Frequent visits by landlord

[rhig123]

I am living in a student house with four other students on individual tenancy agreements, we are unhappy with the landlord’s frequent visits to the property. The landlord’s current scheme is to call or leave a message for one of us leaving it up to us to pass on the message of her visit on; she has also sent workmen to the house without us receiving notice. Funnily enough when we moved in September the door bell was conveniently broken and has not been fixed, she uses this as an excuse to let herself in.

 

The most frequent excuse for her visits is to 'top up' our electricity which is included (£8 per week per person in the house is allowed for bills), she usually puts a weeks worth on which has run out several times in the last few weeks meaning we have to call her to come round to put money on to our meter.

 

Am I correct in understanding that the landlord has a right of access to the shared areas of the house? Would I be right in assuming unless all tenants have been given 24 hours notice we should not be obliged to let her in? Thirdly if notice is given do we have no right of quiet enjoyment of the communal areas of the house?

 

I will be discussing the matter with my landlord later today and I am sure we can resolve the situation but I would like to be sure my ground in relation to her access to the shared areas of the property. It may appear that we are making a fuss over very little but the landlord is not meeting her obligations under the agreement in regards to repairs and having no respect for our privacy. This is despite the fact that we are good tenants and have caused no problems with the house, since the start of the tenancy in September we have requested repairs for problems with the house which we were informed would be repaired promptly and haven’t happened, we only had our oven cleaned two days ago which was filthy when we moved in nearly three months ago.

 

Many thanks for reading,

 

 

 

Richard

[MrShed]

Legally, the landlord has a right of access to the communal areas, as you correctly surmise. This can be without notice of any kind, as it is not included in the "exclusive possession" of any of your contracts.

 

Realistically, it is perhaps unreasonable for the landlord to be doing this. All you can do is appeal to his better nature, as you unfortunately dont have any legal fallback.

[demon_x_slash]

^^ Really? I'm surprised by this. It was my view that if a landlord let a property to a tenant, that property effectively 'becomes the tenant's property' for the duration of the tenancy (as long as the contract isn't breached). Of course, if rhig and hir fellow tenants were not tenants, but lodgers (i.e., the landlord co-occupying), then of course the LL could go anywhere except rhig & co.'s private rooms - however, from reading rhig's post I'm inferring that rhig's group has exclusive occupation as tenants, and it would be my opinion if this is the case that, no, the LL may not come and go as she pleases, but must give proper notice compliant with either their contract, or the Housing Act if the contract is insufficient.

 

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, more than happy to be corrected

[MrShed]

They all have seperate tenancy agreements demon, for each room of the property...in this situation, the communal areas are not let with exlusive possession, so the landlord has right of entry to the communal areas only.

 

I also however am quite happy to be corrected!

[demon_x_slash]

That's the point on which I was, and still am, debating - the OP has only said that they all have seperate tenancy agreements, not that the agreements apply to the rooms. Rhig, can you clarify what you mean by 'tenancy agreement' and 'communal areas'?

It would be MHO that if the tenancy agreements are standard AST contracts, then they have contracted for the exclusive occupation of the property. I think 'communal areas' here is misleading - if I've read it right (and I hope that I have!) then 'communal area' would imply things like kitchen, bathroom, living room etc. - so it is a normal house with five bedrooms, and the tenants have the right to insist on notice.

However, we would need more information about the agreements themselves before being able to say for sure - if the agreement specifically states that the tenancy only applies to the bedroom/private room of the tenant, then fair enough. I suspect, however, that these guys have signed normal ASTs for the entire use of the property, and have been fed a line by the LL with regards to access.

[MrShed]

True enough Demon

[rhig123]

Thanks for the replies guys, the house is a HMO and we all have separate ASTs, my reason for my belief that the landlord may have access to the premises is that when I researched the issue and found this to be stated on the Nottingham University website (I'm not at Nottingham but it came up on Google). This site claims that the landlord has right of access in the case of individual tenancy agreements though I don't know if there is any legal basis for this as it would only guarantee tenants quiet enjoyment within their own room.

 

University of Nottinghams Students: Welfare

 

An Individual Tenancy Agreement

Each tenant has a separate agreement they alone have signed, with the exclusive right to occupy their room, and the shared right of access to the common areas, eg bathroom, kitchen etc. Each tenant is individually responsible for paying rent for their room. So, if one or more of the other tenants moves out or is unable to pay rent, the landlord's legal remedy is only against the defaulting tenant(s). However, The landlord has the right of access to the common areas without your consent (unless your contract says they will give reasonable notice before coming into the property). The landlord also has the right to bring in tenants to replace tenants who move out. If you have a TV in your room you will need a separate licence.

[demon_x_slash]

What does your contract actually say? Do you have a copy of it at the moment?

[rhig123]

Sorry for the late reply, I should be getting a copy of the agreement later in the week.

[Ed999]

Read this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/tenants/74053-access-property-landlord.html

 

The rights mentioned in that thread apply ONLY to the premises which are let to the tenant, not to any areas which the tenant does not have the exclusive use of such as a shared hallway or kitchen.

 

If you are sharing a kitchen, it is unlikely that you are a tenant at all. A person who does NOT have exclusive use of essential cooking and washing facilities is a licencee, not a tenant. As a mere licencee NONE of the legal rights of a tenant, as mentioned in that thread, will be available to you.

 

 

 

Advice & opinions on this forum are offered informally, without any assumption of liability. Use your own judgment. Seek advice of a qualified and insured professional if you have any doubts.

[demon_x_slash]

That's why we're trying to clarify what agreement the OP actually has...