To not tell my landlord about pregnancy?

[swiftt]

Not sure if I’m overthinking this or not.

I rented a flat for years with a great landlord, was sad to leave but I moved to save some money. Needed to move again quickly in December so I’m currently in a flat that isn’t ideal. Been in touch with my old landlord to ask for a reference for council housing list, then I mentioned that I needed a 2 bedroom place, and it turns out they have the perfect place coming up to rent in May. They’re happy for me to move in if I want to, so I said I’d cancel my council application. I’m due my first baby in June. The landlord asked if I was still in the same job, and I said yes (which I am). By the time I see them in May, I’ll be heavily pregnant.

Do I forewarn the landlord about the pregnancy? I haven’t mentioned it because I didn’t think it would make a difference and thought maybe it’s even obvious as when I moved out of the last place, they knew it was because I was saving for a deposit and now I’ve told them I need 2 bedrooms and was considering council housing - so clearly a deposit is out the window for now. I will still be able to afford the rent whilst I’m on mat leave etc, but my income will be topped up by UC - so does the landlord need to know that, or am I over thinking?!

YABU - tell the landlord
YANBU - don’t tell the landlord

I’m a landlord.
As long as you can cover your rent, your pregnancy is no one else’s business except yours.
Good luck

I'd say tell them. They probably won't care so long as you pay the rent, but if they have a problem it's better you find out now rather than when you're about to move in.

I don't see why it's any of their business. I wouldn't mention it unless specifically asked. I was pregnant when we signed the lease on the last rental and we were asked on the paperwork only "how many adults will be living in the property" so I didn't mention it. Since we've had another baby and at one of the recent inspections were asked "how many people are living in the property" so I gave the correct answer. I don't see that's it's relevant otherwise, you have a right to a private family life.

Depends on whether the flat is supposed to be no children? I’ve looked at some 1/2 bed places with that condition

The landlord made the decision to let to you based on the fact that you were in the same job that is, nothing has changed or is likely to change that you know about since he last let to you. I do feel therefore that you should be upfront about this. It does not create a good relationship if you keep something like this hidden. (Retired letting agent.)

Why would you?

As long as you pay the rent, don't wreck the place and are a good neighbour, nothing else matters.

I’ve been both LL and tenant. I don’t think you’re obliged to, but you know and like this LL (I assume, as you’re happy to move back into one of their properties) and so I would tell them, yes. Just as a courtesy - you don’t have to go into the ins and outs. I assume you won’t be living with a partner, though? That would probably be my first thought as a LL - whether you’d move in another person (adult) without my consent. Also just on a human level it feels odd to not say, as if you are deliberately concealing a perfectly normal thing.

I got pregnant with DC2 after we’d moved house to another tenancy and we didn’t tell the LL - it just didn’t seem necessary. But she did seem a bit surprised when she found out - I think it was to do with scheduling some work during my maternity leave and baby was quite small. She mentioned she would update the insurance details, so I think she did need to know in retrospect.

My tenancy says only need to tell them about any over 18's moving in..

Of course not, nine if their business, but are you sure you'll be able to afford it when you couldn't with one bedroom before?

Are you likely to go back full time? With the costs of childcare?

I think it would be fair to work out your budget taking into consideration all possible scenarios so that you don't end up not able to.oaybthe full rent waiting to be evicted to get social housing.

Na no need to tbh! Our landlord doesn’t know our baby is due this week - none of their business

I’m a landlord and wouldn’t expect to be told unless you anticipate you’re not going to be able to cover your outgoings.

One tenant told us she was pregnant, said she would have no issues paying rent (they were border line anyway and had bad credit so we said they could rent from us but made it clear we were taking a leap of faith) then immediately after the birth announced she was on SMP and couldn’t pay anymore. That annoyed me. I asked her to go away and find out what benefits she was entitled to - for her just not paying rent was a feasible option. She did and she could get HB.

@dontdisturbmenow I can afford it. I could afford the one bedroom too, but was offered basically free rent in a house elsewhere so moved with the intention of being able to save much quicker with much less outgoings.

I would tell them not all LL want kids (due to not all tenants want to rent where theres kids ).
You could move back in but if he didn't want kids you'd probably be given notice to leave .

