*Urgent:* Is it illegal to stay in a 1st floor 1 bedroom flat (private tenancy) with a newborn baby? Please Help! New Mum!

[MumsofAnarchy24]

I have recently renewed my 1 year tenancy agreement in my 1 bedroom 1st floor flat, 3 weeks later I found out I'm 12 weeks pregnant.

I will clarify I wasn't trying to conceive as I've been on the pill successfully for well over 10 years and according to my midwife, while I was ill in October the anti-biotics I was on probably affected my contraceptive pill and that's how I conceived.

I am very happy to be pregnant but I am scared that it isn't legal for me to stay in this flat with my baby and I am unsure of how to leave my tenancy if this is the case. When I moved in it was advertised for couples/working professionals, no pets and no children but there is nothing in my contract that definitively states no children, it just says no pets.

As far as I am aware there is no break clause in my agreement, admittedly I am not sure how I could check to see if this is the case. I am currently dealing with a lot of stress and difficulty getting my life organised for the baby's arrival as relationships soured at my work once I told my work that I was pregnant (unfair treatment, being made to work 55+hrs and generally being strict and unreasonable with me all because I asked for my hrs to be lowered back to my contracted 45hrs, the work is manual and I'm on my feet most of the day, with my shifts being between 12-15hrs each day 5-6 days a week).

So with that going on, I am scared to speak to my landlord who is lovely and we get on very well (never missed payments nor have we ever had any issues), as I am frightened that as with my work's response to my pregnancy, my landlord may not take the news well either.

I am happy to stay in the flat until my tenancy agreement ends and I am also happy to leave before then if I am not allowed to stay because of the change in circumstances.

I am not unreasonable and would be willing to give my landlord 3-5months notice to look for another tenant, I also do not mind helping him find another tenant. The only thing is that I'm unsure if the baby is allowed to live in this flat legally.

I may be overthinking this but with how badly it has affected my job, and how toxic and aggressively unco-operative my work has been towards me since I revealed my pregnancy, I am scared to put a foot wrong.

The only thing I am scared of is being told if I do leave before the agreement is up that I have to pay all rent owed til the date the tenancy agreement ends in a lump sum because I have ended the tenancy early. I need some advice urgently.

There are more people staying there (free) than original contract

So if a couple rents and one moves out, the landlord will reduce the rent for the one remaining tenant?

I have lived in a flat and the people below us had a baby, it was fine. Sometimes I could hear it crying but that's what babies do and the level was much lower than it must have been in their flat. Don't feel you have to move x

And if I was a landlord and found that the terms of my contract had been broken I then yes, I would take steps to end the tenancy. Not just because of the numbers but because the tenant had been dishonest and I wouldn’t trust them.

It's a good thing the law doesn't agree with you then :) as if you could end a tenancy because the tenant had a baby part way through!! Lol

And I don't think a baby counts as a person when it comes to renting! 😂 I would let them know but not in a way that's asking their permission.

@coronawireless "There are more people staying there (free) than original contract."

She's renting out the entire flat, noone is staying there "free", it's her home and it is her protected right to fall pregnant and have a child and a Landlord has no right to that disclosure. She is breaking no law and shouldn't be gaslit into believing she has done anything wrong or peer pressured into saying anything. OP trust me there is no clause in your contract stating you cannot get pregnant because it would be illegal for that stipulation to be made.

OP you do not need to inform your Landlord unless you wish too, please contact Shelter if you have any worries and certainly contact CAB and ACAS regarding your discrimination at work.

It's not illegal, but I'd be pretty pissed off if I had leased a flat in the same building on the basis it was for for couples/working professionals, with no pets and no children, and then found out I was next to, above or below the room where your baby was constantly crying sleeping.

I doubt your landlord could evict you, but be prepared for comments from other tenants.

@VodselForDinner

There are more people staying there (free) than original contract

So if a couple rents and one moves out, the landlord will reduce the rent for the one remaining tenant?

Unlikely I imagine because for a 2-person property the landlord would budget to receive a certain income from 2 tenants. However under certain circumstances a landlord may allow a good solo tenant to pay less. But I imagine they would be pretty annoyed if that solo tenant then took on a second person but continued to pay the landlord for only one person. And money aside, I can’t imagine any landlord being happy that 4 or more people had moved into a property suitable for only 2.

Pretty sure that the only thing that is illegal is discrimination. They cannot evict you for having a baby but if you were overcrowded there's scope there but until your baby is one or so it's fine sharing your room. I would suggest speaking with your landlord if you have a good relationship and letting them know, perhaps they have other properties that might work better once your baby is bigger

@CloseYourEyesAndSee

And if I was a landlord and found that the terms of my contract had been broken I then yes, I would take steps to end the tenancy. Not just because of the numbers but because the tenant had been dishonest and I wouldn’t trust them.

