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?

@ineedtostopbeingsolazy - according to one of the other neighbours who does speak their language, they refer to themselves as Romanian gypsies.

To the poster who has the neighbours being 7 people living in a two bed flat, that seems wrong. There's possibly a situation of an HMO, a house in multiple occupation. Legally an HMO needs to be licensed by the district council so that there are no problems. You can get in touch with the district council so that the situation is looked at.

By that logic every post on MN is a waste of time because it's only opinions from MNers. If you post something looking for advicevor opinions then you need to consider them. In my case many MNers think this would be indirect discrimination. That's fine.

Dexy, if I can make a suggestion...

My landlord has insurance with British Gas, if the boiler breaks (happened twice in 2.5 years) the tennant can just call direct and they send someone round straight away, all inclusive.

We have rented property out whilst abroad. Changes of tenants occurred during this time. We had a friend who managed two properties ( don’t hire a friend is my advice) and used a letting agent for the initial checks. We rented to English speaking people ( not intentionally) very nice village area so fairly expensive rent ( not London prices) . Our main property that we had just repainted was a disgrace and the people who rented it were so called professionals! Our other property with a non professional was fine.
I appreciate your concerns OP as it is easier to discuss in a common language any issues. The only thing I would say is that even if you use a LA to source a tenant you do have the final say whether you want them. So you could say no and think of a spurious reason rather than language to refuse.
Good luck, it is difficult renting your main home as you want people to live it like you do and sometimes they don’t. Also if you are in Australia time difference does make an issue sometimes.

Bitchy yes we will make arrangements for that but the issue remains that tenant would need to be able to call BG up and speak to them.

And if the engineer turns up i want the tenant to be able to answer their questions ("how long has it been like this?" "have you checked your timer settings haven't changed accidentally" etc)

And a LA would not assist in this scenario. They could pop over to have a look but what are they meant to do - sit down on couch with tenant and type questions into their app and then tenant takes the ipad and types in answers, and passes back to LA who types again... Ad nauseum?

But you're not looking for advice Dexy, as the question is an irrelevant one. You'll be vetting tenants on the basis of meeting them first. So why bother posting? Is it a hypothetical one? If so, I've told you, it's legal to require an English speaker. What posters perceive as being discrimination is irrelevant really. There are laws to cover discrimination.

Absolutely not hypothethical! In hindsight i regret not phrasing my OP better but what i should have posted is A) Would it be discrimination to require tenants speak english, by advertising the property on that basis and B) if it is discriminatory, but that was a redline for you then how would you go about securing that outcome?

So a mix of A) opinion and B) advice.

In any event my questions have been answered. I think consensus is that it's not discrimination in the sense of the EA but nonetheless many people feel it smacks of discrimination in a wider sense. If i am nevertheless insistant upon being able to communicate with my tenants directly then i should simply contine to meet tenants in person and select whoever meets my criteria that way, without publicising my intentions.

All clear!

@Wauden - To the poster who has the neighbours being 7 people living in a two bed flat, that seems wrong.

Most of us in the whole complex complained to the council the first time around (it's mostly council with a few privately owned flats), and they did absolutely nothing. I think they're trying so hard to be PC that it doesn't matter if the rest of us suffer. We'll all try and complain again, but nothing will happen again.

They take up 6 of the 15 parking spaces, and have bbqs in the middle of the parking lot. The council said it's their right to enjoy a bbq on a Saturday .

www.allagents.co.uk/review/307279/ & make sure the agent is ARLA etc affiliated interview agent! ask them what they do when … request they take photos & send them to you about specific issues - do a local search on agent see if there is any feedback

many families living in what you would call crowded homes/flats in London are not considered crowed by their councils ie the lounge rooms are considered suitable as a bedroom, babies can share with parents up to the age of 5 etc - & the council will not rehome them. So it is a bit rich to accuse people when you have no idea of their circumstances.

They must have a basic understanding of English though surely . If they can find accommodation, work, claim benefits then they can understand well enough.

Can you interview prospective tenants yourself prior to accepting anyone?

You can decline people for any reason you want, it's your home, though you couldn't mention anything negative that alludes to race, gender, sexuality, religion, disability etc

Its' discrimination. The examples given in this thread of when it's ok are different. From the Equalities Commission website on what counts as unlawful behaviour:

'putting in place a rule or policy or way of doing things that has a worse impact on someone with a protected characteristic than someone without one, when this cannot be objectively justified (known as indirect discrimination).'

The bit I've highlighted is why universities or some employers can require a certain level of english.

But haven't we established that language is not a protected characteristic?

Race is a protected characteristic. Discriminating on language grounds is indirect race discrimination.

Language is not a protected characteristic but being foreign is. A resistriction on language will impact foreign people, a protected characteristic, more than a British person. Therefore you can only do it if you can show it is necessary.

Apologies if this has been suggested - I have read all of OP’s posts but not the full thread.

We rented for a year when we relocated within the UK. The LL held an open house for all of the interested tenants, when she basically informally interviewed us. She hand-picked all of her tenants and it suited her well.

I appreciate that you’ve had a bad experience with Savills but I’m afraid I think it’s actual madness to manage a tenancy yourselves from Australia. The time difference alone will make it impossible. I would strongly suggest using the time before you go to get personal recommendations for decent managing agents and getting them in place.

But it is necessary for the OP as she will be managing the property from abroad so will need someone who can communicate issues to her in her language over the phone or by email.

That's subjective.

Getting tied up in knots about languages spoken is not really the correct approach & you're putting the cart before the horse.

With the best will in the world, you cannot self-manage from Australia.

You need a better agent. IME, big agencies are not good - a small, local one is far better. Try looking at reviews on all agents.

You can ask to be present at open viewings or be there to meet prospective tenants, or insist on having the final say on who will be in your home.

That's far more sensible than insisting on language checks.

Interesting view upthread that non-native English speaking tenants can find work and claim benefits.

I've a couple of rental properties. Have rented to English professionals in the past and they were the worst tenants of them all. One a journalist and the other a teacher. Lived like pigs and literally did not clean the toilet while they were there. Also made lots of trouble with petty things like I 'did not provide a dustbin'. Total pain in the A.. I cheered when they left and I withheld some of their deposit due to cleaning. Now have Eastern Europeans in both - one set Lithuanian and one set Romanian. One set has limited English but they get their daughter to translate. It's honestly no bother and you shouldn't really have a lot going wrong in your property if it's set up well. Both great- cause me no grief unless there is something which actually genuinely needs attention like the boiler etc. Keep my flats absolutely spotless. Lovely people and I would honestly have no hesitation about renting to Eastern Europeans again.

I am a private landlord. You can rent to whoever you like.
It is a private agreement. You don’t have to give any reason.
It is a private agreement between two parties. It is the same with air bnb.