I’m a new landlord. I’ve had several enquiries from prospective tenants on my property but there is one who has shown good interest however a few things I am concerned on and wanted to check what others thoughts are on this.
The tenant is currently renting in a different place since November 2023 and started new employment in January this year. They are on a work visa and don’t have a British passport which in itself is not a concern in that they are working for Nike store but still on probation. The person doesn’t speak much english so thier sibling does translation. The contact number they used to register with open rent, they changed to a different one when requesting referencing. The email address they have registered with open rent is not the tenants own one but using a siblings one. Would this all be a cause for concern?
First and foremost you need to get the home office share code from them. if you rent to someone who doesn’t have the right to live here you will be in big trouble. I’m not even going to comment on the rest but in general you need to read up quickly.
This is a red flag
Two phone numbers
Tenants avoiding debt often have two phone numbers etc
I avoid these scenarios as it only gets worse in my experience
If you do take a non English speaking tenant always make sure the translator signs the contract and all signatures are witnessed
The translator should have ID too.
Record the original conversation
In court lawyers have successfully disqualified consent if the person did not understand English
How did he get a work visa with no comprehension of English?
you’ll have more luck if you use an interpeter… unless that it is you want a copy of the AST in their language. Also wise to check that they are literate in their own language.
Personally, I wouldn’t do it. Good communication is fundamental to a successful tenancy.