Why does my mums landlord want her national insurnace number?

Question

My mum is moving and the landlord wants her national insurance number. Why do they want this? It is not being let though an agency, they are doing it privately. They have also asked her for a deposit of one months rent, (she has paid £100 so far), are they supposed to put it into some kind of holding account? There has been no mention of this. Is this part payment from the deposit a verbal agreement? She has not signed a contract yet she'll be doing this the day she moves in. The references have not been sought yet, if there is a problem with the references will it mean they will retract the offer of the house when she has already paid some of the deposit? They have offered her the house, is this a verbal agreement? This is the first time she has rented privately.

Answer 1

There is no need for your mum to give here NI number. All the landlord needs is proof of who she is, so passport driving license. The £100 she has paid is most likely either the references, or a holding fee. If her references come back bad she will loose that.

Make sure she asks the landlord what deposit scheme he is putting the deposit in.

Answer 2

There's a bit of information here from Shelter about deposits which you may find helpful:

http://england.shelter.dev.squiz.co.uk/g...

I don't really know about the NI number, but there is no reason I can see for a landlord to ask for it, and it could put her at some identity theft risk, so I'd quite frankly be highly suspicious.  She should definitely ask why, even if she was on housing benefit this would be her claim and her business.

Incidentally, I think Shelter also has a free helpline they can be contacted on about housing issues, so this might be a good idea as well.

Answer 3

There is no reason for the landlord to ask for your mum's NI number. If they require proof of ID, then a passport or driving license should be sufficient, but make sure that they don't take unauthorized copies. You want to ask them why they need her NI number.

As you haven't signed a tenancy agreement yet, you shouldn't be handing them any money, for any reason, other than to cover any vetting/tenant checks, which should be minimal i.e. 10-30 pounds. You want to sign the tenancy agreement BEFORE you move in, otherwise your rights will be severely restricted if the unforeseen occurs.

Because no tenancy agreement has been signed, the landlord has every right to refuse the property to your mum. You REALLY need to get the tenancy agreement sorted out ASAP, for your own good. This underpins everything.

Hope this helps.