Housing Benefit and renting

Pete268

Hi,

I am trying to help out a friend who rents his house privately through a letting agent and has done so for the last seven years (two properties - the first one was sold three years ago but the letting agent found him another equally good property). The landlord has a mortgage on the property.

Anyway, he has been in full time employment and always paid his rent well before it was due etc and kept the house very well etc etc - infact what I believe is a 'model tenant'.

Anyhow, on the Letting Agents website giving guidance to tenants and prospective tenants is the paragraph:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]IF THE PROPERTY HAS A MORTGAGE - THEN SORRY BUT ANY BENEFIT APPLICATIONS WILL BE TURNED DOWN - THIS IS THE LENDERS GUIDELINES NOT OURS.

Now my friend is disabled, and although he has worked full time for many years, [/FONT]he is currently off sick and has dropped onto half pay (then it will be nil pay) and it looks like he will be medically retired with a small pension. He does get DLA and a small War Pension.

However he will not have enough to pay the rent. He would like to put in a claim for Housing Benefit or LHA but is worried about getting evicted etc because he will be claiming benefit.

Is the clause above really lawful and/or enforcable?. He doesn't want to tell the letting agents he is about to claim benefits as he really likes where he lives. (He should be entitled to full HB/LHA inicdentally as War Pensions are disregarded in the area he lives in)

He is in a bit of a quandry as to whether to go ahead and claim HB/LHA, getting it paid to himself so he can carry on paying the rent without actually telling the Letting Agents or face being evicted if he tells the Letting Agents he needs to go on benefits.

Any assistance would be helpful.

Thanks

Peter

lil_me

Some lenders refuse to permit persons on benefits to live in a property. To be honest LHA is now paid directly to the tenant, so he doesn't have to tell them. I know I'd prefer to be honest, but of course he needs a roof over his head.

pinkshoes

HB tenants are considered as more of a risk, so if a rented property has a mortgage, then the mortgage lender wouldn't want any risk that the rent wasn't paid.

Your friend could offer to pay 6 months in advance if this is possible? That way if for some reason he stopped paying rent, they would have enough time to start the eviction process before the paid rent ran out, and he would have to find somewhere else to live.

silvercar

Claim the LHA and continue to pay the rent. LHA is paid to tenants not landlords so he shouldn't have any problem with a claim.

I'm sure the landlord would be happier to have a tenant paying the rent than one who can't afford to pay.

The tenant doesn't need to concern himself with the landlord's finances, whether the landlord has a mortgage is not tennats business. Some mortgage lenders do have a clause saying no benefit claimants, whether it is enforceable is another matter. Child benefit is a form of benefit so does that mean that no landlords can let to families with kids?

As long as your friend understands that the rent needs to be paid as in the tenancy and not 4-weekly in arrears there shouldn't be a problem.

PasturesNew

His Pension and DLA, in my opinion, bring him outside of the spirit of "no DSS". So it doesn't count and he should claim LHA and not mention it.

Pete268

Thanks all,

I will speak to him this afternoon and pass on your thoughts.

Just as he is ex military he likes things to be 'right' if you see what I mean but at the same time he is really worried he would be evicted from the little house he lives in if his letting agents find out he has to claim housing benefit/LHA. There is no problem paying the rent on time as he is always a month ahead anyway.

He really likes living where he does as it is really quiet and he has good neighbours who sort of keep an eye on him as he lives alone and has a tendency to have falls etc.

Many thanks anyway.

Peter

Pete268

Hi,

Just a further question after having been round to see him. If he claims LHA do the council get in touch with the Letting Agents?.

He has a copy of his tenancy agreement (which is i believe a periodic tenancy as the initial six months ended almost 3 years ago) and also bank statements since the start of his tenancy showing the Standing Order is paid every month to the Letting Agents.

He still thinks he will be evicted if the Letting Agents find out!

Thank you.

Peter

Debt_Free_Chick

Whilst the LL/LA might use the "no benefits" angle to exclude certain applicants, I can't see it would be enforceable on existing tenants -such as your friend - who have had a change in circumstances. He is a tenant with an agreement and can only be evicted within the terms of that agreement and the Housing Act. Of course, that means that he could be served with a s21 notice, but he has that risk anyway.

clutton_2

no landlord in his right mind would want to get rid of a tenant who has successfully paid the rent for 7 years - tell him to claim LHA and carry on as normal - his income is nothing to do with the LL or LA

Loretta

Some times in life the right thing to do is to make sure you look after yourself.

The right thing can sometimes be too right!

Just tell him to keep quiet, what you don't know doesn't worry you

Scarlett.1974

Pete268 wrote: »

Hi,

Just a further question after having been round to see him. If he claims LHA do the council get in touch with the Letting Agents?.

He has a copy of his tenancy agreement (which is i believe a periodic tenancy as the initial six months ended almost 3 years ago) and also bank statements since the start of his tenancy showing the Standing Order is paid every month to the Letting Agents.

He still thinks he will be evicted if the Letting Agents find out!

Thank you.

Peter

The council will NOT contact his LL/LA if he requests them not to.

There is actually a specific box on the form asking 'can we contact your LL about this application?' so all he has to do is tick the 'no' box. Saying 'yes' or 'no' to this question has absolutely no impact on whether his application with be approved or not (it even says so on the form)

This is assuming that the aplication forms for HB/LHA are standard across the country.

HTH