Refused tenancy - a minor rant!

simonhackney

Just a little rant on an annoying property search!

I am in the process of trying to rent a property in Central London. As you can imagine the prices are not cheap to say the least.

I am (luckily) a mortgage free householder, my partner and myself both have senior positions and have a combined income in excess of £100K. We also have a four year old son. This is just some background to my rant!

On Monday (after many weeks of fruitless searching) I put an offer in on a flat and was accepted straight away. I paid a holding deposit that night.

When the offer was put forward we made it clear to the agent and the landlord about our son.

Yesterday the landlord decided that in fact he did not want a child in the property in case of damages - not withstanding the fact he would be holding a £3,500 damage deposit. We offered to double the damage deposit and even pay four months rent up front. Still rejected.

Now, on reflection, I am pleased becuase I think this landlord is behaving unreasonably. If he didn't want children in the property he needs to make that clear. If he accepts an offer knowing full well about the child he should honour it.

I know there is nothing I can do, but I am so annoyed at wasting a week of my time over this and effectively being discriminated over having a child.

Anyway - minor rant over - back to flat hunt!

Simon

DannyboyMidlands

Buy a flat.

simonhackney

Thanks for the really helpful reply!

pmlindyloo

DannyboyMidlands wrote: »

Buy a flat.

Unbelievable!:D

I can't find anything that says that landlords can discriminate in this way - maybe someone else will.

To be honest, as you say, not much you can do after the fact.
If it was against the law and you went in guns blazing what would be the point? You need somewhere to live and that type of LL is best avoided.

You're right, just move on.

Rants are quite welcome here and someone may have a good idea about whether LLs can do this which may help someone else.

I'm sure you will find something else which will be much better, and have a nicer landlord.

Good luck!

sandsni

The LL might have any number of reasons for not wanting children in the flat apart from the potential for damage (there might be neighbour issues with noise which an increased deposit wouldn't cover). But the OP is right, he should have made it clear from the start so as not to waste either potential tenants' or his own time with viewings, referencing etc., when he had no intention of letting to people with children.

simonhackney

Sadly i think landlords can discriminate in this way in the UK - I know they can't in many other countries.

Back to the hunt!

kmmr

sandsni wrote: »

The LL might have any number of reasons for not wanting children in the flat apart from the potential for damage (there might be neighbour issues with noise which an increased deposit wouldn't cover). But the OP is right, he should have made it clear from the start so as not to waste either potential tenants' or his own time with viewings, referencing etc., when he had no intention of letting to people with children.

Probably no better reason other than rental property is in high demand in london, and you can pick and choose tenants. Maybe he just thought a couple would be less hassle or something.

Personally, if my flat was anywhere near big enough, I would be happy with someone with a child. So long as they can pay the rent, kids tend to make people less mobile, so the tenants stay longer term.

I have a tiny 1 bed place in central london, and I get a regular stream of professionals who stay for 6months or a year, and then move on. The EA tells me this is normal for the area as it's a bit of a 'gateway' flat - if people stay, they go find somewhere bigger and better located, if they don't get on well, they tend to go back to whence they came.

This isn't helpful - just wishing you luck at finding a better LL!

I know a place in W14 if you are interested... not available until August though.

simonhackney

Thanks - but for school reasons we need to be near SW1....

kmmr

simonhackney wrote: »

Thanks - but for school reasons we need to be near SW1....

See - kids in school would be great I think!! Tenants will be stable for a good while rather than move schools. More fool that landlord.

BitterAndTwisted

Personally, I don't think there's any need to tell an agent or a landlord whether you have a child or not unless you are asked directly. All that should matter is whether the property is appropriate for your needs and that you can easily afford the rent. Anything else is no-one's business but your own.

Callie22

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Personally, I don't think there's any need to tell an agent or a landlord whether you have a child or not unless you are asked directly. All that should matter is whether the property is appropriate for your needs and that you can easily afford the rent. Anything else is no-one's business but your own.

I've never not been asked. As soon as I've called a letting agent to view a property they ask you the same three questions - any pets, kids, are you a smoker?' As I can answer no to all three I do find it slightly amusing that those three things are linked together like that (as though they're all equally problematic), but it must be very irritating if you have to say 'yes' to any of them.