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We are moving out of our rented flat in six weeks because the landlord put the rent up.

An agent has shown around at least 15 new tenants and we’re getting irritated with people coming in and out every evening and during our weekends.

Can we tell the landlord they can’t do more viewings until we move out?

Name and address supplied.

Dean Dunham replies: I understand your frustration entirely, as your evenings and weekends are being disrupted while you are trying to pack up and move.

The good news is that the law is more firmly on your side than you might expect.

Viewings: A reader is unhappy with their landlord who is showing a never-ending stream of prospective tenants around their home before they are due to move out

As tenants, you benefit from what’s known in law as the ‘covenant of quiet enjoyment’ and a right to ‘exclusive possession’ of the property throughout your tenancy.

This means that until the day your tenancy ends, the flat is legally yours to occupy, not the landlord’s and certainly not the agent’s.

Neither has an automatic right to march prospective tenants through your home whenever they please.

Many tenancy agreements contain a clause allowing viewings during the final weeks. But even where such a clause exists, the landlord and agent must still give you reasonable notice.

This usually means informing you in writing of any viewings at least 24 hours ahead.

The agent must also arrange visits at reasonable times. A clause permitting viewings is not a licence to traipse strangers through your living room every single evening and all weekend.

So can you refuse outright? If your agreement contains no viewings clause at all, then yes, you are within your rights to decline all viewings until you leave. If there is such a clause, you cannot ban them, but you can take control of the arrangements.

Write to the agent and landlord, politely but firmly. State that the frequency of viewings is unreasonable and disruptive and propose sensible limits.

For example, one viewing slot per week, on a day and time that suits you, with 24 hours’ notice each time. A calm, reasonable letter setting boundaries is your most effective tool.

Ticked off over missing watch

I sent my expensive watch away to a firm in Hatton Garden, London, to be repaired.

The firm said it would take 12 weeks, but it has now been 20 weeks and I have not received it back.

When I phone, it just goes to a recorded message. I am now worried and just want my watch back, whether it is fixed or not.

What can I do – and should I still pay for the repair in full given the delay?

T.H., Coventry.

Dean Dunham replies: Being unable to reach anyone about a valuable possession is deeply unsettling. Let me set out both how to recover your watch and where you stand on paying.

When you send an item away for repair, the firm holds it under what’s known as bailment.

This means they have a legal duty to take reasonable care of it and return it to you. Meanwhile, you are entitled to demand it back at any time.

On the delay, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires that where no binding completion date is agreed, a service must be carried out within a ‘reasonable time’.

Even where 12 weeks was quoted, a delay of 20 weeks with no contact and no explanation is a clear breach. That failure matters when it comes to the bill.

Do you still have to pay? If the repair has been done to a proper standard, you would normally owe the agreed price.

However, you may be able to negotiate a reduction for the delay and distress caused. If the repair has not been completed, you owe nothing and you can insist on the immediate return of the watch.

Here’s my advice. Put your demand in writing, by email and in a letter sent by recorded delivery to the company’s registered address.

You will find this on the Companies House website. State clearly that the watch is your property, that the firm is in breach of contract and that you require its return within 14 days.

If the silence continues, this becomes a matter for the small claims court – or, potentially, one for the police if you suspect the firm has vanished. Check, too, whether your home insurance covers items away for repair. Act promptly and firmly.