Tenants, What odd questions have you been asked when trying to rent a property

[im4gine3]

Following on from this thread as i didn't want to hijack it:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/managing-a-rental-yourself.18937134/

i'm curious as to people who rent a flat/house, have you been asked questions by either the landlord or estate agent which have either crossed the line or borderline illegal to ask?

Whilst there's plenty of material on Google for tenants to ask particular questions before signing the contract, i've found it difficult as to what the other side asks before taking on a tenant. I've never rented before and bought my first flat at 26, so this is more for helping a friend.

Few questions he has been asked by the estate agent.. which as a landlord thought was not appropriate to ask were:

You are a family man with 1 child. You are not allowed to have more children if you want to rent this property.

Please provide your last 12months of payslips.

We expect you to carry out gardening duties if you are renting this property

But i'm not sure if they are actually allowedd to ask these types of questions.

 

[Hades]

You are a family man with 1 child. You are not allowed to have more children if you want to rent this property.

Agree, completely inappropriate.

Please provide your last 12months of payslips.

Understandable. The agent and the landlord want to see that their tenants are financially stable and not likely to stop paying.

We expect you to carry out gardening duties if you are renting this property

Understandable. It needs to be made clear who is responsible for maintaining that part of the property.

 

[Hotwired]

First one sounds like a badly worded reference to occupancy limits and overcrowding.

The landlord will get done if the council finds out they are allowing their property to be overcrowded. This can come about by having more children during the tenancy.

 

[nine_tails]

Pretty sure i had to show financial statements too & gardening makes sense , but child question is out of whack

 

[MrRockliffe]

I’ve offered to pay 6 months rent upfront before, and was consequently declined rental as a direct result of, with the estate agents noting “it’s suspicious to offer 6 months upfront, and implies you’re in a financially difficult situation”

Very strange.


Next place I looked at gave me a discount for paying upfront.

 

[mrbazmondo]

I last rented about 20 years ago, but they asked for 3 months bank statements showing salary then.

 

[ci_newman]

There are some things that landlords aren't able to discriminate on (age, sex, race), but things like finances and gardening are well within their rights to ask, and as a tenant you can refuse to answer (or rent another property).

 

[Lopéz]

Few questions he has been asked by the estate agent.. which as a landlord thought was not appropriate to ask were:

We expect you to carry out gardening duties if you are renting this property

Then good luck when the tenant vacates and you are presented with something that looks like primal rainforest.

 

[im4gine3]

First one sounds like a badly worded reference to occupancy limits and overcrowding.

The landlord will get done if the council finds out they are allowing their property to be overcrowded. This can come about by having more children during the tenancy.

That's understandable, but for one property which fell through, i believe it was a 4 bed detatched, so theoretically if he wanted another kid would not be an issue.. however the landlord explicitely said along the lines of we don't want you giving birth to more children... which is a bit below the belt

 

[im4gine3]

Then good luck when the tenant vacates and you are presented with something that looks like primal rainforest.

Also true.. having owned a flat, the garden was communal so we had a handman sort that part out and so the service charge covered the costs.. but for renting a house, i guess it makes sense

 

[Lysander]

Since leaving home aged 25 I have rented five properties [on my fifth now]. I can't remember being asked anything which I thought was odd or unreasonable.

You are a family man with 1 child. You are not allowed to have more children if you want to rent this property.

Please provide your last 12months of payslips.

We expect you to carry out gardening duties if you are renting this property

I don't think any of those are unreasonable, to be honest.

 

[Haggisman]

You are a family man with 1 child. You are not allowed to have more children if you want to rent this property..

Haha, what are they going to do, evict you for falling pregnant?

 

[Lysander]

Haha, what are they going to do, evict you for falling pregnant?

Some people plan pregnancies in line with their living/financial situation. Some people don't

 

[Haggisman]

Some people plan pregnancies in line with their living/financial situation. Some people don't

Some people take great pleasure in winding up ****** landlords and would be especially attracted to that particular property if they were planning to have another child

 

[Thekwango]

You are a family man with 1 child. You are not allowed to have more children if you want to rent this property.

what if he'd knocked up his bit on the side?

 

[Lysander]

Some people take great pleasure in winding up ****** landlords and would be especially attracted to that particular property if they were planning to have another child

I think it's the wording that one is most likely to take issue with - "you are not allowed more than one child". It would be better to say max three occupants including children.

Years ago I used to be a contract negotiator for tenancy agreements. One for a particular block said, "no cooking of oriental meals, the smells of which can be strong and offensive". This was an expensive block - so, if you want to cook Asian food a lot, you'd just have to go elsewhere!

 

[Haggisman]

I think it's the wording that one is most likely to take issue with - "you are not allowed more than one child". It would be better to say max three occupants including children.

I'm going to assume the landlord's name is Mao

Years ago I used to be a contract negotiator for tenancy agreements. One for a particular block said, "no cooking of oriental meals, the smells of which can be strong and offensive". This was an expensive block - so, if you want to cook Asian food a lot, you'd just have to go elsewhere!

I much prefer the smell of "cooking" sushi, to greasy chip fat

 

[Lysander]

I much prefer the smell of "cooking" sushi, to greasy chip fat

Oh, I personally disagreed with the clause, but this block was old money and quite snobby.

 

[Semple]

Years ago I used to be a contract negotiator for tenancy agreements. One for a particular block said, "no cooking of oriental meals, the smells of which can be strong and offensive". This was an expensive block - so, if you want to cook Asian food a lot, you'd just have to go elsewhere!

Lol i'd have loved to have see someone try and hold that up in court.

 

[builder22]

I want my block of flats to have a no fish rule now