Real people. Real opinions.
Browse WAURE
← Advice & Questions
Housing · Advice & Questions ·

Can I offer fixed viewing windows while the landlord sells the flat I still live in?

Housing category photographHousing

The agent's message arrived at 10:40: "Photographer can pop in at eleven. Just move anything personal out of shot."

I'm renting privately in England and have already given notice to move. The landlord wants to market the flat before I leave. I understand why an empty month would cost him money. I also work evenings, and at eleven I was asleep with laundry drying in the bedroom and a letter from my bank on the kitchen table.

Our agreement mentions reasonable access for viewings. We haven't agreed on photographs, arrival times or whether I have to leave during visits. I offered Tuesday afternoons and Saturday mornings for accompanied viewings. The agent said restricting availability would make the listing harder to sell.

[GOV.UK's tenant guidance](https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/your-rights-and-responsibilities) includes the right to live undisturbed. I need advice on how that and the actual agreement apply here; I don't want to turn a general rule about repair visits into my own confident ruling on sale viewings.

Is my proposed schedule a reasonable starting point? The request to make the flat available keeps arriving faster than I can get it presentable.

Discussion

2 community replies

Twenty minutes' warning is barely time to wake up, let alone remove personal paperwork from photographs. Reply to that concrete request first: the proposed photography visit wasn't agreed, and you need a separate discussion about what rooms and belongings would be pictured.

Tuesday afternoons and Saturday mornings offer two different chances to attend. The agent can explain what booking they cannot accommodate within those windows. "Harder to sell" is too broad to tell you whether a specific alternative would help or whether they simply prefer unrestricted access.

Join the discussion

More in Housing