update stickies re p/o accounts and benefits?

080808

Hi,
hope i'm not being presumptious but.
keep seeing suggestions for post office account to get benefits paid in etc.
BUT you cannot pay housing benefit into a post office account. they pay either directly into a BANK account, by cheque if you ask them that can ONLY be paid into a bank account of your own name, or directly to your landlord - which is tricky for many i believe as many of us keep our benifits entitlement a secret from our landlords cos they 'dont take dss'.
just think it should be clear, cos otherwise people think oh i can open a post office account and it will be fine - it won't!:eek:

Jaks

It is a bit of a headache when you have to pay your landlord by Direct Debit or Standing Order (like us) and you get hosing benefit.

We are in this position, we have timed our bankruptcy date for a week after we have paid our rent. Our next housing benefit payment is due in our account on 2nd September and the rent is due 23rd September. I am going to withdraw the money on the 3rd and keep it locked up at home and hopefully go into the branch where the landlords account is held and pay into his account. That should give enough time to either get our bank account unfrozen or open a new one.

We will probably ask the DWP to send a giro for the first 2-3 weeks after bankruptcy to allow enough time to get a bank account sorted out.

Jaks

AnnesWitterings

hi

scuse me for being nosey but can you actually rent from a private landlord and not have them find out your on dss benefits?? whilst I love my council flat and its the only one I could afford rentwise at the moment I have revolting neighbours upstairs (drug addicts!!!) I would like to think that after my bankruptcy I may be able to rent privately but have always been put off by the "don`t take dss " labels pinned on most private rented ads.

AnnesWitterings

got to ask

how can you keep benefit entitlement secret from a landlord? whilst I love my council flat and its cheap rent I hate the neigbours above, loud noisy and drug users and have a wish if possible after bankruptcy to rent privately if at all possible, is this something to do with this new LHA that Ive heard someone mention?
some info would be helpful if you know anything thanks A

080808

Hi anne,
well, in the town where i live almost every single ad for a rental flat says 'no dss'. it is harder to get round this with a rental agent involved, but not impossible. obviously if they require payslips as proof of income it's a no-go. but many don't. some ask for bank references so for most of us on this forum that's a no-go too! some ask for a rent guarantor - so if you know someone who owns a property in the uk and loves and trust you, that can help!
but many private landlords just seem to add it for the sake of it and don't check up - not in my considerable experience of renting anyway. i think they just have a certain kind of tenant in mind they don't want (like your neighbours maybe?) and assume all 'undesirables' are on benefits and/or vice versa. total rubbish of course but hey we all know about prejudice here right?!
anyway, at the risk of rambling a little longer.......
check with an agent/landlord what paperwork they require and it may be just proof of id, bank account no., and of course the thing they really want is your big fat rent and deposit in advance.
i get lha (local housing allowance) because this is/was a pilot area for the scheme. don't think it relates to the previous issue. it just means a flat rate is paid for accomodation regardless of the actual rent. you can win or lose on the scheme, but can only 'profit' by a max of 15 pounds per week.
btw - not suggesting anyone should be dishonest, it's just the way a lot of people keep a roof over their head. economy with the truth. : )

080808

ps - i left a council flat too, quite a few years ago. cos !!!!! were setting light to the binsheds directly below my flat. was scared to go out and leave my pets indoors.
it's good to have some choice over where you live with renting but oh my i would like that old cheap council rent back....

AnnesWitterings

thanks 08

funnily enough one of the girls i used to work with got pregnant has just rented privately a beautiful 2 bed house..(green with envy at one point) but then I realised she may need to move on when her tenancy ends least my freecycle furnished council kingdom is secure,,, must google this LHA thing...I could have had a lovley exchange a :rotfl: couple of times till the exchangers found out about the twerps upstairs ah well never mind.. thanks for replying..

Jaks

We got lucky with our current landlord in a way. He did want 1 months rent in advance and a deposit. He said that he didn't care what our life style was as long as he got his rent. We have to pay him by monthly standing order. My previous landlord (of 11 years) was ok with us being on dss as well, he requested that the housing benefit went straight to him - which is easier than our current situation if something went wrong with the payments (which did for us in our current house - they sent the second housing benefit cheque to our old house despite managing to send the first one to the new house).

I am not that happy living in a privately rented house, I would rather have a council house and feel more secure. Our house is too small for our family and we are classed as being over crowded. Also our house has single glazing windows, no gas - so expensive electric heaters and 3 tiny bedrooms.We are able to bid (new sheme) on council houses that become empty every fortnight in our local free paper. How this works is that you fill in an application form stating that you wish to be considered for council/housing association houses, you have given a band either gold, silver, or bronze. We are in the silver band, so that means if we see a house and bid (state your interest in the property)on it, we will most certainatly loose out to poeple in gold band. This sheme is called Home Select.

Jaks