Can a landlord refuse to rent to me?

Sleeper12

4ensic15 wrote:

There is no requirement to give a written lease. There is a requirement to give a rent book.

Simply not true. It is illegal to refuse to give a receipt for anything let alone rent.

4ensic15

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Simply not true. It is illegal to refuse to give a receipt for anything let alone rent.

The rent book operates a receipt for the rent. What is the source of your other point, that a receipt must be given for anything on demand?

Gatling

I wonder If it's the current tenant/s that doesn't want you to move in vs the landlord has refused the tenant

Eric Cartman

to be honest , thread after thread after thread I'm stunned by this. If a landlord doesn't want you then legal or not, your'e already on a bad footing, you can call up laws all you want, if somebody doesn't want you in their house, they'll find a way to make you leave.

this goes for everyone. If your landlord has a problem with your situation / pets / other half / method of payment etc… just don't live there. playing a game of legal chess to try temporarily thwart them is a bad idea.

Mrs OBumble

OP, I don't think it's even as clear cut as others do.

LL's cannot legally discriminate on the basis of being on Welfare. Or based on the big nine (age, sex, race, etc)

But they can discriminate on the basis of professional status: membership of either in the registered professions (doctor, lawyer, accountant, nurse, teacher, etc) or the equivalent roles in other industries which are not so regulated (journalist, computer programmer, actuary, etc).

As a LL, I would actively discriminate in favour of one of those over a fast-food worker or shop-assistant in a place where everyone is on a 20 hour contract, for instance: on average they're more likely to be able to afford the rent, and to be smart enough to look after the place. Of course there are exceptions either way (smart shop assistants, dumb engineers), but usually attaining a professional qualification or not is a reasonable indicator.

Mrs OBumble

OP, I don't think it's even as clear cut as others do.

LL's cannot legally discriminate on the basis of being on Welfare. Or based on the big nine (age, sex, race, etc)

But they can discriminate on the basis of professional status: membership of either in the registered professions (doctor, lawyer, accountant, nurse, teacher, etc) or the equivalent roles in other industries which are not so regulated (journalist, computer programmer, actuary, etc).

As a LL, I would actively discriminate in favour of one of those over a fast-food worker or shop-assistant in a place where everyone is on a 20 hour contract, for instance: on average they're more likely to be able to afford the rent, and to be smart enough to look after the place. Of course there are exceptions either way (smart shop assistants, dumb engineers), but usually attaining a professional qualification or not is a reasonable indicator.

jeamimus

starling wrote: »

last week I found one that seemed ideal - a house in the right area, a nice big room, the other girls in the house seemed very nice, and so on. The red flags started to pop up when the girl who was showing the room ...

This strikes me that it might be a house share situation and the mechanics for paying/pooling the rent were not fully explained to you.

Graces7

Graces7 wrote: »

Go and see the local CWO; and explain. Did you know for example that in certain cases they can raise the RA limits?

If you mean raise them to enable a single person afford a house share that's one thing but I cannot agree that rent allowance should be raised so that a person who isn't working can live alone while 1000s and 1000s of people working hard everyday and in receipt of no government assistance have to houseshare as they cannot afford to rent alone.

Sleeper12

4ensic15 wrote:

The rent book operates a receipt for the rent. What is the source of your other point, that a receipt must be given for anything on demand?

This is Irish law. Not just rent, retail outlets etc. Everyone is entitled to a receipt under Irish law. It is illegal under Irish law not to give a receipt when one is requested. Most countries have this law. It's there to protect the tenant, customer and the taxman.
I'm not saying that you have to have a rent book but when paying cash for rent the landlord must under Irish law give a receipt if requested.

the_syco

starling wrote: »

to imply that it's my responsibility to fix the broken system when I'm the one who's suffering from that broken system.

Actually, that's the attitude of everyone who is affected by the system, and thus the system stays broken.

starling wrote: »

Yeah, no. I'm not going to lie to a prospective landlord. What happens when he asks for a reference from my employer, or a payslip? Or when the other tenants start wondering why I haven't left the house every day for work like them?

I'm unsure wtf you are on about? I asked can you work. As in, actually work, as opposed to claiming that you work.

So, can you work? As in, actually do work? I cannot be anymore clear with that question. Even the scambridge may benefit you.

starling wrote: »

If you don't know how to answer my question

It seems you are unable to answer questions that are related to your post...

starling wrote: »

No I didn't, why do you ask?

The landlord could have turned around and said yes. The tenant then asks the other tenants, and they could have stated that because you'd be home all day, the bills would increase. Thus the tenant then responds to you, and blames the faceless landlord.

