As we wrap up our spring clean series, we are looking at one of the most stressful situations a private landlord can face: the ‘ostrich’ tenant.
This is the tenant who buries their head in the sand the moment a problem arises. They stop paying rent, ignore your calls, and—crucially—refuse to grant access for essential maintenance like the annual Gas Safety check.
The Gas Safety Standoff As a landlord, you know that keeping your gas safety certificate up to date is a strict legal requirement. But what happens if the certificate has expired, you want to serve a Section 21 notice to gain possession, and the tenant simply refuses to let the engineer through the door?
You cannot force entry. However, if your case ends up in front of a judge, simply saying “the tenant wouldn’t let me in” is not going to cut it. The court expects hard proof that you tried to comply with the law.
The Golden Rule: Keep a Paper Trail If a tenant goes silent, your record-keeping must become flawless. To prove to a court that you took all “reasonable steps” to get that updated certificate before serving notice, you need a solid paper trail:
- Send written requests: Make at least three formal, documented requests for access, offering flexible dates and times.
- Keep the evidence: Save every email, text message, and letter. Keep a log of your engineer’s notes if they attended the property but were turned away.
- Apply this to arrears too: If the tenant is ignoring rent demands, document every attempt you made to contact them, offer support, or suggest a payment plan.
Breaking the Silence When a tenant disengages, waiting around only leads to mounting arrears and expired safety certificates. You need to take formal action, and your paperwork needs to be impeccably prepared to show the judge exactly how you have been obstructed.
At Expert Landlord Solicitors, we offer comprehensive, fixed-fee possession services. We will help you organise your evidence bundle, demonstrate your compliance attempts to the court, and ensure your possession claim is legally watertight—with absolutely no hidden hourly rates.
Check our fixed prices and get your property back on track today:https://www.expertlandlordsolicitors.co.uk/services/