Tenant suitability based on income

Landlord Discussion
1

I have just posted my first listing, and have had some good responses.
There were also some scam responses as well which I was able to spot.

I used a tailored response requesting indication of income level in my first response for further screening.

One tenant has responded stating an aggregate income level, which, when applied to the Standard Industry Referencing Criteria formula, falls extremely short of what is required. →

"The standard UK referencing formula used by letting agencies and referencing providers (such as OpenRent, Goodlord, Let Alliance) is the 30x monthly rent rule (or 2.5× annual rent):

Required Annual Income = Monthly Rent *30

There are other factors that were mentioned, which I am not posting as this is meant to be a purely objective exercise based on income - and I also wish to avoid any unnecessary ‘hurt-feelings’ for turning down the request for viewing.

AI has recommended a polite and respectful response:

""Hi [prospective tenant]

Thank you for providing those details.

Unfortunately, based on our standard referencing and affordability criteria, the total household income required for this property (eg £2,000/month) is a minimum of £60,000 per annum (£5,000/month).

As your total declared income falls below this threshold, we are unable to arrange a viewing or proceed with the application at this time.

We wish you the best of luck in your property search."

Would be grateful for fellow community input regarding this and their experiences.
If, for whatever reason I am accused of being discriminatory - I believe my argument should be sufficient defence?

2

You don’t actually have to respond at all, but if you do, then the AI draft is fine.

You can add the affordability info to your ad so that it’s explicit. Then, in your response, you can say, “I’m afraid your stated income does not meet the affordability criteria described in the property listing.”

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3

The difficult ones for me are the ones who can’t afford it but say they are in dire straits. Disabled, refugees, dependents etc. I always reject them using the standard OR formula but make myself feel better by sending them a little note first “I wish you well in your search”

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@Alpha1

Why tell them the exact criteria and income needed at all. None of their business. If they are a scammer or just desperate they will use that and apply with a different username to try to get a viewing at which they will tell a sob story or try to convince you to rent to them anyway

Just say

"Hi [prospective tenant]

Thank you for providing those details.

Unfortunately, based on our standard referencing and affordability criteria, we are unable to arrange a viewing or proceed with the application at this time
No further correspondence will be entered into on this matter.

We wish you the best of luck in your property search."

And close the chat so they cant reply

If you do feel you need to give a more specific reason, why not be plain speaking eg

‘Unfortunately your stated income is well below what is needed by normal affordability criteria so you would be at significant risk of falling into arrears, which would not be in your or a landlord’s interest. You may wish to consider applying for cheaper places.’

Good luck

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5

Thanks all for the feedback

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6

I do not think i would use that last paragraph. I say " sorry i cannot help you any further " the less you say ,the least comeback

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@Colin3

Yes i wouldn’t normally use it myself maybe unless their stated income is so low that it looks like either theyve maybe made a mistake (monthly vs annual income) or they say theyve just begun looking

Best

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8

which is why I never bother responding to applicants who either can’t do basic maths or can’t figure out how the rental market works. Why take the time?

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9

Affordability is one of the only criteria you can use to reject applicants now, but you do have to take account of any benefits income they receive, including housing allowance. If you ask them to declare everything and they fail to mention this, you are probably on safe ground to reject them. Of course if you send that message straight after they reply, they may come back with revised figures that you would then need to consider.

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