Landlord Right of entry vs Tenant refusal

By law Landlords have right of entry to the property to carry out inspections and repairs under the Rent Act 1977 and the Housing Act 1988.

It is always best to set out the arrangements for access and procedures to carry out repairs within the tenancy agreement. The Landlord or Landlord’s agent has the legalright to enter the property at reasonable times of day to carry out the repairs which are the Landlords’ responsibility. This right also includes entry to inspect the condition and state of repair of the property. It is important to remember that you must always give at least 24 hours written notice before doing so; other than by prior mutual agreement, or in genuine emergencies. Whilst the Landlord does have the above rights of entry, the tenant has a superior right that they often use:

All tenants have the right not to be unreasonably disturbed or harassed whilst living in their Landlords' properties [See Harassment)-The Landlord is, in effect, allowing the tenant the right to occupy the property as their home. The Landlord is not entitled to enter the tenant’s living area without permission.

Under any kind of lease or tenancy, a Landlord is required by common law to allow his tenants 'exclusive possession' and 'quiet enjoyment' of the premises during the tenancy. In other words, tenants must be free from unwarranted intrusion by anyone, including the Landlord. This means if a tenant says you cannot enter YOU or your agent (representative or tradesmen) cannot do so.

If you are renting a house this means the whole property however, if you are just renting a room then you can still enter communal areas [subject to your AST being non exclusive access to common areas], the tenant has the right to refuse access if they so wish. If the Landlord is refused entry by the tenant then they cannot enter - as the tenant’s right to stop people access to the property, outweighs the Landlord’s right of access if they are in disagreement. However, refusal to let the Landlord inspect at all will place the tenant in breach of the tenancy
agreement.

In most cases access will be denied because the tenant may wish to be present at the inspection visit and that the suggested appointment date is inconvenient. This is entirely fair and it may be in the Landlord’s favour to have the tenant present, as they will find it harder to accuse the Landlord of theft if items go missing from the property. You may apply to the court for an order to enter and carry out the works if a tenant fails to give their consent for work to be carried out An order can be made subject to conditions regarding the time at which the work is carried out. Sometimes alternative accommodation may have to be arranged depending on how much work needs to be done.

Remember, that if the tenant is injured because they have refused to allow access for the relevant repair work or Safety checks to be carried out, then the tenant cannot claim against the Landlord for damages as they were to blame for the problem not being rectified.