Can we insist on tenants that speak English?

[DexyMidnight]

Looking for opinions / advice on a potentially thorny issue.

We are looking to rent out the main family home in London (we have had a BTL flat for three years, so have some experience of being landlords).

As we will be based overseas, it is really important to us that our tenants can communicate with us in English (our native tongue).

For example should the tenant have an issue with the boiler, I would like them to be able to call / email me and explain what is wrong (no hot water / no heating) and I would like to be able to ask them to please check the fuse box, to tell me if there are any flashing lights on the control panel etc. And also to easily coordinate when the plumber can come over to take a look.

There are other reasons why I would wish to keep communications with a tenant in writing (clarity of who agreed to do what and by when, etc).

If I were to approach a letting agent to help me find a tenant, would I be allowed to insist that the they find me a tenant with whom I can communicate in English?

OP, are you looking for and interviewing yourself?

If so, you will meet them anyway and you will see how fluent they are. No need to put anything in the advert. You are choosing them among other candidates, they are choosing you and your house among other available options on the market. Fair enough.

Caprisun I'm really, really confused as to why you think we are not offering a good class of property?!

I cannot for the life of me understand why the LL let to them again
presume that the place is now so rough that no one else wants to live there plus he is getting the rent from 7 people for a two bedroom flat?

Well if discriminating on English communication ability is illegal then its curious every university in the country has it as an entry requirement.

You are also allowed to insist fire fighters be a certain height...even those this disproportionately affects women....

I think the test here is not that someone can speak or write in english but that they can communicate information regarding maintenance issues. It would be reasonable to ask 'what will you do if you find the hot water has stopped?' 'what will you do if you smell gas?' etc. It doesn't matter how people get to an answer, translation apps etc..as long as they can get there.

Oh I dunno, it's up to you. Lots of people 'from other countries' speak English, so it's not really discriminating against a particular race or colour, you just want people you can communicate with.

@DexyMidnight - I know all Romanians aren't the same, but this lot? Absolute nightmare.

"Well if discriminating on English communication ability is illegal then its curious every university in the country has it as an entry requirement."

Do you honestly think that's the same thing?

People need to be able to speak English to do essays and participate in class.

You don't need to be able to speak English to live in a flat.

Some of the comparisons people make on here are insane.

Hisaishi beat me to it, i agree, university is not the same!

Janet 😂🙂🙂

have a look at your council website regarding letting rules.
some councils stipulate that the landlord needs to be local or needs to manage the property via a local letting agent.

Tbh I don't think you should stipulate it to your letting agent, but meet, or speak with potential tenants and ascertain for yourself whether or not you can communicate with each other.

I think the equality act would prevent you from doing this. It's discrimination.

You said you rent it to people who can’t speak English. Can’t speak English in U.K.= limited to poorly paid jobs if any at all. There is no way your Romanian working as an accountant in the U.K. can’t speak English properly.

Uniquack- your landlord sounds like a slum landlord. They’re always expensive because they take people who won’t be housed elsewhere due to poor credit, lack of reference etc. Judge him not them

@starlight i'm not a HR lawyer but I don't think that's right. It wouldn't be discrimination under the EA, but as you can see from the responses here many think it would be a form of discrimination anyway.

Caprisun that's completely wrong, you didn't read my post correctly. I said my current tenants are Romanian, and that the wife speaks English well but the husband does not. I then it a later post (in response to Uniquack's slightly unfair post about Romanians) said that the wife is an accountant and her husband is a labourer.

Eh? Well then you have already tried this approach and it didn’t work. You could just as easily end up with a non Speaking partner next time

If you intend to manage from abroad but always meet the teanants yourslef, how often can you be back in the country for that purpose?

If a tenant has to terminate the contract early, or you do, or even if the tenants change every 6 months, do you intend to interview every prospective tenant, every time?

At what point does the cost of this outweigh the percentage paid to a letting agent? Not to mention the inconvenience of being back in London for however long it takes you to let the house - inspect it, arrange repairs, then either contract with someone or do all the viewings, do the interview with a shortlist of tenants, etc?

Find a good, local letting agent and leave them to manage it, including all translations etc.

Caprisun I don't get understand your last post. The approach worked just fine. The wife speaks good English and as a result we can communicate well together whenever our tenants (i.e. she and her husband) have any issues.

No you can't. As long as they pass residency requirements you cannot insist on English - even if you did they may still not communicate the problem accurately. Do you have friend or relative locally who could be first point of call and visit before any trades are instructed. Or find an agency who would. False alarms are typical of tenancies when overseas. If you plan to return you also need to accept you will probably need to invest again to return it to your standards.

I can understand that managing without an agent works well while you are in the same country, maybe even the same city, same time zone etc etc. however from abroad it can be much more problematic. There is also the question of whether the best type of tenants would want to deal with an absentee landlord known to be abroad with no local agent? As a tenant - professional, English speaking, looking for a family house - it is something i would not be delighted by...

If you are not using letting agents then surely you just have several tenants view the property and of the ones that see it want it - you choose who you like best. No need to go round the houses like this.
Even if you do use a letting agent then surely you are not leaving a final decision to them on who rents your property. Same scenario - of the possible people that want to rent it you choose the ones you like.
I've never had to explain my reasons when turning prospective tenants down other than we have chosen someone else.
(Unless this is a goady thread and I've just been sucked in...)

cantkeepawayforever that's a fair point and atlhough we do have a plan to get around this, you're right that we need to take this into account given the change in our circumstances.

Most appliance instructions come in multiple languages , maybe start a folder or print out those missing.

When we got our last flat they had many many inquiries as it’s a competitive market around here.

I’m pretty sure we got the flat because we were married, both working, well spoken and clearly educated. Amongst the 100 inquiries they received for the advert there must have been ones with poor english.

I can’t really see what my landlord did wrong, he just chose the tennants he liked best.

No you can't. As long as they pass residency requirements you cannot insist on English

Please show me the actual law on the above. The landlord can select their tennant however they wish.