Example of bills increase would be a cold winter; you'd have the heating on during the day to keep warm, as opposed to no-one being there during the day, and the place not having to be warm.

starling wrote: »

Just to clarify: I know for a fact that this landlord:

a) is not paying tax

Unless you're his accountant, I call BS. If you are his accountant, see my first point; you can use this as a part-time job :P

starling wrote: »

I'm not. I'm choosing between having a bed to sleep in and a kitchen to cook in, and sleeping in a county council-funded b&b where they turf me out every morning and don't let me back in until evening.

If your disability is mental, check if you can avail of any help. The waiting list will be long, as any mental related help in this country tend to be a long-running f**king joke :mad: but that's for another rant.

If your disability is physical, consider finding out which charity caters for your disability, and see if they can help set you up for a more permanent room, along with some work.

Graces7

Myla Few Peppercorn wrote: »

If you mean raise them to enable a single person afford a house share that's one thing but I cannot agree that rent allowance should be raised so that a person who isn't working can live alone while 1000s and 1000s of people working hard everyday and in receipt of no government assistance have to houseshare as they cannot afford to rent alone.

Interesting attitude. We who are old and sick are not to blame for our situations so this kind of discriminatory attitude is not appropriate. " a person who is not working " has the same needs and " rights" as anyone else and possibly more and different needs depending on their condition. Welfare state here if you had not realised the meaning of that? If I have to leave here I will accept whatever help I can get to live as I need to live given my medical and other needs and if that means a higher RA then so be it and very thankful for that. In the case in this thread the OP is actually ready to pay the entire rent from her disability, leaving herself perilously little to live on.

solargain

I have shared houses with people that were out of work and to be honest I wouldn't do it again.

They promise they will pay the rent , electricity , gas & what ever other bills are there and when it comes time to cough up for their share they have no money. Been stung once too often and don't want to be there again.

Because they are at home all day they are using more electricity , heating etc than normal. The others used the landlord as an excuse , so would I.

um7y1h83ge06nx

Bit of an overly complex thread.

Cutting to the chase people can discriminate left, right and centre, they just need to be smart about it.

When I was renting out rooms in my home under the rent a room scheme I would always tell a potential housemate when they called that there is another one that I promised the room to, and that I'm waiting to hear back from them. But if I don't hear back or they don't want it by the end of the day it's available to you.

That way, if the person seems dodgy, their story doesn't quite add up or myself or the others felt they just wouldn't work out I could blame things on the other person taking the room and avoid the truth. Believe me, over those years I have came across some many different types of people.

Another thread entirely on whether that is morally correct but it most definitely can be done.

Mrs OBumble

Graces7 wrote: »

a person who is not working " has the same needs and " rights" as anyone else and possibly more and different needs depending on their condition. Welfare state here if you had not realised the meaning of that?

Living alone is neither a need nor a right, except for a small proportion of people with particular mental illness which make it too difficult for them to live with other people.

Graces7

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Living alone is neither a need nor a right, except for a small proportion of people with particular mental illness which make it too difficult for them to live with other people.

Not sure what you are getting at here? Yes a need. We are not clones, we who fall by the wayside of life. We are individuals who can be brutalised by society in ways which some posts here clearly reveal. If you are intent on looking at the Ops situation in the light of money maybe consider the alternative costs to the state of caring for someone in a care facility because they were refused appropriate accommodation elsewhere. For many of us, living alone is an absolute need and it is wisdom to help us to stay out of institutional care for as long as possible.. And thus by the very definition of a welfare state, a right. Small wonder the figures for B and B emergency accommodation are so high. The OP is willing to share and to pay the whole cost from her disability money which would leave here with little enough to live on. OP ,any news please?

Graces7

Graces7 wrote: »

The OP is willing to share and to pay the whole cost from her disability money which would leave here with little enough to live on.

You can get RA in shared accommodation also you don't have to live alone to get it. Probably the best course of action would be for the op to initially not mention it and after a few months and showing they are a good tenant ask the LL to sign the forms then.

I agree there are a small number of people who do need to live alone but most don't, particularly young people. Its quite annoying when you are going out to work everyday, paying loads of tax and you have to share due to rent prices and then you see people on RA living alone or worse again (which has started happening in the estate I currently live) the council buying very nice houses and selling them to people on housing lists or whatever at a much reduced rate. If you look on the property price register there there are houses worth 200 to 250k being sold for under 100k absolutely sickening.

the_syco

Graces7 wrote: »

If you are intent on looking at the Ops situation in the light of money maybe consider the alternative costs to the state of caring for someone in a care facility because they were refused appropriate accommodation elsewhere.

Living alone is only an option if you have the money to do so. If in a care facility, you'll be sharing the dorms with many other people.

Off-topic, but no-one is entitled to live the way they want to if they can't afford it.