How to Give 24-Hour Written Access Notice and Keep the Proof

Knowing how to give 24 hour access notice as a landlord in the UK starts with a file you can open, not a Thursday WhatsApp. Write one notice per visit: address, date given, date and time window, purpose, who will attend, and how to rearrange. Send it in writing, keep the sent copy, and log the reply or the silence. Twenty-four hours is the floor — if the tenancy is longer, use the longer. Then stop: the notice is not a spare-key pass.

Thursday 16:00. Iris texts two terrace lets in Birmingham: “Gas man tomorrow morning.” Friday the tenant is on a night shift and will not open. The engineer invoices a wasted call. There is no sent email, no window, no name, and no note of the refusal. In practice Friday 10:00–12:00, Gas Safe engineer, boiler service, reply if this does not work — plus the sent copy — would have been the file.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

How do you treat a tenancy that promises longer than 24 hours?

Read the access clause before you write a word. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s.11(6) and s.9A set a floor of at least 24 hours’ notice in writing, at a reasonable time of day, to view condition and state of repair. If the Assured Shorthold Tenancy — the usual English private let — promises longer, use the longer clock.

Open section 11(6) (checked 11 September 2026): landlord or a person authorised in writing, reasonable times, 24 hours’ notice in writing to the occupier. Section 9A repeats that floor for fitness-for-habitation access. Citizens Advice is plain: the agreement might allow more than 24 hours. NRLA says the same — 24 hours is the minimum. Do not invent a statutory 48-hour private-let clock. Do not rely on a three-hour forum clause.

Housing Act 1988 section 16 makes the tenant on an assured tenancy afford access and reasonable facilities for repairs the landlord is entitled to execute. That is a duty to cooperate, not a skip-the-notice card. Typical mistake: quoting “the 24-hour rule” when the signed AST says 48. Do use whichever is longer.

What to write on the written notice?

There is no official GOV.UK “notice of entry” blank. Write the fields that make the file usable: property address, tenant name(s), the date you give the notice, a date and time window — not “sometime next week” — purpose, who will attend, and how to rearrange.

Purpose must match the visit. Sections 11(6) and 9A cover viewing condition and state of repair. Do not stretch “inspection” over a re-let viewing or a kitchen upgrade — those need a clause, and you still write a notice. Shelter England (updated 5 May 2026): the tenant may not have to agree to viewings unless the agreement says they should. One line, then stop.

Who attends: you, an agent, or a named contractor and company. Anyone other than the landlord should be authorised in writing. Citizens Advice’s example window is 8am–6pm. For example, Iris’s Friday “morning” was not a window. Do write a rearrange line. Do not send “I’ll pop in”.

How do you send it in writing and keep the proof?

The statute says notice in writing. A letter through the door, an email, SMS or WhatsApp can be writing; a phone chat does not count. Keep a timestamped sent copy in the property Access folder — each visit’s notice and the reply line.

Email to the address in the tenancy is the cleanest sent-folder proof if the agreement allows it. Check the service clause. Do not treat this as a Section 13 or possession notice. NRLA’s gaining-access note (12 May 2021): letter, WhatsApp or SMS can be writing; a call is not. GOV.UK still wants at least 24 hours’ notice and a reasonable time of day for a planned inspect-or-repair visit.

Start the 24-hour — or longer — clock from when the occupier could reasonably have the notice, not from the second you hit send if you posted it. Hand-deliver: note date and time. A doorstep “we’ll come back Thursday” is not the file. Each visit needs its own written notice with the new window and who attends.

If the visit is a Gas Safe service, the notice lives here; the certificate lives in the gas safety folder. A water-system look is still a notice here; the one-page record is the legionella file. Do keep the sent copy. Do not count a voicemail as the clock.

What to write when they reply — or stay silent?

One dated line: agreed, a proposed other slot, or no reply by a named time. Permission is not assumed. Silence is not a key-in pass. If they propose Tuesday 14:00–16:00, confirm that window in writing — the confirmation is the notice for the new time.

The NRLA accessing-the-property page (updated 7 August 2025): do not assume permission. If they refuse the Friday slot, offer another written window. Do not enter. Record every attempt. This file stops at the log. Do log the silence with a time. Do not treat “seen” on WhatsApp as consent.

Why is a written notice not a key?

A written notice is a precondition, not a licence to let yourself in. Shelter England (updated 5 May 2026): even with a key, do not enter without telling the tenant and asking if the visit is okay. Citizens Advice: they can refuse; you cannot enter without permission.

Southern Housing v Emmanuel, a county court judgment published in November 2025: s.11(6) is a contractual right to be given access, not a right to force the door. This file stops before any injunction SOP. GOV.UK mentions immediate access for a genuine emergency, for example a burst pipe affecting the flat below. That exception sits off this file.

Workflow: Check the tenancy clock → Write the fields → Send in writing → File the sent copy → Log reply or silence → New visit, new notice.

Success bar: you can open the clock, the notice fields, the sent copy, and the reply line. Verify that pack, then stop. A second visit needs a new notice. You do not walk the occupied home here — that is the periodic inspection checklist. You do not triage the leak into a ticket — that is the repair-request process. Then stop. An IziRento workspace can hold the sent notice and the reply line. It does not authorise entry.