Letting agent reaction to being asked for a lease

Mogfather

Hello everyone.

My partner and I moved into an apartment in December gone with two friends who had been there since September 5th. The previous tenant who accommodated my room had been asked to leave due to anti-social behaviour, which the Estate Agent helped in doing so.

Before my boyfriend( let's call him John for the sake of this post) and I moved in we were on the homeless register and had no fixed abode.

Last week the Social Welfare suspended John's payment because he did not respond to a letter they sent him( bear in mind he was registered with NO address so no one knows not even the SW know where the letter was sent to.)
Up until now we didn't sort out a lease with the Estate Agent but the SW asked him to get some sort of letter/lease stamped/signed by the landlord.

So today John went into the Estate Agent and requested the latter and the agent took a fit. She asked him for his home address(he genuinely has none, one parent is estranged and the other is deceased) which he could not provide.
As a result she took the lease she had just written up and has threatened to kick him out and increase the rent for everyone.
Is this allowed and what are John's rights as a tenant with this regard?

On a separate note we were speaking to the landlord personally and has no issues with John's circumstance, it's just the Agent who does.

I know this post is a long blow but I certainly didn't want to leave anything out

T. I. A

JustLen

When you moved in were you both added to the lease?
Did you ever sign a document with or have any conversation with the agent?