

I know this is not your fault, but don't pander to him. This behaviour is
totally unprofessional on his part.
The other thing I intend to do is report this to whatever agency governs
property agents.
This is now taking my time up at work.
Maybe we should go and have a pint after work and chat about this, what do
you think?"
 
It's hardly harrassment. At the end of the day it's his place.

Turning up unexpected and demanding a view would be harrassment, but arranging a time and date and specifying the ranged times of viewing for the week is normal, as long as you get a period of notice before hand.
 
Check your contract. It sets out the rules of access and both parties have to stick to whatever is written on it.

If it says he needs 24 hours WRITTEN notice then make him give it. This law is written so tennants can have peace in their home he is not allowed an unreasonable amount of access.
 
If I were the landlord I would be sending you a note saying that I want access on every day between the hours of ....... etc .... as long as the first access is at least 24hrs away from when you receive the note ...... you're ******! ..... unless of course the agreement says different.
Has your mate who moved in got a contract/agreement or did he casually take over someone elses?
 
I'm going through a similar thing at the mo, and tbh i'm really not in the mood.. The landlords partner has just let herself into the house (i kid you not) and asked if we would mind people viewing tonight.. The house is a tip so no (not to mention 15k's worth of music equipment kncking about etcetcetc).

BAH, totally sux0rz.
 
I can see why the guy's annoyed, moving into a new place isn't cheap, and now he's being told he's got to leave again. If he's being a little unreasonable you can see why, I suppose.
 
Sorry your mate is acting like a prat. He doesn't need to find something to do for 2 hours while the property is open for viewings he can be there. As when me and the ex were moving from our flat to our house, we told the landlord we might be in and cooking etc but give us notice of visits as due to packing etc the flat was a mess at times.

Also this early in the year it might take a long time to sell, as we found that when we put our house on the market as part of our separation.

SCM
 
Desmo said:
Judging by that email, your housemate sounds like a prat :o
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What? He seems perfectly entitled to what he has to say in my opinion.

He's just moved in, has just found out that the house is being taken over so has to move out, go through the HASSLE of finding another place, the expense of moving houses YET AGAIN... and in the meantime he has to put up with people looking around where HE LIVES!

I'm with your housemate on this, i'd at least seek compo for the inconveniance.
 
I'm a landlord, a standard AST ensures that the landlord must give at least 24 hours notice before entering the property. This may only be waived in 'Emergencies'. You can also decline any request to enter the property, it is well within your rights - he cannot force entry it would undermine you ability to 'peaceful enjoyment' of the property.

Althought I don't think your flatmate is a 'prat', he needs to consider the relationship you both have with the LL, if you **** him off, it it likely that he won't do you any favours when you are expecting your full deposit back. A little compromise on both sides is all that is required.

Skidd.

No swearing.

Otacon
 
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If he is gonna end up being like that, the landlord will porbably stiff him and serve him notice of "get yu'r backside out of my gaff!". 1 month. You are correct, he is being completely unreasonable!
 
NiCkNaMe said:
What? He seems perfectly entitled to what he has to say in my opinion.
Click to expand...
He may have a point. But it's a way OTT reaction. All this talking to agencies to report him and all that, it's just laughable. "He has to do this, he has to do that". "It's the law".

There are ways you can sort these things out with minimum fuss for everybody involved. And then there are ways to get peoples backs up. If the housemate approached me in that manor I know which route I'd take.
 
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