The Property Ombudsman has moved to clarify a change in its Lettings Code about agents obtaining express consent from a tenant before accessing a property.

The amended paragraph in the Code states: “Access to a property may be required by you, or an authorized third party on behalf of the landlord (e.g. a surveyor, builder, tradesman etc.) for the purpose of viewing the condition, state or repair and/or to fulfill related statutory obligations and/or to carry out repairs. If you hold the key but are not able to accompany that person, the tenant must be given the appropriate minimum notice of 24 hours or that prescribed by law, of the appointment (unless agreed otherwise with the tenant beforehand), except in cases of genuine emergency. Notwithstanding providing the tenant with reasonable notice to access a property, express consent from the tenant to do so should be obtained.”

TPO says that this means in practice that an agent must provide written confirmation of their request to access the property to the tenant. Within that written request, the tenant must be asked for their confirmation as to whether or not access is acceptable. The request must be issued in good time for the tenant to respond, at least 24 hours.