Tenant refusing access for gas safety check?

Reply to the comment left by Michael Crofts at 14/10/2024 - 09:56
From what I've understood from shelter, "reasonable times of the day" and "24 hours’ notice". Is that the 24 hours is a minimum notice, and that reasonable means mutual agreement. If a tenant says no, it's not mutual a d therefore it's not reasonable notice.

If a landlord was to enter with their own key, without permission it would be trespass.

The next issue is changing of locks. Regardless of what's in a tenancy agreement, due to case law, judges will allow tenants to change locks under their right to quiet enjoyment. This poses an issue, because a landlord shouldn't force entry into their own property whilst there is a active tenancy. Doing so risks a criminal offence, there risks an illegal eviction as well as an offence under criminal law act 1977, "without lawful authority" to use violence against someone to secure entry to a premises. So I've been told, "someone" isn't just a person, it can imply the door to a property. Technically even using a locksmith is considered forced entry. It's something you need to be careful of before you go in.

Reply to the comment left by Jonathan Willis at 14/10/2024 - 07:38
Ends 27/5/25. I will query with agent and agree the month to serve which will be within this current s21 regulation before RRB now I know a court date (if needed) can be outside the (maximum 6 month of s21) makes sense to do it early. Can you please translate this in layman terms in my situation? Thank you.

All notices that are served before the Commencement Date will still be valid, and the tenancy will remain an assured shorthold tenancy, and the landlord will be able to enforce the notice by bringing an order for possession until they are time-barred.

This means they will need to apply for an order for possession within 3 months of the Commencement Date, and even earlier if the notice was served more than 2 months before the Commencement Date, otherwise they will be time-barred.

If the Section 21 notice expires more than 3 months after the Commencement Date, the landlord will not be able to obtain an order for possession from the court.

Reply to the comment left by Michael Crofts at 14/10/2024 - 09:56
I’ll call shelter to discuss. Thank you for taking the time to respond and I will definitely post back the outcome as I appreciate who has responded!!!

Reply to the comment left by Jonathan Willis at 13/10/2024 - 20:24
I need to sleep on this. Wondering whether to offer my contact number to tenant through the agent to improve communication. Supervising the agent is stressful and this is possibly stressful for the tenant too?? He did ask for my number at the beginning of the tenancy but I advised I was fully managed with agent. Things weren’t going to plan so I thought I was doing the right thing. I could try and use a spare phone just for the tenant. Agent does not whatsapp him, it’s phone or email which is ok but I think WhatsApp is better. He may not even respond or could say NO! just a thought at the moment.

Reply to the comment left by Carchester at 12/10/2024 - 07:39
Hi Carchester. I have just found out the tenant arranged the gas certificate on Monday with my agents head office. I cannot believe it. I am soooooo relieved. It would have been great to be informed but anyway my stress is now over.

Thank you all so much for your help!!!! 😊👍xx

Great conclusion.

However, as another has penned, jettison this "quiet enjoyment" nonsense and consider pushing ahead to getting shut of him as it is clear he doesn't want to be behave reasonably.

Clearly, he has no intention of communicating or being civil to you so I would be minded to get shut asap.

Carchester

Reply to the comment left by Carchester at 16/10/2024 - 10:32
I agree. I have a deed of surrender ready as he expressed wanting to leave early and I’m just contemplating who best to serve s21 next year. I’m going to check my insurance as I am covered for solicitor costs! Thank you.

Reply to the comment left by Jonathan Willis at 12/10/2024 - 12:43
Hi Jonathan. I just thought I would share the outcome of the CT bill. Here goes. Three weeks ago agent advised me they had received a CT bill for my BTL and forwarded this to the tenant. I thought this was odd as the tenant had just paid his rent which is 4 times more than the £180 CT bill (from 2023.) Two weeks later the agent receives a court summons for the above amount plus £66 fee. My father in law was living at the property, paid his bills in full, then the tenant moved in. Agent called the tenant and myself about this. I know CT do not send a bill then follow with a summons, there are stages to this. I asked for all the details on the summons and low and behold the dates were for a 4 week void and nothing to do with the tenant. CT had been sending letters to the BTL - I assume the tenant was discarding them. Thankfully, I’m not sure how, but CT began to forward correspondent to my agent and the bill is now paid and zero outstanding.

I don’t expect my tenant to be my PA and we did arrange a redirect of mail but you would have thought he would have kept the post to one side, I’ve been to the property often enough, RTSender or handed it to the postman. We could have ended with a larger bill and a missed court hearing which was set for November!

Thanks for the update. I had forgotten about the CT bill part of your question.

What you say makes sense, as the property owner you are liable for the CT in the void period.

It's unfortunate the tenant didn't send you the letters, but the council likely only have the address on record so no other way to contact you but to send letters to the property.

Reply to the comment left by Jonathan Willis at 01/11/2024 - 16:19
Thank you. Yes this void period was definitely missed, probably due to the busy time setting up the BTL.

We seem to be experiencing anything and everything that could go wrong with this tenancy. Sadly it is our first and last! I have just requested a letter to be sent to the tenant after reports by the agent the tenants mums dog is still in the property, despite dealing with this nearly 12 months ago. The pet is never there when we inspect. Last visit I left and the agent arrived late. The pet could be heard and seen through the door. Agent never seems too bothered about sending a letter explaining this is a breach of his AST. I dont expect the tenant to listen. My thinking is at least we have a letter recorded, incase we struggle with any cleaning claims through the deposit scheme. Am I correct?