Landlords Rights to Access – Can Landlords visit without tenants permission?

As a landlord you must understand that you tenant has rights in terms of access to the property that you are renting out. Tenants can expect to live in your house peacefully, ‘Quiet enjoyment’ and without the worry of the you, the landlord, turning up unexpectedly.

If you wish to enter the property you must have a reason for entering the property. Without

If you or anyone acting on your behalf does enter the property without consent, they will be trespassing and will be in breach of the tenancy.

The normal reason is to carryout repairs or inspections. What you must do if this is the case is the following:

1. Give at least 24 hours written notice of your pending inspection
2. Reasonable notice if you need to carryout repairs

You also need to be aware that the tenant can refuse access as the time or date as the appointment may not be convenient for them.

1. The tenant can ask a family member or neighbour to let you in
2. Give you permission to enter with a key

Once a tenant has moved in, you must give at least 24 hours’ written notice and get the tenant’s consent before visiting the rental property. A message or email is perfectly sufficient. The notice should include the time and date of the visit and who will be visiting the property, and why; the tenant must give their consent for the visit to go ahead.

Some landlords and tenants will be happy to arrange visits without formal written notice, such as a quick phone call. This is perfectly fine, but it’s important to note that a tenant is legally entitled to refuse entry if you do not give written notice.

In England and Wales, it is illegal for a landlord to enter their rental property without at least 24 hours’ notice to the tenant unless it is an emergency.

If a landlord does enter the property without notice and permission, this is a violation of the tenant’s right to quiet enjoyment and The Housing Act 1988. In this circumstance, landlords could be prosecuted for harassment.

The Protection from Eviction Act 1977 states that a landlord will be “guilty of an offence” if their actions are “likely to interfere with the peace and comfort of the residential occupier or members of their household”.

Entering the property without permission, or trying to organise an excessive amount of visits, such as unnecessary monthly inspections, can be considered harassment.

If you need to gain access to your property, and every other avenue has been exhausted, you can take formal action to do this.

When every other avenue has been exhausted, and tenants are unreasonably refusing entry, the next step is to write a letter informing the tenant that you will begin a more formal route to gain access.

It’s unlikely that the situation will escalate to this level, but if it does, you should start by contacting your local environmental health department or the Health and Safety Executive. Explain the issue and ask them to contact the tenant to reiterate the importance of allowing access. In most cases, the tenant will allow access when the local council gets involved.

The least preferred strategy is to take legal action using the following three options:

Apply for an injunction to allow access. This is quick but involves paying a court fee. Judges are usually sympathetic to landlord requests so long as they can prove they have taken all reasonable steps to resolve the matter out of court.

Serve Section 21 notice seeking possession.

If the tenancy is still within the fixed term, then it may be necessary to go for a court hearing under Section 8, citing Ground 12: any obligation of the tenancy has been broken. Although a discretionary ground, a judge is likely to be sympathetic if they are convinced the motivation is genuine.

If you have any questions about any of the information in this article, please contact one of our expert letting agency advisors on 0330 912 7445.