Did you get a flat because your landlord fancies you?

Your landlord’s preference for men or women could be the deciding factor in whether you are picked as a tenant.

Luckily, most tenants can breathe a sigh of relief because the decision is not based on if the landlord fancies you or not - it’s more likely to be because they think you can do odd jobs or keep the place tidy.

Not in every case though - landlords are regularly hauled before the courts for filming naked female tenants taking showers and even hiding video cameras in bedrooms.

A landlord in Crayford, London, is serving a 36-month community order for taking pictures with a secret mobile phone of a naked teenager having a shower.

A US landlord filmed two Bulgarian students who worked as pole dancers in a local bar in intimate moments in an apartment he rented to them.

While in Cairns, Australia, detectives have charged a 54-year-old man after seizing a camera, cabling and video equipment from a rental property.

In one rental apartment, they found a secret camera linked to a TV set in his apartment in the same building

The man has been charged with three counts of making observations or recordings in breach of privacy.

According to new research, landlords do how a preference for male or female tenants - but the decision is based on how they might care for their home.

UK online lettings agent Upad found almost 60% of landlords care about the gender of their tenants.

"Who's the better sex - men or women is probably one of the oldest debates in the book. Like it or not, gender can sometimes be a deciding factor in whether a person makes the cut even in the rental arena. In our survey, we really wanted to see if the sex of a prospective tenant actually matters to landlords and from our research it appears that it does,” said James Davis, chief executive of Upad

Researchers found most landlords have a preference for men or women tenants - based on two clear trains of thought:

Men can usually change light bulbs, work the central heating and cooker, while worrying less about smaller issues.

On the other hand, women are more likely to keep a letting property tidy and will keep the garden neater.

Many landlords report less arrears and late rent payments from women, as they tend to be better money managers.

“Based on our findings it seems that the majority of landlords have a gender preference with the typical typecasts of men being good at general maintenance and women being clean and tidy still very much in association,” said Davis. “However, what was interesting was the fact that while men and women can be penalised for various different reasons, it seems singletons are in the firing line as well. When we asked landlords "who makes the best tenants?" a number explained that they were more in favour of couples as both parties fulfil certain jobs in the home."

One landlord summed up the thinking of the rest: “Both genders have their pros and cons but ideally I prefer couples as tenants. You often find one is good at keeping things clean and tidy and the other is good at sorting out the little things. Also, couples tend to be the best long-term tenants particularly if they have a child. I tend to avoid sharers in favour of couples."

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