UK Landlord Forum / Life

I have a viewing request from a Polish couple. They have been living and working in the UK for 7 years for the bloke and 4 years for the lady.

The lady has just fallen pregnant and they're looking for something more family orientated. Apparently they've been living on a farm.

I'm new to this. Anything I need to know about before I consider them?

Yeah loads.......
1) get references from current or any previous landlords and speak to the landlords as well
2) get bank references
3) get employer references
4) make sure your tenancy agreement stipulates how many occupants are allowed in the house
5) make sure they are not friends of friends because they rip you off first as you will least expect it
6) if you are going to take a deposit, register it in a free deposit bond and make sure you give the tenants the details and prescribed information
7) if the tenancy agreement becomes a periodic one, issue prescribed information again and get them to sign to say they  have receive it
be ruthless because in my experience you need to know more than the tenant and be one step ahead
Hope hat helps

Not because they're Polish, not really... you not supposed to discriminate on people based on things like that, for example (which I'm not saying you are). Do everything like you would for a normal Tenant. In future (and even now in some test places) there is a Landlord responsibility to check that a Tenant has the "Right to Rent"... effectively giving you the role you always wanted - that of [unpaid] Immigration Officer.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-rent-landlords-code-of-practice

"The right to rent checks only apply to:

landlords, homeowners and letting agents in Birmingham, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton
all adults aged 18 and over living at the property
new tenancy agreements starting on or after 1 December 2014

If you let a property after this date to someone who doesn't have the right to rent, you could be fined up to £3,000."

Thanks for the replies.

Just to clarify I wasn't discriminating based on them being Polish or foreign.

I know there are loads of laws and wanted to make sure there was nothing I had to watch out for legally. I'm not in the areas listed

No, I completely got that... I just wanted to lay it out there.

The previous previous landlord is way more important to speak to than their current/previous landlord as they would spin you any yarn to get rid of bad tenants.

Thanks. I rang them to get a bit more info. When I asked If they had any adverse credit history they said they  always pay cash and have never used a card or taken a loan.

Im doing the viewing later. If they're suitable I might see if I can get a guarantor if they don't have a credit history to check out.

Just did the viewing. The lady turned up on her own. No husband. She mentioned her husband is paid in cash only and would prefer to pay the rent in cash.

Good grief. I'm not having much luck finding a tenant. its not like the place is a dump. It's in excellent condition and at 10% less than similar houses nearby.

Maybe it's a quite time of the year.

You have to kiss many frogs before you find the Prince.

Given UKIP win the election in May, I think you should avoid.

Coming over here taking our NHS and school money, then working cash in hand... You'd never see a Brit doing that.... oh wait..

(Joke)

Quote from: CaveDweller on March 19, 2015, 08:03:24 PMMaybe it's a quite time of the year.

Maybe. But you don't need to accept the first viewers either. I just did 6 viewings over 5 days for a place. I was lucky enough to have more than 1 offer on the table. For viewers, just keep their details, you don't need to say "yes" or "no" immediately... do more viewings. Try to get people through the door. If you're doing them yourself do not appear desperate (Tenants can smell it, they're like dogs). If you have a good property then it will go! You should reassure yourself that you can be selective... but be aware of those bills, of course.

Check their ID, and I mean really check it.

There are people from Eastern European Countries pretending to be Polish, some even pay for passports of genuine citizens but they are not the person on the passport.

New laws recently passed in the UK now make this your responsibility.

These guys are persistent. They rang me yesterday and offered all 6 months rent up front.

Good grief.