How much trouble could I be in for refusing to offer this person a tenancy?

[Imalreadytorn]

Name change for this as I am aware that landlords aren’t always popular even under normal circumstances.
Please note I am posting in Legal for advice, not in AIBU.
Briefly I have had a room become available in a house share. Existing tenants have been there 4 - 6 years. They are a real mix, but get along well although I wouldn’t describe them as friends.
It’s a nice room and there’s been a lot of interest. So far no one has ticked all the boxes I think are necessary to gel with the other tenants.
I’ve had a viewing today and the applicant is clearly ND. A really nice person but spoke and walked about without stopping the whole time. I felt completely out of my depth after a viewing appointment which lasted about 5 times the usual length. Added to that there were numerous messages before the appointment ( 16 texts and calls during my 90 minutes journey there). Since the viewing I have had 12 text messages, even though I explained that I couldn’t make any decisions until I finished my appointments and got home, likely to be at least 9.00pm.
I’m not at my strongest right now, and even at my best I would struggle to meet the frequent need for information/ reassurance/ interaction from this individual.
One of the existing tenants who was in the shared area for part of the viewing has already messaged me expressing concern. ( he works incredibly long hours and the others know to give him space when he gets home exhausted).
The applicant has a housing support worker who has already called me ( I didn’t answer as driving) quite forcefully confirming that full rent will be met due to disability and is easily afforded due to PIP.
I cannot offer this person a tenancy, it’s unfair on the others, but I can’t deny that it is due to behaviour, which is clearly linked to disability.
Unfortunately I haven’t found a suitable tenant so the advertisement is still running.
I assume that I have no ‘defence’ and will just have to accept the consequences?
How likely is it that action will be taken?
I have 2 house share properties

You turned down other people. What did you say to them? I’m surprised your existing tenants don’t know someone suitable.

the level of contact from them is harassment, I would refuse on this point alone, as someone else said imagine how bad it would be if they were your actual tenant

Your reason given was a valid one and should be accepted by the support worker they have no right to continue to phone/message you, there's a line a it's being crossed by them.

If they do happen to phone again I'd tell them they have been given the reason and ask what makes them think it's acceptable to continue to harass you.

If as you suspect and this person won't fit in with your other tenants you're just preventing future problems for yourself and the support workers client. I can't see anything wrong in that.

I can just say the person wasn’t suitable but I am concerned that the pushy sounding support worker will question this.

Just because someone questions you, doesn't mean you have to answer. Don't take the support workers calls, in fact, I'd block them if they contact you again.

If you've been turning down other prospective tenants due to behaviour characteristics that make them not a good fit for the flat, then you've done nothing different with this one.

If you can't find anyone suitable, you could withdraw the vacancy and let the dust settle before re-advertising later in the year/next year. That will be cheaper than losing all your existing tenants because someone unsuitable moved in.

Well the advert is still running and OP says it's a shared occupancy house, not her home

I'd just state that the potential tenant harassed you repeatedly, well into the evening and due to your own life and work demands, you are not able to take on a someone who cannot respect professional boundaries.

You are overthinking it

Just say sorry but you have offered the room to somene else. No need to provide a reason.

You may need a bit more advice on how to word a reply.
The principle that as it is a "share" not a "stand alone" property will count.
Being pestered is unreasonable behaviour in itself. Stick to giving that as an example. You have evidence of number of calls and times they were made.

Don't give any reasons or examples beyond what you have said , they are not suitable.

Do not be bullied into saying anything else. It could come back to bite you.

I don't think you've done anything wrong. You've rejected other people for not being suitable and neither were they suitable.

Just in case, I'd be keeping a record of all the people you've rejected as being not suitable, so you can show that you've rejected other non-ND people as well as an ND person.

That’s a good idea.
I have rejected others for various reasons: smoking, wanting a very short tenancy, frequency of overnight guests, etc.
I would rather leave the room empty than place the wrong person ( although of course I don’t have a crystal ball so there is always a risk).

Can one of your existing tenants suddenly find a friend , work colleague etc to share .
You can't possibly let this person share because you're finding it difficult just over an interview never mind living with this person .

Are you legally obliged to give a reason to decline a prospective tenant?

Surely you can just cite that the current tenants had concerns and did not approve the applicant. Out of your hands

While it is all fresh in your mind, make some detailed notes so that if anybody does query it you can show evidence of the level of harassment.
If the support worker phones again then get her name, her manager's name and ask for details of how to raise a complaint. Hopefully that will scare her off.

@Gymmum82 The op is the landlord. No - she cannot offload her decisions. However she’s a bit woolly about what she wants. No smoking is standard. It’s a no smoking house so say so. If it’s no to lots of overnights, what are house rules? If there are house rules and prospective tenants don’t meet them, they aren’t right for that house. Add one in for harassing the LL!

Can you imagine how many calls you'd be getting in if she moved in!

Probably more than I was getting from the prospective tenant before I blocked them!
The support worker has sent an email with a copy of consent to discuss, which had appropriately landed in my junk folder, hence not seeing it until this morning.
To clear up a few points raised. I did specify a non smoker but there was a misunderstanding regarding the small shared courtyard.
I suppose that no one can make me gives reasons for not wanting a particular person, but there is a danger of being accused of discrimination. I assume it would be up to the person making the claim to substantiate it though.
I am not going to contact the support worker, and if she manages to get hold of me I will just have to tell her that I simply don’t have the resources to deal with this level of interaction.

Unbelievable. Where do they get off thinking they have the right to question a private citizen about their decisions? I would block the support worker as well.

Out of interest, can people say 'I just didn't like them' as a reason?

If the support worker contacts you don't get into a conversation of any kind with her, just tell her you don't have time to talk to her, say goodbye and hang up. Every time. Don't worry if she's started speaking, you don't have to listen. If it keeps occurring, either change your number or screen all your calls and never call her back. She's causing harassment too. She doesn't have any rights to know anything. It's upto you what you tell her, so tell her nothing since she's trying to bully you. If you get into conversation she will do her best to trip you up. Don't give her the merest shred of ammunition. She is not owed your time, a conversation or anything else.

The fact she's being so pushy will be because she knows damn well that her client isn't suitable for living in a house-share but I'm guessing can't afford anything else.

In my area there's at least one charity running HMOs for people with MH issues who are trying to get their lives back on track, complete with either live in staff or daily visiting staff, possibly something like that would be more suitable for this person, but like everything else there's not enough to go round. That's not your problem though.

The level of phone calls & messages you have been bombarded with is insane, it’s just sheer harassment, I’d be putting in a complaint about the support worker.

I feel suffocated for you op!

‘Not having the resources to deal with the level of interaction’ seems like a reasonable excuse. Support worker seems to be echoing their behaviour, rather than modelling appropriate interaction.

Can you make a log of attempted and completed interactions?

Your own wellbeing and the wellbeing of those you already have a duty of care (as landlord) needs to be considered too.

You’re not a support worker, you’re a landlord. the level of communication from the prospective tenant and the support worker suggests that they both need more support than you can offer.

Also OP, in future don't let a viewing go on 5x longer than usual. Unless it's because you want it to. Once you've seen enough (of the prospective tenant) and got all the information you need to make a decision, draw the meeting to a close. Interrupt them if necessary saying "if I can just stop you for a minute" and explain you have to be somewhere else in ten minutes so you need to end the viewing now. Then usher them towards the door. Repeat as necessary until they're out of it! There's no need to be rude or unkind. It's definitely ok to be assertive though, whether you're dealing with someone totally self centered and obnoxious or just someone lacking in social skills and awareness of appropriate behaviour.