In the first instance check what it says in your Tenancy Agreement as to what you agreed regarding landlord access to the property. Beyond that the key pieces of legislation that cover landlord access are as follows:

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 S9A (7) & (8) – There is an implied covenant by the lessee that the lessor, or a person authorised in writing by the lessor, may enter the dwelling for the purpose of viewing its condition and state of repair. to the dwelling to be permitted only at reasonable times of the day and only if at least 24 hours’ notice in writing has been given to the occupier of the dwelling.

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 S11 (6) Repairing obligations – In a lease in which the lessor’s repairing covenant is implied there is also implied a covenant by the lessee that the lessor, or any person authorised by him in writing, may at reasonable times of the day and on giving 24 hours’ notice in writing to the occupier, enter the premises comprised in the lease for the purpose of viewing their condition and state of repair.

Housing Act 1988 S16 It shall be an implied term of every assured tenancy that the tenant shall afford to the landlord access to the dwelling-house let on the tenancy and all reasonable facilities for executing therein any repairs which the landlord is entitled to execute.

Have you had problems accessing the property or problems with your landlord just turning up unannounced?

I can’t imagine why any landlord would want to start a tenancy without taking the full deposit in cleared funds up-front but I did notice that the recently re-vamped DPS website now accepts multiple payments for a deposit so perhaps it is something landlords and agents do (for whatever reason) but how does this fit in with the laws on tenancy deposits?

Looking at S212 of the Housing Act 2004 for clues…

“tenancy deposit”, in relation to a shorthold tenancy, means any money intended to be held (by the landlord or otherwise) as security for—

(a)the performance of any obligations of the tenant, or

(b)the discharge of any liability of his,

arising under or in connection with the tenancy.

The key part in here for me is ‘any money’ so whether that is the £10 first instalment or the £590 final instalment it is all money held as a deposit so I guess that at each payment the landlord has 30 days to protect that payment – sounds cumbersome.

Do you take desposits on instalments? why?

There is no legal definition of a bedroom but the short answer is if a room has a floor area of less than 50 square feet overcrowding may be an issue.

We have all viewed properties where the 3^rd of 4^th ‘bedroom’ is not big enough to swing a cat so what are the space standards for bedrooms? Is there any legislation available to guide us on this?

The subject of overcrowding and room and space standards was last covered in statute in the Housing Act 1985.

S326 of the Housing Act 1985 covers the space standard:

1)The space standard is contravened when the number of persons sleeping in a dwelling is in excess of the permitted number, having regard to the number and floor area of the rooms of the dwelling available as sleeping accommodation.

(2)For this purpose—

(a)no account shall be taken of a child under the age of one and a child aged one or over but under ten shall be reckoned as one-half of a unit, and

(b)a room is available as sleeping accommodation if it is of a type normally used in the locality either as a living room or as a bedroom.

(3)The permitted number of persons in relation to a dwelling is whichever is the less of—

(a)the number specified in Table I in relation to the number of rooms in the dwelling available as sleeping accommodation, and

(b)the aggregate for all such rooms in the dwelling of the numbers specified in column 2 of Table II in relation to each room of the floor area specified in column 1

No account shall be taken for the purposes of either Table of a room having a floor area of less than 50 square feet.

Table 1

Number of rooms – Number of persons

1                     2

2                     3

3                     5

4                     7 ½

5 or more      2 for each room

Table II

Floor area of room ~ Number of persons

110 sq. ft. or more ~ 2

90 sq. ft. or more but less than 110 sq. ft ~ 1 ½

70 sq. ft. or more but less than 90 sq. ft. ~ 1

50 sq. ft. or more but less than 70 sq. ft. ~ 1/2

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/68/part/X

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/home_safety/overcrowding