Tenant bars viewings by L's prospective purchasers

[Mrs C]

Please Advise.

I currently have an AST agreement with my tenants until December. Circumstances have dicated that I need to sell the property and under the instruction of my agents are promoting the property to potential landlords.

When the agents try to get access for viewings the tenants are extremely difficult with times and ofen they wont allow viewings for weeks on end. My agents have point out access clause within the AST agreement which provides a 24 hour notice for access but the tenant just says the they cant go to the property and if they do its harrassment. They said they have taken advice on this.

How do I get access to my property when people want to view? There is no reasoning!

please help!

[Jennifer_M]

Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to force them to allow viewings.
They can refuse to open the door until december if they want to.

Basically it is their home and they are entitled to quiet enjoyment.

I understand it doesn't help you at all but that's how it is. The clause in the AST doesn't give you or the agent automatic access providing you give 24hrs notice; all you can do is give notice/ask the tenant if you can come around and hope they'll allow it.

Why not have a friendly chat with the tenant explaining that you don't want to make their life difficult with viewings all the time and could you agree on an allowed time for visits (e.g. every monday from 5:30pm to 7pm, and you book in as many visits as you can in that time slot) ?
If they still don't agree though there's not much you can do.

[Sal]

ive been a tenant in this situation and unfortunately had a ll who didnt play by the rules (ie. gave agent key and ppl were viewing without our permission ayt all times of day - we even found that our furniture and possessions had been moved about! we did resolve this by talking to the CAB and reporting this offically - letter and on phone - to the letting agent and the ll eventually did things to the book!)


I think you have to remember that although you own the property it is the tenants home and they are paying you good money for it. Also they are probably quite upset that they are going to be losing their home - moving is supposed to be one of the most stressful things you can do - particularly in the current housing market ( ie. high rents - hard to find affordable property to rent). Therefore a degree of sensitivity is needed here. Like the last poster said it is best to talk to them about what would be convenient for them wrt viewings and come to an arrangement. Dont forget that you have to ask PERMISSION 24 hours in advance for viewings - don't just assume they will let you. ( we had agents leaving messages telling us there was a viewing on our answerphone a couple of hours b4 - while we were at work then were surprised when we were upset that peope turned up at the door in the middle of dinner!) Be understanding, act lawfully and im sure that they will cooperate.

[Colincbayley]

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[Ericthelobster]

MelMcDoogle - Have you been sniffing glue or baking soda ??Dunno, but either way it appears to have finished him/her off! :D

[pcwilkins]

How do I get access to my property when people want to view?

Unfortunately when you grant an AST you give someone the right to make your property their home. That means they get to decide who they let in and when. If they don't want anyone coming in, that's their decision.

Your best bet is to offer some kind of incentive to T; perhaps a rent-free period if they allow viewings during that period. You might even find that you could buy the tenants out of the agreement early; e.g. you pay them £X if they leave within the next two months. But I am guessing that you want to keep T in the property until you've sold it to avoid a void.

If they won't allow viewings, you'll either have to sell the property without allowing people to view it (which will probably reduce the price you'll get considerably) or wait until December to sell the property.

Peter

[Colincbayley]

Peter, The OP may not take your advice on board as the post goes back to March 2005!!!!

This was one of the ones Mcdoogle brought up!!

[pcwilkins]

Oh yes, so it does. Silly me.

Another 147 words cluttering up the internet for no good reason. Good job they were all carbon-neutral.

Peter