In general, I'd say mention it in passing as their reaction will be a good guide to what they're like as a landlord. If you have a LL or an agent who act as if it's their business, run like a mile! They will be intrusive.

But since you know this LL already and like them, I should think it doesn't matter either way, and you should do what you feel comfortable with. Personally I'd probably mention it in a cheery 'now you know what I want the second room for' because it's nice, but it's up to you.

You may need to tell your landlord for their insurance - ours (which covers several flats) requires the insurer to know if there are any under 18s in any of the properties. It’s also a term of some tenancies that children aren’t permitted so I would tell your landlord.

I don’t think kids in the house will be an issue. The landlord is very laidback. They just asked if I was in the same job and if it would just be me on the tenancy. I need to contact them at the end of the month to finalise a move in date for May anyway, I may mention it in passing. I just don’t want it to look like I’m concealing it, but also don’t want them to think erm okay why are you telling me this either.

Me again, the landlord is offering you a binding contract and you have a duty to advise him of any future changes in your circumstances that may affect your ability to pay the rent. Play fair op. To others, yes we do need to know about children at the house to make sure overcrowding etc is not likely to occur and yes you can only tell us things you know are happening at the time you apply, you are not expected to have a crystal ball. Landlord's take a huge risk with every property they let and yes there are bad ones and bad agents but it is a minefield of things that can go wrong and ever changing legislation so please make it easy for all parties and do the right thing.

I would think it is the landlord's responsibility to inform you if they have restrictions on children living in the property, not for you to anticipate it based on no information from them, so I don't think there's a need to tell from that perspective.

I also think that it's often preferable not to know in a situation where it might change the way you treat someone - you can't discriminate against something you don't know about, so why muddy the waters.

@swiftt

I don’t think kids in the house will be an issue. The landlord is very laidback. They just asked if I was in the same job and if it would just be me on the tenancy. I need to contact them at the end of the month to finalise a move in date for May anyway, I may mention it in passing. I just don’t want it to look like I’m concealing it, but also don’t want them to think erm okay why are you telling me this either.

I’d mention it in passing in a “When you asked if it was just me on the tenancy I thought I’d better mention I’m having a baby in June - I didn’t know if you needed to know for your records?” Don’t worry, if the LL is nice it won’t be an issue.

I was heavily pregnant when we moved house, and when meeting the landlord he queried our employment status (as normal) and then asked if I was planning to leave work due to the baby. He requested a letter from my employer stating that I would be returning to work full time after maternity leave.

I did return full time, however I'm not sure they could have done much if I'd changed my mind as long as we could still afford the rent. I guess he just wanted some reassurance. They were happy to have children in our house, just wanted to check we could afford to live there.

@NoSquirrels yes that’s a perfect way to word it, thank you! I’ll do that.

@Roystonv I am not trying to do the wrong thing or trying to hide anything. It has no bearing on my ability to pay the rent. I’ll mention it out of courtesy and because I wouldn’t want them to feel awkward when I turn up to view at obviously 34 weeks pregnant, but this isn’t a case of me not wanting to do the right thing. The landlord has known me for years, I am a good tenant and likewise the landlord is a good landlord.

I think I am overthinking it. I’ll just mention it in the passing as suggested above, and then at least there are no surprises or guesswork on either side.

@BrightYellowDaffodil

You may need to tell your landlord for their insurance - ours (which covers several flats) requires the insurer to know if there are any under 18s in any of the properties. It’s also a term of some tenancies that children aren’t permitted so I would tell your landlord.

I’m confident that OP would be covered by the equality act if the LL decided to boot her out because she was pregnant. It’s a protected characteristic.

Don't cancel your council application. Relying upon UC to pay the rent could invalidate their insurances and they could be forced to withdraw the offer. Or something else could happen that means they can't let the place out.

@NeverDropYourMoonCup but the rent will be paid by my income. I’m still employed, I’ll just be on maternity leave. I’ll be getting UC to top up my income, it won’t be my only income.

[quote swiftt]@NeverDropYourMoonCup but the rent will be paid by my income. I’m still employed, I’ll just be on maternity leave. I’ll be getting UC to top up my income, it won’t be my only income.[/quote]
I didn’t think you could claim UC because you’re on mat leave??