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

They’re not asking to be able to get away with discrimination. She is literally breaking the law. Her social worker will be aware of her needs and behaviour patterns and will know she’s really not suitable to be living in shared accommodation but her hands will be tied due to lack of funding and support available.

Being ND is a vast spectrum. It isn’t just about NT’s being uncomfortable it’s about everybody being uncomfortable irrelevant of level of divergency. Speaking from personal experience being ND I would not be able to cope with this person at all and it would be my worst nightmare having someone who constantly harassed me living with me. I don’t know anyone ND or NT who would personally be able to cope with it either and nor should they have to. The law states that everyone has the right to go about their daily lives without risk of being harassed or having unwanted communications being forced upon them. Rightly so.

The equality act means that all disabled people should be treated equally that means one persons feelings or disability doesn’t trump another’s. It does mean that her needs can be considered unable to be met. The OP is well within their rights to state that as an unqualified mental health professional they are unable to navigate the level of support that this person would need in order to be their landlord. There could be a different tenant who is also disabled whose needs aren’t as prominent who would be appropriate as a tenant. It’s not about the fact she’s disabled, it’s the fact she’s not suitable.

She is clearly unable to interact with people on a basic level well enough not to break the law by committing harassment. She has created a hugely inappropriate level of contact with a stranger who is only trying to communicate with her on a professional basis. That’s not the prospective tenants fault but it’s also not the OP’s. That’s not discrimination that’s a fact and you can claim it’s discrimination as much as you like, it won’t void the truth that it’s not.

Hello OP,

I live in a flatshare and we, the tenants always make the decision on who lives with us, not the landlord, we do the ads, check the references and we also have certain conditions that we insist on ... over 30, professional, quiet, no drama, respectful, considerate, clean, tidy ... we check references and we have strict rules about how often friends and partners can stay, no more than 3 times a week, we all sign a 'How to Rent Guide' and it works for us and our landlord leaves us to it but is on hand if we need anything.

You don't need to make any excuses as one of your tenants has already voiced their concerns.

Good luck!

I am surprised to see so many posts, and appreciate the variety of responses.
However unfair it is on the prospective tenant not to let to them it’s far more unfair on the 3 people who currently call this their home.
I will just have to deal with the consequences of any allegations of discrimination, but the room is no longer available. The advertisement has been removed.
I couldn’t actually call the support worker direct as she didn’t give me her number. At least if she calls me now there’s no point in her trying to pressure me, and if she is trying to build a case for enhanced accommodation I can give her the bare facts regarding times and frequency of contact.

And in the meantime the existing tenants having to live with someone who they don't feel comfortable with and is making unreasonable demands have handed in their notices and the OP has other issues to fix.

I agree with the above post. I have decided to rent the room to someone else. Don't give any reasons to this person or his support worker.
Another tenant has already expressed concern and you have them to consider.

No-one has told OP the potential tenant is ND so that doesn't need to be mentioned in any correspondence.

You've said she's not suitable, you could reply to the SWs email and say you felt harassed by texts and phone calls at inappropriate times of the night which made you feel uncomfortable and you don't have the resources to deal with that level of communication.

If you find yourself pressed I'd say I'm very sorry but the tenants expressed a preference for who they'd like to live with.

My DD was the same, and her housing officer kept trying to push her into unsuitable house shares. They eventually believed us that she needs a place that is her own because of her disabilities, and found her a small flat.

The other tenants have to agree, I think, or you will lose all of them. Unless you want to be a supportive landlard (hard work btw) you do not want to accept this tenant. Nor do you have to. No disability has been disclosed and even if it had you would not have to accept him/her - you are not obliged to take on a tenant who will not gel with the rest of the tenants. One has already shown concern, so you are on safe grounds. Say the applicant does not fit this tenancy and leave it at that - you do not have any obligation to explain.

The less said the better, in these situations.

Keep a record of how many calls, texts, and emails there have been just in case, but I wouldn't agree to any phone call with the support worker. They'll just say they will explain to the person that they 'can't call that much' and tell you they won't do it again, and can they please have the room?

If anything you could say, we've interviewed a number of individuals for this longstanding house share. None of the parties to date has been suitable and we are currently considering various options as to how to move forward.

For example - could your tenants conceivably be making you an offer to increase their overall payments to keep the room free? Or is that too far fetched.

Again too much detail for the support worker but I'd be structuring my response along the lines I stated.

Following on from the other posts here - I would simply go back to the SW and state that ‘the decision who to interview and to accept as co-tenant rests with your existing tenants and, sadly, their client did not make the shortlist on this occasion’.

Don't blame the tenants. Keep it vague and keep repeating it.

OP could be considering putting the property on the market after the current tenants' lease is up. It could be anything as far as the SW is concerned and the OP isn't obliged to share her personal business with this unknown.

Landlord here: I always say NO politely with zero explanation.

This is why we need council housing.

Thank you Forestflower for this post. I feel the same.

I have ADHD and I could not live with this person either- it would be hell for me to have someone constantly asking for help or texting me constantly. I would have to move out because the stress it would cause me would be immense.

I am, of course, not unsympathetic to the hopeful tenant's issues but her needs do not trump everyone else's and its not discriminatory to say that whatsoever.

I also agree with PP that the people castigating the OP and having a go under the guise of "rights" seem to be completely ignoring the fact that this person having the level of needs that they clearly do, is likely to be extremely unhappy in this house because she wont be getting what she actually NEEDS- which is appropriate support. Expecting a bunch of strangers to do that just because they happen to live in the same house is ludicrous and actually, very unkind to all parties.

This

@Noshowlomo has said exactly what I was going to say.

And lots of it!

Properly soundproofed please! (Beleaguered quiet SH tenant with neighbors who inflict misery 24/7)

💐

I don’t think the OP is presuming to diagnose them. They have a support worker and are claiming PIP, so clearly there’s a disability and the behaviour before, during and after the viewing supports OP.

By law, someone doesn’t have to disclose a disability and you’re not allowed to ask. But if they need some sort of reasonable adjustment which the Equality Act 2010 allows for, then the disability needs to be disclosed. OP isn’t doing anything wrong as long as she doesn’t refuse the tenancy directly because of the disability.

@Imalreadytorn Well done for saying no.
This woman would probably drive your existing tenants round the bend, and non stop nattering would be very exhausting for them to deal with.

Why should the needs of one needy chatterbox trump the rights of the other tenants who need a quiet life?

Very well said. Much better articulated than what I wrote but I hold the same sentiment and completely agree with you.

If they're your houses aren't you entitled to say no as its no-one else's business.