Tenants have the right to the quiet enjoyment of their rented property, but sometimes a landlord needs to gain access to the property nevertheless. Ideally, agreement is reached for access as long as there is communication and reasonable notice, but what if there isn’t? Under what circumstances can a landlord access their property without agreement?
Massive water or gas leak, building burning down, you have a reasonable belief that someone needs urgent help in the property? These are the types of circumstances in which landlords could say there is an emergency and are permitted by law to use their keys to gain access without the agreement of the tenant.
Booked an expensive contractor in to undertake work and the tenants are not home or refusing entry, noise or disturbance coming from the property or the tenants have not paid rent for several months? These events do not constitute an emergency in the eyes of the landlord and tenant judges, and to gain entry, you must follow the steps set out in my earlier article which you can access here.
If there is a genuine emergency you should knock loudly several times on the front door and if possible, check the windows to see if someone is home. Email and call the tenant if possible and leave several text messages and voicemails. If after doing all of this you cannot contact the tenant and are confident that the property is vacant, use your keys to gain access.
TIP – Make sure there is more than one person attending the property to gain access in case the tenant later claims that your action was a breach of the lease terms.