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?

I've seen plenty of jobs advertised in recent months stating, must have excellent English. So it's not illegal discrimination. It's just stating that if you can't speak English, you wouldn't be suitable for the role.

As Bitchy says, you just choose who you want. There is no need to justify why you select one person and reject another. I don't think it would be a good idea for you to state openly that you didn't want people who can't speak English etc as you may be accused of discrimination. I really don't understand why people feel the need to say I won't take this and that, just keep your rules and requirements to yourself and select accordingly.

Having lived overseas and let my house I can perfectly understand why you would want to do this. My tenants were English but that didn't seem to help me much!

For e.g. as a Legal Secretary, you need to be able to take dictation (in English). It's not discrimination at all.

You will not be accused of discrimination! It's not discrimination! It's literally a case of, I'll be overseas, and I need you to be able to communicate effectively with me!

As for the poster who suggested, if they're Romanian, I'm presuming it's the lower end of the market..... How fucking rude! And racist!

Next we'll have job adverts not being able to say, 'must be familiar XYZ engineering tool' as that's discrimination. Lord above.

OP, just put, must have a good level of English. Nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with that.

No you can legally insist they speak English. In fact most Estate Agents do this anyway as forms are in English — very few offer translation services.

Ohsolomio i agree with you Caprisun's comment was out of line.

But disagree with you that job specs are comparable - as someone said upthread a tenant needn't speak English to move in and pay rent. My need for them to speak english is only about facilitating a mooth and thus hopefully 'happy' tenant and ll relationship

I’m curious as you said you’re moving overseas, are you fluent in the language of the country you’re moving to?

It's a cherry on cake rather than a vital ingredient / core component, if you want to put it that way

Yes, I'm moving to an English speaking country

Would you rent to a dyslexic deaf person?

It's comparable in that it shows that language is not a protected characteristic.

californiascreaming unless this is a goady thread and I've just been sucked in...

Was it the musty under-bridge smell of rising-damp or the ' no trip-trapping goats' clause in the lease that gave it away?

There are posters on here who are suggesting it's casual discrimination, or secondary discrimination, or whatever other batshit notions they have spewed. I'm telling you, it is perfectly legal to require an English speaker. Or at least one with a relatively good grasp of English.

Hold on. OP appears to think the there is a decent chance she will rent a property to someone living in the U.K. who speaks little or no English. It’s perfectly logical that someone living in the U.K. with little or no English is likely to be in a poorly paid job, or unemployed. It’s nothing to do with Romanians, OP simply used her current tenant and an example of someone she can’t communicate with.

Agree with cupoftea, don’t state anything, just ensure there is enough interest in your property to be choosy when picking your tennant.

For those bashing the OP for wanting to manage the property herself, our landlord is self managing and he is fabulous, our friends are all with agencies and are always complaining about how crap they are.

For example, when ever we have a problem he is 100% responsive, including when he is abroad. He still picks up the phone and answers our emails within hours or minutes. The lettings agencies that our friends use are completely rubbish in comparison. The only thing they seem to do well is frequent ‘inspections’ but actually don’t fix issues quickly or at all. One of them told my friend her microwave wasn’t clean on the inside because they couldn’t pick on anything else from her v clean flat to write about on their report. Another checked another friend in to a flat with a (huge) moth infestation in the mattress. If she hadn’t noticed all her clothes would have been ruined. Another friend has been using a system of clothes pegs to work her kitchen taps as both the handles have been missing for a year and the agency keeps saying they are sending a plumber.

Agency does not always mean better service for tenants.

Or you could put something in the lease such as 'any additional expenses incurred as a result of erroneous reporting of issues in the property, will be charged to the tenant'.

I'm afraid i don't have any experience of working with or renting to disabled people (unless they have hidden disabilities I'm not aware of) but i presume that if someone was severely dyslexic - to tge extent they struggled with standard documentation such as a lease - and profoundly deaf, to the extent they could not speak, they would presumably have a carer, partner, social worker, sign language translator or guardian who would assist them with the contract? So that would work.

If their dyslexia was mild or their hearing reduced then we may well be able to communicate sufficiently as it was.

However your question is hypothethical and facetious and i doubt you're interested in my answer. I've probably wasted my time musing it over

My new upstairs neighbours are Romanian gypsies, who, for weeks now, have been causing absolute havoc and destruction.

Do you mean Roma gypsies? They are not Romanian.

Anyway, OP just meet the potential tenants and ascertain whether or not they speak English. I really don't understand this.
Advertise as usual and rent it to someone you think is suitable

Interview them yourself and you can choose who you want iyswim.
Going through an agent you have to have whoever they find.
We had no idea who are first tenants were, we were very lucky though that she was lovely and looked after the property.
After hearing horror stories we interviewed and did checks ourselves after she left.

Caprisun my current tenant (ie the couple i rent to) do speak english. The wife speaks English I've said this several times now.

Oh, and you'd be pretty unlikely to find Romanian gypsies here, they tend to stay in Romania.
Roma gypsies could be living next door to you and you'd have no idea unless they told you.
I'm Romany completely different to Romanian and nobody could tell, I was also born in England.

To all those who have rightly said just meet them yourself and choose who you want (applying any invisible criteria you want) - i agree that's the way to handle this.

I was interested to debate whether you could overtly say what your requirements were but evidently many think that would be indirect discrimination. Fair enough and i am not surprised. I did acknowledge it was a thorny subject

TBH I think you're making an issue where there is no issue. If you get a phonecall and they can't speak English, well just tell them, they're unsuitable. You really don't need to do any more than that.

evidently people think that would be indirect discrimination

What MNers think is entirely irrelevant. Unless you're being a bit goady in starting the thread in the first place.