Police entering a rented property.

[winchman]

Whilst I fully understand your concerns what would you gain if you complain? They have looked caused no damage / inconvenience, the unit owner let them in.
Some battles are not worth the fight.

 

[brightspark]

no big deal i once had a hire business and they thought i had a stolen chainsaw so came round . i showed them it and said take the numbers off it ohh and while your here take the details of everything else i own and then bu,gger off and dont come back at least they made the effort just in case there was more gear stolen

 

[angellonewolf]

have you had a look yet ?did they do any damage throw any thing around etc

 

[cocker]

Instead of whinging about the police actually doing there job why don't you put in a complaint . Then Meybe you'll tie their hands even more .

 

[northwest]

However it gets a little trickier with residential lettings and peaceful enjoyment.
Holiday lets and AirB&B then fair game as with commercial property.
'Normal' residential tenancy then warrant would be the officer's safer route.
Short term tenancies - grey area. If the officer had serious suspicions he might go for it and argue later if he were brave.

^^^^^^ This. If it is residential the copper would really need to be very brave, commercial property not so much.

 

[Wozzaaah]

they only have right of access to that unit to be checked no other units have a right to be checked or viewed unless the warrant is stipulated for all of the units or place

the owner who gave them the right to view and opened up is infact wrong whilst the police used a fishing tactic to view into other propertys / units

what can you do to be honest nothing as the owner allowed them full access without a warrant

if you dont like it then find another place

Citation for that please Gaz?

 

[Ubique]

Does it actually matter? I get the 'Landlord did summat without me knowing' bit, but you had nothing visible to cause plod concern, so they moved on...
you're a good boy, or at least know how to make it look so - what's the problem, other than a bruised ego?

 

[selectedgrub]

Not sure you're the best person to comment on UK law......

No I'd go straight to a welding forum for it.

 

[Gavlar]

Unless the law has changed in the last few years, there is no power of entry (without arrest) merely to search for stolen property without a warrant. The powers of entry without warrant are to arrest or to protect life or property or to search for evidence after arrest. (There is more but that covers most of it) If entry is granted by someone with the authority to grant it, no warrant is needed. Warrants can be a bit of a faff and warrants that don't result in a positive outcome make getting the next warrant a bit harder. So, particularly if they don't expect much to come of it and/or it's a minor offence, then police will simply ask for permission. It's a lot simpler and people don't tend to get upset.

In the OPs case, if the owner had authority to grant entry, then it was lawful. If he didn't have authority but police believed he did then I'm pretty sure that too would be lawful.

 

[ukracer]

Would something like the landlord allowing or facilitating access be written into a rental agreement? Who might it be reasonable to admit without the tenant's permission? Maybe police as above, fire, gas and electricity.

Fire don't need permission. But it is rather strange.

"The fire service can force entry into a property where there is (or where they believe to be) a fire.

Firefighters can also enter neighbouring premises. Where access is refused, the fire service must summon the police to assist in a forced entry."

But it says nothing about Police needing a warrant.

 

[premmington]

Unless the law has changed in the last few years, there is no power of entry (without arrest) merely to search for stolen property without a warrant. The powers of entry without warrant are to arrest or to protect life or property or to search for evidence after arrest. (There is more but that covers most of it) If entry is granted by someone with the authority to grant it, no warrant is needed. Warrants can be a bit of a faff and warrants that don't result in a positive outcome make getting the next warrant a bit harder. So, particularly if they don't expect much to come of it and/or it's a minor offence, then police will simply ask for permission. It's a lot simpler and people don't tend to get upset.

In the OPs case, if the owner had authority to grant entry, then it was lawful. If he didn't have authority but police believed he did then I'm pretty sure that too would be lawful.

The above is my take on it...

If a Policeman lands at mine (or any of my properties) without a warrant or not arresting anybody. If I allow access for a search - he should be bright enuf to not bother even searching as he will know by my allowing it - he is wasting his time and will not find anything.

 

[bricol]

The above is my take on it...

If a Policeman lands at mine (or any of my properties) without a warrant or not arresting anybody. If I allow access for a search - he should be bright enuf to not bother even searching as he will know by my allowing it - he is wasting his time and will not find anything.

You're looking at that from the viewpoint of a relatively sensible and intelligent person.

If you ever watch any of the Police camera action type programmes . . . so many idiots say "go ahead" . . and they immediately find stuff they shouldn't have

 

[premmington]

You're looking at that from the viewpoint of a relatively sensible and intelligent person.

If you ever watch any of the Police camera action type programmes . . . so many idiots say "go ahead" . . and they immediately find stuff they shouldn't have

Thank you - I took that as a compliment....

 

[8ob]

Thank you - I took that as a compliment....

I wouldn't, he said relatively

Bob

 

[gaz1]

Citation for that please Gaz?

you will find it under self storage units

the file below auto downloaded on me so beaware of it

file:///C:/Users/Administrator/Downloads/Who-can-Access-a-Storage-Unit.pdf

anyone that is renting units out to customers also have the same reference the same can be said for multi units held within one building

the police only have powers to access that one named unit and no other

a farmer can rent out a large unit split into many units but it dosnt give the police any rights to access any other unit not named within a warrant

 

[Endeleus]

Depends on context. If they were looking for a Range Rover, and our landlord allowed them to peek in to our unit for a moment to see it's obviously not there before locking up again then it would be fine by me. I'm fairly certain though, that our landlords would probably call me at the time, or would certainly let me know the next morning.

If the police were looking for something small, like a wallet or jewellery, then I'd be less happy with them raking around my unit unattended, although in reality when someone has needed access to my unit (e.g. for maintenance or inspection) then I've generally been happy for the landlord to chaperone.

From a legal perspective, police can't generally* force entry to a property in the UK without a warrant, but they may ask to come in and have a look, which the keyholder may consider to be a reasonable request in the interests of law and order, community spirit, etc. The rights of landlord access are entirely down to individual lease agreements.

(* yes, there are exceptions, such as if the police can see there is a crime actively being committed in the premises at that moment - I'm sure there are others)

 

[Gavlar]

From a legal perspective, police can't generally* force entry to a property in the UK without a warrant,

Sorry, but this is wrong and a common misconception. Police can generally enter to arrest, to search for evidence after arrest, to protect life, to protect property, to prevent a breach of the piece etc etc all without a warrant. For front line uniform police this covers the vast majority of times forced entry is necessary.

Some powers of entry are different in Scotland.

 

[ajlelectronics]

breach of the piece

What people do in private, is no business of ours.

 

[Johnnybravo]

Just looked at my rent agreement. Landlord to give 24hr written notice for wanting access for maintenance etc. Right to open immediately in case of emergency, flood, fire or electrical issues,( main distribution room for the whole site is in my unit) or if “ directed by law enforcement “

So, no harm no foul

 

[Endeleus]

From a legal perspective, police can't generally* force entry to a property in the UK without a warrant,

Sorry, but this is wrong and a common misconception. Police can generally only enter to arrest, to search for evidence after arrest, to protect life, to protect property...

(* yes, there are exceptions, such as if the police can see there is a crime actively being committed...

So we agree then?

That doesn't change the fact that police can not generally enter a property without a warrant or without being invited just by nature of being the police.