More persons in my rental property than I thought

HappyMJ

What use is a second bedroom if it's not for kids? Even if it's a single parent who only gets to see the kids every other weekend they still need a 2 bed flat. Would you deny them a tenancy as well? A couple could easily just rent a 1 bed flat unless they are willing to spend extra on a room that will rarely be used. If you are so against potential damage caused by children and pets then don't let the property out at all.

m_13

I work in our second bedroom. It has plenty of use every week day but we have no children. We are buying a property where the two adults, whilst married, sleep in separate rooms. Again their choice.

geoffky

AnotherAmateur landlord..i hope the next tennets with no kids and no pets turn you gaff into a cannabis farm...i really do..

anoneemouse

I can perfectly well understand specifying "no children or pets" - though goodness knows some adults dont know how to behave either.

As they are foreign - then it may be possible that a genuine mistake was made by them with regard to filling in the form correctly. They may come from a culture where children are not allowed to "run riot" in the way that a sizeable group of British children are.

What nationality are they from? With that question answered, then it may be possible to tell what the chances are that the kids will wreck the place.

If, for instance, the children are Japanese then the chances are that they have been brought up to respect property and won't do any damage to the house.

It does depend whether the family come from a country that has a "value system" that says that people (including children) must respect property or not as to what to do in these circumstances.

chewmylegoff

HappyMJ wrote: »

What use is a second bedroom if it's not for kids? Even if it's a single parent who only gets to see the kids every other weekend they still need a 2 bed flat. Would you deny them a tenancy as well? A couple could easily just rent a 1 bed flat unless they are willing to spend extra on a room that will rarely be used. If you are so against potential damage caused by children and pets then don't let the property out at all.

fascinating point of view! have you ever heard of the concept of a spare room, or do your guests have to sleep on the floor?

chickywiggle

could you not show a bit more tolerance?????

IF the child wrecks the house withhold the deposit to repair it...... I cannot believe you would make a family homeless over your own morels without giving them a chance!!!

pets and smokers i can underrstand you may have a grudge against...... in theses cases it is possible you would be left with a lingering smell - or you could have allergies but unless you are a) allergic to children or b) the child 'does their business' all over the house then i realllyy can't see the problem.

we are in a rented house and have thoroughly accepted our children may (without our knowledge) mark the walls..... we are prepared to repaint them if asked. they may mark the cream carpet (already have) with painting, muddy shoes and potty training......... we therefore wet vax reguarly and are prepred to buy new carpets if asked. these we do/ have told the landlord we are happy to do without them even having to ask. perhaps you could ask the LA to have this chat with them first?

G_M

chickywiggle wrote: »

could you not show a bit more tolerance?????

........
pets and smokers i can underrstand you may have a grudge against...... in theses cases it is possible you would be left with a lingering smell -

Indeed. The OP has a preference for tenants without children.

Show some tolerance - all he did was to ask a question about rental law. He now has the answer he required, as well as a whole bunch of posts showing intollerance and insome cases downright aggression.

Completely uncalled for.

chewmylegoff

sounds a bit fishy to me:

Q: how many children do you have?

A: i presume that the number of children i have is not relevant, therefore i will ignore this question.

tenant probably didn't declare because they thought that they might not get the property.

however, although i understand LL's motivation for not wanting children in the property (and i dare say i might be the same if i was renting a property out) but it's happened now. if they're not tearing the property to pieces then the practical solution is probably just to keep accepting their rent - better than kicking them out and risking a void - and use a different agent next time.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

chickywiggle wrote: »

allergic to children

Ahhhh, so that's what it is. Always wondered why I can't stand the vile little creatures.

Anyway..... Back to the OP.

Not much you can do now, just make sure the S21 notice is served immediately and give your agent a right lecture about properly vetting tenants in the future.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

chickywiggle wrote: »

they may mark the cream carpet (already have) with painting, muddy shoes and potty training.........

If I wanted children to spill paint or drag mud all over my house, I'd have my own...

Just because you have children DOES NOT give you the right to let them crap on someone else's carpets. If you must have kids, at least have the decency to buy your own house for them to ruin, rather than ruining someone else's house.

And the typical security deposit is nowhere near big enough to cover the damage the little monsters can do in a year. So whilst you may be willing to pay for new carpets, most renters either couldn't or wouldn't.

I think the decision to allow children or not should be entirely up to the landlord. No matter what the "renters rights" brigade say, when you rent IT IS NOT your home. It's SOMEONE ELSE'S home that you rent temporarily. If you want a home where nobody can tell you what to do, then buy one of your own.

By making the decision not to rent to families with children, the landlord is narrowing their target market (and thus increasing the chance of voids) in return for lowering the risk of damage and wear and tear on the house. It should be entirely their prerogative to do so.