Alexandra, we are always disappointed when someone feels that we have somehow acted in an inappropriate manner. All our telephone conversations are recorded for training purposes and I have now listened to the call to establish exactly what was said during the conversation with your husband. I hope that you can appreciate that we act on behalf of our landlords, all of whom have slightly different requirements which are dictated by their own circumstances. Many have mortgages or insurance policies which prevent them from taking on a tenant who, for whatever reason, is unable to fulfil our referencing criteria. Were we to show every property to every single person who expressed an interest in a viewing, I am certain that we would have very many people who would be irritated at having time wasted looking at a property only to learn that they would not meet a particular landlord’s requirements. It is for this reason that we, in common with any other agent (or no doubt landlord) try and eliminate the possibility of wasting a viewer’s time by pre-qualification in terms of suitability in as many ways as possible, including affordability. I don’t doubt that you are currently paying your rent, but sadly, a landlord who has insurances in place, needs to have rather more certainty when determining which tenant to take on. At no time during the conversation did our negotiator, who is a mother herself, suggest that there was anything wrong with your desire to be a stay at home mother. She simply pointed out that as a self-employed individual, your husband would need a guarantor and that at the moment, we do not have a property available where the landlord is in a position to accept this sort of application. I’m sorry if the result of this is that you feel “small”. This was not our intention. I wish you well in your endeavours. If you would like to speak with me personally regarding this, I should be very pleased to take your call. Mike Jones Director. 01256 830800