It's a good thing the law doesn't agree with you then :) as if you could end a tenancy because the tenant had a baby part way through!! Lol

I’m not taking about the baby as I think I made clear in my first post. I’m supportive of the OP who sounds like a good tenant. My comments are aimed at the pp who has two children but has never informed her landlord.

[quote PrinnyPree]@coronawireless "There are more people staying there (free) than original contract."

She's renting out the entire flat, noone is staying there "free", it's her home and it is her protected right to fall pregnant and have a child and a Landlord has no right to that disclosure. She is breaking no law and shouldn't be gaslit into believing she has done anything wrong or peer pressured into saying anything. OP trust me there is no clause in your contract stating you cannot get pregnant because it would be illegal for that stipulation to be made.

OP you do not need to inform your Landlord unless you wish too, please contact Shelter if you have any worries and certainly contact CAB and ACAS regarding your discrimination at work. [/quote]
You didn’t read my post properly. The OP has plenty of rights and sounds like a good tenant.

Why would it be illegal😂

I wouldn’t even inform the landlord. Once you’re in it’s none of their business that you’ve had a baby.

Once your initial tenancy agreement ends, it will usually turn into a rolling tenancy (if you're in England, at least) - if your landlord wants you out at or after the end of the initial agreement, they would need to issue a valid eviction notice.
Echoing advice to speak to Shelter re the housing stuff if anything comes up, and CAB/ACAS re the work issues.
Good luck OP!

It's not illegal. Just talk to your landlord and see how they feel about it. I'd assume you'd want to be looking for a new property eventually anyway. Even if they didn't want you in there with a baby, there's no way to evict you without going through the proper court processes. Don't worry at the moment, you have time to plan things.

If your workplace is discriminating against you because you are pregnant that is illegal. Being pregnant is a protected status. As long as you can still perform your contracted hours / duties they should not be discriminating against you.

I really suggest you talk to Citizen's advice about how work is treating you. It could be illegal and they could be fined. Especially if the extra work causes you or the baby harm.

Work MUST perform a workplace safety assessment to see how being pregnant affects your safety at work. Have they done this?

If you are happy to leave or stay then just talk to your landlord. X

What!? Why on earth would it be illegal?

@MumsofAnarchy24

please read here how work might be discriminating:
www.gov.uk/working-when-pregnant-your-rights

Note especially that the risks they should manage include " long working hours"

Copied from website but there is more:

Pregnant employees have 4 main legal rights:

paid time off for antenatal care
maternity leave
maternity pay or maternity allowance
protection against unfair treatment, discrimination or dismissal

‘Antenatal care’ is not just medical appointments - it can also include antenatal or parenting classes if they’ve been recommended by a doctor or midwife.

Employers cannot change a pregnant employee’s contract terms and conditions without agreement - if they do they are in breach of contract.

Employers must give pregnant employees time off for antenatal care and pay their normal rate for this time off. The father or pregnant woman’s partner has the right to unpaid time off work to go to 2 antenatal appointments.
Pregnancy-related illnesses

Maternity leave and Statutory Maternity Pay will start automatically if the employee is off work for a pregnancy-related illness in the 4 weeks before the baby is due - it does not matter what has been previously agreed.
Compulsory maternity leave

If the employee is not taking Statutory Maternity Leave, they must take 2 weeks off after the baby is born - or 4 weeks if they work in a factory.
Telling the employer about the pregnancy

Employees must tell their employer about the pregnancy at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week the baby is due.

If this is not possible (for example because they did not know they were pregnant) the employer must be told as soon as possible.

Employees must also tell the employer when they want to start their Statutory Maternity Leave and Statutory Maternity Pay.

Employees cannot take time off for antenatal appointments until they’ve told the employer about the pregnancy.
Health and safety for pregnant employees

When the employee tells their employer they’re pregnant, the employer should assess the risks to the employee and their baby.

Risks could be caused by:

heavy lifting or carrying
standing or sitting for long periods without adequate breaks
exposure to toxic substances
long working hours

Where there are risks, the employer should take reasonable steps to remove them. For example, offering the employee different work or changing their hours.

The employer should suspend the employee on full pay if they cannot remove any risks. For example, offering suitable alternative work.

Pregnant employees who think they’re at risk but their employer disagrees should talk to their health and safety or trade union representative. If your employer still refuses to do anything, talk to your doctor or contact the Health and Safety Executive.

