During a tenancy, a landlord will need to visit the property from time to time to carry out inspection and repairs. Although the landlord is the owner of the property their rights to enter the property are limited. The property is the tenant’s home and they have a right to privacy.
The tenancy agreement should clearly state when the Landlord can enter the property. The Landlord must stick to these terms, unless there is a genuine emergency.
A Landlord cannot enter a rented property without their tenant’s permission. The only exception is in the case of an emergency. To arrange access, a landlord should contact their tenant and explain the reason they need to access the property and give their tenant at least 24 hours’ notice. A suitable time and date should be proposed and the landlord must wait for the tenant to confirm that they can enter at that time and date.
It’s not enough to call the tenant on your way to the property.
You do not have to give written notice. But keeping a record of your attempts to arrange access will help if a dispute arises later on.
Dealing with a tenant who refuses access
If your tenant does not respond, you should contact them again. You cannot go into the property until the tenant has confirmed that they agree to this.
If your tenant refuses all requests to access the property or being obstructive, they are likely in breach of their contract. Write to your tenant and remind them of the term in their tenancy agreement that requires them to allow access.
Let them know they are in breach of this term if they continually refuse to let you enter the property.
Explain that if they do not allow reasonable access, you:
- will not be able to carry out repairs
- may take legal action to get access
- may consider ending the tenancy
Entering the property in an Emergency
You can enter the property if there is an immediate risk of:
- serious damage to the building or
- serious injury to your tenants or neighbours
Try to contact the tenants before entering. Knock loudly before using your own key to go inside.