Updating post from Reddit.
I have a property that the epc, gsc and eicr has run out on. I've asked my tenant for access but as she works away isn't available for around a month. I want to look to sell the house but can't until I can serve her notice and so need to get the checks done. Can I do anything?
Yes inform and use your keys for access.
I don't have keys. I had an agent looking after the property and he left owing me money so I took over managing the property and don't have a key to the property.
Lol
And this is why some people shouldn't be landlords.
Mad that you don't have a key to one of the biggest assets in your life.
Secure the deposit asap, and then l, when the tenant is back get a set of keys cut and get everything done.
She could perfectly plausibly have changed the locks. Relying on being able to gain access against tenants will is daft.
Keep Records for work attempts. Get a solicitors.
I dont think you need to get a new EPC... as long as the existing one was valid at the time of first lease.
I had a new tenancy started when I took over managing the property again and it had already ran out then.
You had better get a solicitor.
Honestly, the tenant going away for a month is the least of your problems at the moment. You can be fined a lot of money for letting property without valid gas certificate, given that it expired before the tenant moved in you have no excuse to not have had it done. It is very clear that as a landlord you need to serve the tenant certain set of documents at the commencement of tenancy (eicr, gas safety, epc, right to rent guide) and protect the deposit. The tenant can claim compensation when you have failed your responsibilities and you will not be able to issue section 21 notice.
Protect the deposit ASAP, send the tenant the documents you can and arrange the inspections or copy of keys as soon as the tenant is back. And make sure you put aside any rent you get to pay as compensation for your f up.
Did the tenant inform you they were going to be away for a month before you asked about the access? If so, there's probably something in your AST about telling you about long vacancies that they've defaulted on and you can use that as leverage.
No there's nothing in the tenancy about being away for long periods. I drew the tenancy up myself from a template online. My tenancy is clearly very clued up and she's sought advice from both a solicitor and the council so I think I'm just screwed and will have to wait for them to give me access.
This is always true, unless you have reason to suspect an immediate emergency, like a fire going on right now.
So I'm basically screwed? The tenant has the upper hand big style?!
Have all three ran out at the same time? Or has there been an amount of time where the property has had no gas safety cert/Eicr? Do you have the deposit in a scheme?
Epc ran out a month before the new tenancy and there hasn't been a gas safety check or eicr on the property for 3 years. The deposit isnt in a protection scheme.
The deposit isn’t in a scheme? Then the tenant can come after you for 3 times its value
No my agent before didn't out it in a scheme and then when I took over I didn't put it in a scheme either.
Yeah, you’re gonna want to sort all that out before worrying about issuing an S.21
Then that will also prevent you from serving notice and if your tenant is as clued up as you think, they may already know they can claim 1-3x their deposit value for compensation on top and are just waiting until after their tenancy
It’s your job to ensure your agent is fulfilling your legal responsibilities, or to do so yourself.
Roll on landlord licensing.
No deposit in scheme and no gas safety for the last 3 years?
I think you should worry more about getting that sorted first before doing anything else.
Give them 24 hrs notice and then turn up with a locksmith and enter. Get the certs done.
Unlikely to be able to claim it’s emergency access when there hasn’t been a gas safety check for 3 years so this risks breaking the right to quiet enjoyment
But surely the gas and electric certs are essential?
If the landlord hasn’t done the checks for three years already, how can they say it is suddenly now an emergency to qualify entering without permission? If they have felt it was fine to leave it three years, then what is another few weeks on top. It needs to be immediate risk such as a fire or water leak and having left it for three years, I think they have lost the right to try and claim immediate risk now.
I've already been advised by a solicitor that if I do that the tenant can have me for breaking and entering as I'm forcing unreasonable access.