Q I own a two-bedroom house near Dundrum in Dublin which I have been letting out for several years. Recently, my tenants emailed me notice that they would be vacating the property which I accepted. Then they had a change of heart and decided they didn't want to leave, but I still wanted to proceed so I posted them official notice.

They are now refusing to let me access the property to inspect it. I gave them 10 days’ notice that I would call to inspect and they gave me less than 24 hours’ notice of their refusal.

I made arrangements to view the property as I live quite a distance away so I was very inconvenienced by this. Did I have the right to still access the property? What do you advise that I do?

A The scenario set out in your letter is unclear in certain aspects. I am making assumptions that you had compliant tenants that gave you a valid notice and that is was a Part 4 tenancy.

I take it that the notice was withdrawn within the notice period.

My reading of this situation is that you can only give them notice if one of six events occurred. (1) The tenant is in breach of the obligations of the tenancy. (2) The landlord intends to sell. (3) The dwelling is no longer suited to the needs of the occupying household. (4) The landlord requires the dwelling for his or her own, or family member, occupation. (5) Vacant possession is required for substantial refurbishment of the dwelling. (6) The landlord intends to change the use of the dwelling.

You cannot give notice on any of these grounds if it is a fixed term tenancy.

You as a landlord are entitled to access the dwelling for the purpose of an inspection. A tenant’s obligation under Section 16(c) of the Tenancies Act 2004-2015 is “to allow, at reasonable intervals, the landlord, or any other person or persons acting on the landlord’s behalf, access to the dwelling (on a date and time agreed in advance with the tenant) for the purposes of inspecting the dwelling”.

If you wish to inspect the dwelling then you must agree a date and time with the tenant. However if the tenant refuses you access to the dwelling, they will be in breach of tenant obligations. A tenant is entitled to a reasonable time to remedy a breach of obligations.

You should first write to your tenants outlining the breach and request a mutually agreeable time for the inspection.

If the tenants do not remedy the breach within the reasonable period specified in the notice you must issue a 28-day notice of termination for breach of tenant obligations.

There was several amendments made to the Residential Tenancies Act in 2015 and these provisions are being implemented on an incremental basis, the most recent on May 3rd. If you go on the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) website you will be able to find sample notices setting out how you should word the warning notice and the notice of termination.

The whole issue of tenancy law has become very regulated and there are also prescribed notices for rent reviews etc. If you do not issue the correct notice then the notice is invalid. A number of these points are covered in The Good Landlord or Tenant Guide issued by the PRTB.

I hope this assists you in resolving this matter. Personally I feel a conciliatory phone call or email can alleviate a lot of potential grief.

Kersten Mehl is a chartered residential agency surveyor and member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, scsi.ie