Well I would care if I was the landlord. There are more people staying there (free) than original contract. The property may not be suitable for children - window locks etc. Your landlord would not want to be sued if a child he/she didn’t know was there was injured as a result of some safety issue. How can you not see this?

Woah! I am an inventory clerk, I see landlords like this far too bloody often.

1. Not 'staying for free'
2. The no children thing is rarley contested if the tenant gets pregnant after moving in and is in no way illegal nor does it break the AST.
3. EVERY RENTAL SHOULD BE CHILD PROOF ALL THE TIME! Blind cords; window openers as per regulations (differ by property but all easy to find) etc etc.

How can you not know that?

@CuriousaboutSamphire

Well I would care if I was the landlord. There are more people staying there (free) than original contract. The property may not be suitable for children - window locks etc. Your landlord would not want to be sued if a child he/she didn’t know was there was injured as a result of some safety issue. How can you not see this?

Woah! I am an inventory clerk, I see landlords like this far too bloody often.

1. Not 'staying for free'
2. The no children thing is rarley contested if the tenant gets pregnant after moving in and is in no way illegal nor does it break the AST.
3. EVERY RENTAL SHOULD BE CHILD PROOF ALL THE TIME! Blind cords; window openers as per regulations (differ by property but all easy to find) etc etc.

How can you not know that?

Babies need to start paying their way in society, property owners are losing money

Doncha just love capitalism?

Babies & children not paying their way?!

Peak mumsnet

They have done a risk assessment but when I spoke to them highlighting how they were ignoring the content of the risk assessment they told me i had "misunderstood" the context of the content contained within the risk assessment and although under the field "is the pregnant woman expected to work long hours?" they wrote "no" and under control measures said "day shifts are a maximum of 9hrs including breaks" they told me that I misunderstood this and that what it actually means is I'm not expected to work 9hrs straight but that split shifts are fine and working 12-14hrs a day with an hr break in between is still okay.

despite the fact I told them that me working 10am til midnight/1am 5 days a week is too much for me during my first trimester as its too much stress and im struggling to eat properly and sleep when I'm so tired all the time that its leaving unable to function.

Baby brain is really bad at the minute and my memory is so bad that if i dont write things down i forget them and its only adding to my stress at work. Plus im showering like once or twice a week at the moment because by the time i get home at night i have 7hrs before im due back at work and in that time i have to find time to eat and sleep before I've gotta go back.

I cry most of the time due to the stress and its making me miserable in my pregnancy because i feel like they hate me. What's worse is its caused arguments with me and my partner because hes scared all this stress will cause a miscarriage so hes scared and stressed too bless him.

I feel like they're trying to force me to quit because they don't want to have to deal with a "difficult woman" (their words which i was told by a colleague).

Its at the point where i feel that or my babies safety i may have no choice but to leave as I can't prove direct discrimination as they have only spoken to me in informal discussions, they don't document any of this in written letters or emails. So they basically they are amping up the pressure and are waiting for me to have emotional outburst so they can fire me.

And im so tired and stressed that I barely have the strength to fight with them on this anymore, I've been looking at changing jobs because i feel thats safer than to continue as i am.

My union aren't able to help me at the minute because i only joined a few weeks ago and they can't offer legal help until ive been joined for a month.

Its all a mess really which is a shame coz my work life was pretty straightforward before i told them i was pregnant, its left me feeling like an outcast.

Congratulations on your pregnancy. I hope your ok and I’m sorry your workplace are being so horrible, their behaviour is illegal by the way.

It is not illegal for you to continue living where you are. Depending on what your contract says, it might be a breach of contract. (That doesn’t actually matter because your landlord is never never going to sue you for having a baby!) Read the contract to reassure yourself. If it doesn’t mention children, all is fine. If it specifically says that you must not have children living there, then it would be a breach of contract. But as I said above the landlord isn’t going to sue you and it is incredibly difficult to evict a tenant, especially a good tenant who is paying rent, plus there is a huge backlog of eviction cases in the courts so this isn’t something you need worry about for at least a year.

Long term, if there is something in the contract about no children, you might want to ask the landlord to vary the contract, for your peace of mind. Most landlords are willing to delete such clauses for good tenants. If not then you can eventually move.

I’m not at all worried for you about your flat. I am worried about your work colleagues and suggest you speak to Citizens Advice Bureau / any union (perhaps join a union?) re your rights.

Top priority: take care of your health.

Hey OP I'm so sorry you're feeling so horribly stressed, and no wonder! Someone earlier linked to a charity called "Pregnant Then Screwed" who are the exact people you need to speak to. They run a helpline staffed by trained advisors and have volunteer solicitors etc - I've spoken to them, they were lovely. pregnantthenscrewed.com/support-services/