Rent question - No DSS?

I have a bit of a problem... im facing unemployment (through illness and working for rubbish mr tescos with silly policys) and therefore i wont be able to afford my rent etc for maybe a month or two. My landlord wont allow DSS. Is my only option to give up my house?! :confused: Basically.

Im not planning on being unemployed for long.. (dont suppose anyone does like ... but) and was even planning on taking 2 or 3 jobs if i had to to cover my huge pay cut im gonna have to take... so awful question i have to ask .....would there be anyway to hide the fact im getting DSS in the short term from my landlord??? (oh god i feel so bad even thinking that!!! :(:( ) Just ive only just moved in and have done alot of work to the house myself and wouldnt wanna lose it already after only 2 months.
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Comments

  • oh_heck
    oh_heck Posts: 2,207 Forumite
    Firstly,your landlord doesn't need to know where your rent comes from if you choose not to tell him,(I take it ,it's a private landlord)you will be given it and can just pay your landlord.

    Secondly ,even if he doesn't want a dss tenant ,it doesn't mean once your in that he can evict you .........he can't ,peoples circumstances change and as long as you pay your rent it's got nothing to do with him so don't worry

    one other thing though ,claim as soon as you can as it sometimes takes a while to come through so don't delay:D

    hope that helps
  • Hiya

    A similar thing happened to us a few years back. We were in private house and had to claim HB & CT benefit as hubbys job fell through. Our landlord didnt want DSS either but when we took the property on we werent! Went to CAB and they said that you could claim and not tell landlord-its really none of their business where the rent is coming from, as long as they get it IYKWIM..lol. We ended up on HB for 6 months and took about 6 weeks to sort out-have you got abit of savings to pay the rent till hopefully HB can reimburse you?
    You can have the HB paid either to you as your a private tenant or to landlord-i would go with you being paid directly. Also have to take into consideration that HB may not cover the full cost of your rent-as they will only pay to a certain amount dependant on who is living at the property etc and whether your rent is fair for the area you live in. In my opinion-I would claim anyway and even if your short by a few quid a week-it will be easier to get together than the full amount. If you go onto job seekers allowance-i think you qualify for full help with rent and council tax anyway-but dont know if your be going down this route :confused:

    Take Care Hun

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  • Phonix
    Phonix Posts: 837
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    It's best to read the terms of your tenency agreement

    I think if you're under a shorthold tenency agreement (if that's what you could) the landlord can't evict you for siz months after the supposed problem, or earlier if this isn't your first contract with him.
  • aliasojo
    aliasojo Posts: 23,053
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    Do you not have to supply something from landlord to prove amount of rent to DSS?

    I'm sure I had to do this years ago although I expect it's all changed since then.
    Herman - MP for all! :)
  • I certainly have to give my tenants something to show what rent they pay and this is asked for every couple of years I think.
  • november
    november Posts: 613 Forumite
    First check your tenancy agreement. It is very unlikely that it says you can be evicted for being on benefits. It is also very unlikely it says you now have to tell your landlord if you are on benefits.

    Secondly your landlord would actually have to take you to court if you didn't leave after he had served notice.

    Your landlord could serve a Section 8 notice during the initial fixed term (if you have a 6 month assured shorthold that means within the 6 months) if you had rent arrears or had broken your tenancy agreement but most Section 8 grounds are discretionary which means it would be up to the court if you had to leave or not.

    Your landlord can serve a Section 21 notice giving you 2 months notice to quit at the end of the fixed term. Although technically he would still have to take you to court this is not a discretionary ground so they would say you had to leave.

    Housing benefit can be slow to pay and if you have no savings that could be a problem - they also pay 4 weekly in arrears so get your claim in as quickly as possible. Yes you can have it paid direct to yourself and you don't have to give housing benefit permission to speak to your landlord. They will also only pay what they deem a reasonable rate - if you are over 25 that will be what the rent officer considers a reasonable rent for one bedroom accommodation so you may need to 'top up' the rent yourself.

    If you can pay the full rent basically you should be fine.

    Good luck with finding another job :)
    I live in my own little world. But it's okay. They know me here.
  • november
    november Posts: 613 Forumite
    aliasojo wrote:
    Do you not have to supply something from landlord to prove amount of rent to DSS?

    I'm sure I had to do this years ago although I expect it's all changed since then.

    Sorry to add another post I've just seen this one.

    Your tenancy agreement is normally used as proof of rent and of tenancy for housing benefit. Housing benefit is actually paid by the local council not the DSS.

    Landlords should supply tenancy agreements at the beginning of a tenancy and should give you an original (rather than just a copy) regardless of whether or not you are on benefits.
    I live in my own little world. But it's okay. They know me here.
  • aliasojo
    aliasojo Posts: 23,053
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    I know in my case (I stress this may not be same for others), my original tenancy argreement was no use because it stated the amount of rent due when I first moved in.

    As the rent had increased over the years, I had to show proof of current rent. I remember having to ask for a letter stating the amount due every month which I then forwarded on.

    Again though, this was ages ago...I just wondered if this would be an issue to watch out for, but judging by your post it looks like it wont be. :)

    Hope things works out for you johanne and you get back on your feet soon.
    Herman - MP for all! :)
  • AGB863
    AGB863 Posts: 521
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    As people have all ready said, on the Housing Benefit form you can elect to have the benefit paid into your account instead of it going direct to your landlord.

    Another point - you can make the in advance of you becoming unemployed, for up to 13 weeks and the claim will be treated as being made from the week before your actual entiltlement to the benefit.

    So do not wait until you are unemployed as it can take that amount of taime for the claim to be sorted out.
    I am a debt counsellor working in the voluntary sector - we don't charge our clients for the work we do!
  • black-saturn
    black-saturn Posts: 13,937
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    You can go onto housing benefit without your landlord having to know anything about it. You might have to pay them with your own money at first and then get it back from HB afterwards as they usually have a backlog of work. It's a 4 month backlog here :eek:
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