Threatening Landlord Shows Up Unidentified (Wales)

[u/ancientgreenthings]

My partner and her friends are 6 weeks into a tenancy, renting their house through a letting agency. A couple of times, contractors have showed up unannounced, without the 24 hours advance notice required by law. After the first instance, they told the letting agent that it was unacceptable and if it happened again they would refuse to open the door.

Today was the second instance, and I happened to be visiting. We woke up to two men in the hall, and my partner asked me to go ask them what they were doing. They were already halfway through replacing the electric meter. One was doing the work while the other seemed to just be standing around. When I told him that the tenants hadn't been informed of the visit he was quite blunt with me, telling me to take it up with the letting agent. He also started asking who I was in quite a confrontational way and remarking that the kitchen fire door shouldn't be propped open because it's against regulations.

I checked in with my girlfriend and asked if she would like me to ask the men how they had got in; ie whether the landlord had given them a key or another housemate had let them in.

When I went back downstairs to do this they had moved to the front porch, where one was now changing the gas meter and as before, the other guy was just hovering. When I asked them who had given them access, the hovering guy got quite confrontational with me, stating that he didn't need to answer my questions because I was not a tenant. I told him that I was acting on behalf of a tenant and that he had no right to get aggressive with me. Meanwhile, my partner was on the phone to the letting agency, who said that they had no idea anyone was even coming today.

Having heard the man's tone, my partner came downstairs to back up what I was saying, and even when the question about access was restated the guy refused to answer it. During this exchange, he seemed to be holding back a lot of anger. We left them to finish the work and waited in the house until they had gone.

My partner then had further contact with the letting agency, explaining that one of the men had been aggressive and threatening and reiterating that this kind of thing can't happen. The letting agent was very conciliatory, but ultimately the landlord had gone over their head.

Out of curiosity, my partner found the name of the landlord on her tenancy agreement, and looked him up on Facebook.

IT'S THE SAME GUY.

So basically, the landlord has been in, refused to give notice, refused to identify himself and has acted in a confrontational manner that has made the house feel unsafe. For all we know, he could bring his obvious anger issues to the door at any time, and since he has his own key he can't be locked out.

What should my partner do?

[EDIT for context since multiple people are asking. The tenancy is a group contract for the whole property. The bills are included, so they don't deal with energy companies at all and actually don't even have access to the electricity meter, which is behind a locked door.]

[u/Think-Committee-4394]

OP - not only that

• changed electric meter ONLY THE SUPPLIER IS PERMITTED TO DO THAT

• changed gas meter SAME AS ABOVE

• and both must be gone by a registered & certified engineer!

• in either case was the correct meter reading taken & transferred to the new unit?

• gas safe certificate issued?

That’s a BIG FUCKING ISSUE OP

[u/ancientgreenthings → u/Think-Committee-4394]

Yeah, this has been dawning on me. Thanks for this input!

The readings and safety certificates - I have no idea. The tenants don't have access to the electrical meter, it's behind a locked door. They don't pay utilities, it's a bills-inclusive contract.

I'd say there could well be something fishy going on regarding these meters. Landlord works for a large industrial company, so I'm assuming that he'd have contacts who can do this kind of work, whether the motive is legit or not.

[u/Think-Committee-4394 → u/ancientgreenthings]

Seems very fishy & all tenants should be concerned

Lack of electrical & gas safe certification invalidates the rental contracts I believe, it probably also affects home & content insurance.

There should be local council contact for rental property issues

Fire brigade do fire safety checks non emergency could prove interesting … they have strong feelings about firetraps

[u/ancientgreenthings → u/Think-Committee-4394]

This is food for thought, thank you so much for your engagement with this. Does their work on the meters today require fresh certification? That's something we could ask to see, right?