Tenant refusing access for gas safety check?

No you haven’t missed anything Jonathan. I just messaged on the same thread.

This is the last inspection from the agent as I am fully managed and contracted to 6 monthly inspections. 18mth Fixed term ends 27/5. I believe tenant does not need to give notice.

Does quiet time override the AST? Not sure why allowing access for inspections is in the agreement, if this is not the case, it’s confusing!

Reply to the comment left by Alison Clark at 06/02/2025 – 16:04
An AST comes under the legislation in the housing act 1988. It’s law.

But quite enjoyment comes from case law. It’s come about from landlords using s8 notice, ground 12, breach of lease trying to evict tenants for “not allowing viewings”, “changing locks”, “refusing access”. Judges have regularly refused to grant a possession order, and this all comes under the terms quiet enjoyment. It’s happen that often as far as I know all judges follow this now and tenants use it as a defence against possession orders where it’s been started under s8, ground 12.

What a landlord can do is get a court injuction to obtain access (not possession) for maintainence, gas saftey checks etc.

Reply to the comment left by Alison Clark at 06/02/2025 – 15:17
So the agent should do inspections but the tenant can refuse them. The contractual requirement to do inspections is between you and the estate agent. You pay them to do it, but a tenant can refuse it.

There is no guarantee the tenant will leave at the end. They can just stay put. You just never know what they’ll do. If they don’t give notice, you should consider the tenant maybe seeking to stay until forced out by a court order / baliffs.

Thank you. Makes sense now.

Does a court injunction take time and is it expensive?

I will bear this in mind if the tenant does not give notice. Thank you.

Reply to the comment left by Jonathan Willis at 06/02/2025 – 16:12

I have been told there have been cases where courts have denied access for landlords because of quiet enjoyment but I have not seen a report of any such judgement. Do you have any Jonathan?
Here is the law as I know it:
1. The Housing Act 1988, section 16: Access for repairs.
‘It shall be an implied term of every assured tenancy that the tenant shall afford to the landlord access to the dwelling-house let on the tenancy and all reasonable facilities for executing therein any repairs which the landlord is entitled to execute.’ Also Landlord & Tenant Act 1985, sections 11 &13 which impose repairing obligations on the landlord – you can’t fulfil those obligations without inspections.
2. Street v Mountford, House of Lords, 1985. Lord Templeman said: ‘A tenant armed with exclusive possession can keep out strangers and keep out the landlord unless the landlord is exercising limited rights reserved to him by by the tenancy agreement to enter and view and repair.’
This is a clear acknowledgement from the highest court in the land that quiet enjoyment does not override limited rights reserved in a tenancy agreement.
3. In New Crane Wharf Freehold Ltd v Dovener, a lease of a flat contained a covenant by the tenant to permit the landlord and its agents and workmen to enter the premises at all reasonable times (and for various usual purposes) on giving not less than 48 hours’ notice (except in case of emergency). The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) held that there was nothing in the wording of the clause which required the tenant to grant express permission….
I know that there are several pages on the internet stating that the right of quiet enjoyment overrides landlords’ limited rights of access. I think all these pages are wrong and I have written recently to a well-known author of one of these pages to say why.

Reply to the comment left by Alison Clark at 06/02/2025 – 16:40
It’s not really worthwhile to my knowledge for inspections.

But if you want possession, and the tenant won’t leave. Then carry on with s21 notice, and possession order. And ask for possession with costs, in most cases it’s granted. And the tenant will be responsible for your legal costs incurred to evict them, often in the range of £800-1500. Of course if the tenant is broke, you can’t get blood out of a stone.

Reply to the comment left by Michael Crofts at 06/02/2025 – 16:45
I’m not a solicitor, I don’t have specific cases to hand. Shelter website has some generic information about it, but again no specific cases.

The biggest issue is the time it takes due to court backlogs, even if you could enforce a breach for them changing locks, it takes so long to enforce it with a possession order.

Reply to the comment left by Michael Crofts at 06/02/2025 – 16:45
Thank you. It’s never black and white and in some cases it should be. My agent was not sure either. I am left to do my own research. What it states in the AST signed and agreed by the tenant should stand. In this case for LL access, sit back and do nothing as tenant can refuse. It’s madness!

Reply to the comment left by Jonathan Willis at 06/02/2025 – 16:47
Thank you.