Requesting a Change to Lease Terms

purplethreads

I have some questions about an advance copy of a lease I've been given, prior to signing it in a fortnight's time. I would love some input and advice please.

The back story is I have just moved back to England with my husband after living overseas for nearly twenty years and have never rented in the UK before. I have found a property to rent (private landlord) and have been given a copy of the tenancy agreement. It's an assured shorthold tenancy agreement and we have to pay 6 months rent in advance because we have no credit history in the UK. That's not the problem we can do this. The problem is that one of the clauses states that we should "not carry on any trade or profession upon the Property but use the Property only as a private residence for the occupancy of the tenants named on this agreement". The big problem with this is that I'm diasabled, the adjustments that an employer would be required to make for me to work outside the home are not reasonable. I can work quite well from home though and I have a number of avenues for work lined up. The work is computer based (clerical, writing articles, coding etc) and certainly does not involve people coming to the property, and does not involve deliveries or goods being stored on the property. Citizen's advice bureau have told me that because such activities are my primary income then they fall under carrying on a trade or profession.

My questions are:
How common is this clause in tenancy agreements?
Is it reasonable for me to write and request a review of the terms to see if working from home is possible?
If it can't be changed, how likely is it for me to find a tenancy agreement without this clause?

The problem is I don't want to rock the boat too much because I need a place to live. Currently we can't get a bank account or permanently register with a GP without proof of address and I don't get proof until we can get a signed lease. Household goods are also arriving the middle of the month as well and I don't want to pay additional storage because we don't have a place to live.

On the other hand I don't want to be literally sitting at home being bored out of my brain because I don't have enough to do. And the money I earn would be extremely useful.

ValHaller

Don't get too hung up on this. No goods stored on the premises and no visitors covers any reasonable requirements. If you have a full time paying hobby, then fine. But if you feel guilty about this position, then perhaps you need to risk losing a place or 2 and ask about getting the lease altered to accommodate.

Kynthia

Talk to your landlord. This kind of exclusion in the lease is about preventing disruption to neighbours, noise, damage, and extra risk to the property by having someone running a hairdressing business or a car repair business there. If you will be doing clerical work at home with no stock stored or clients visiting there then there may not be a problem.

purplethreads

ValHaller, wish I could not get hung up on things as it would make life so much easier. I tend to get even more anxious when it's housing.

Kynthia, that makes the clause make a bit more sense. I hadn't thought about it terms of risk to property.

I've emailed the real estate agent to see what they say about it.

donfanatico

I work in IT and if I sometimes work from home that is nobody's business. End of.