Pros and cons of renting to a full time Carer and her disabled child

icebergx

Hi all,
My lettings agent has approached me with regards to letting my house to a lady with a disabled child. The lady acts as the full time carer for the child and as such, does not work. Therefore, she is in receipt of disability allowance and other benefits which would enable her to pay the rent.
My first reaction was to say that she would be fine and that I'd would be happy to help them out. I also think that financially, they would provide me with a bit more stability in terms of rental income in these troubled times.

However, other people who I've mentioned this to, haven't been as welcoming of this idea.

Can anyone list the Pros and Cons of renting to such a tenant?

Thanks.

socrates

icebergx wrote: »

Hi all,
My lettings agent has approached me with regards to letting my house to a lady with a disabled child. The lady acts as the full time carer for the child and as such, does not work. Therefore, she is in receipt of disability allowance and other benefits which would enable her to pay the rent.
My first reaction was to say that she would be fine and that I'd would be happy to help them out. I also think that financially, they would provide me with a bit more stability in terms of rental income in these troubled times.

However, other people who I've mentioned this to, haven't been as welcoming of this idea.

Can anyone list the Pros and Cons of renting to such a tenant?

Thanks.

I believe from your previous post you are in Brighton - why on earth would you need a Letting Agent to introduce you to someone who is claiming benefits.

Why not just approach the Private Sector Leasing Team for Brighton Council - they can introduce people directly - they also have another scheme where they manage the property as well.

There are loads of pros and cons with letting to benefit claimants.

After your last experience - think carefully .....

duchy

so the only reason you'd refuse them the tenency is because of the disability issue.....or to be more exact because of what others think of it ?

I suspect you're on rocky ground legally-if you refused a black tenent because they were black you'd be guilty of racial discrimination-this is no different except it is disability discrimination.

socrates

duchy wrote: »

so the only reason you'd refuse them the tenency is because of the disability issue.....or to be more exact because of what others think of it ?

I suspect you're on rocky ground legally-if you refused a black tenent because they were black you'd be guilty of racial discrimination-this is no different except it is disability discrimination.

I do not think that is where the OP is coming from - its more to do with the person being a benefits claimant - what their post does show is their naivety - the exact reason they should probably avoid this type of tenant - they have already had one expensive lesson

icebergx

socrates wrote: »

I do not think that is where the OP is coming from - its more to do with the person being a benefits claimant

Correct.

socrates wrote: »

the exact reason they should probably avoid this type of tenant - they have already had one expensive lesson

My previous tenants were both professionals (she is a nurse!!!) so there's no telling with some people. I also think that a full time carer caring for her disabled child is a legitimate reason not to be working and claiming benefit. It's not like she's sitting on her !!! all day for nothing!

poppysarah

You've got to ask who'll pay for any adaptations to the property - any hoists of lifts, downstairs shower facilities etc ... and whether these will be removed when they leave in the future.
If it's not you then why not?

maninthestreet

poppysarah wrote: »

You've got to ask who'll pay for any adaptations to the property - any hoists of lifts, downstairs shower facilities etc ... and whether these will be removed when they leave in the future.
If it's not you then why not?

This is good point - what are the landlord's legal responsibilities in this area?
If the property is rented to this person, will they start making requests, with the threat of legal action, if the apartment doesn't have all the 'facilities' required for a disabled person?

anguk

Just because the child is disabled it doesn't necessarily mean that the house will need to be adapted, my husband is disabled and we haven't changed anything in the house, but it is worth checking this out. Even if anything is needed I wouldn't think the landlord is responsible, it's normally paid for by the tenant, with grants or by social services. If social services etc are involved then they will not do anything without prior written permission from the landlord.

I would think the advantages of having this lady as a tenant are, she's perhaps more likely to want to stay long-term, she'll not want to uproot her child every 6 months. And if she's got a disabled child to look after she may be less likely to be doing things like get drunk and annoy the neighbours.

Just because someone is on benefits doesn't mean they'll be bad tenants, just as if you have professionals it doesn't mean they'll be good tenants. As the OP has found out previously.

pineapple123

Difficult one, yes the tenant would be on benefits not an issue if there is an agreement to pay housing benefit directly and your property was managed by a good company , also worth considering you could get tenants that during the tenancy with you go onto benefits, however if you decided to not renew the agreement after the tenancy term ie; yearly agreement expires then you may have a problem removing a tenant that has a dependent person living with them until suitable housing can be found for them , I have experienced this to our cost - unable to evict single mother with child and no rent paid for months, no payment for extensive damage ie:large hole throu bedroom door, walls with large holes, damaged kitchen units, etc.
but as the previous post said if you are looking for long term tenany she probably would be more likely to stay causing you less hassel than having to get another tenant in next year.

lil'H

If the Mum is a full time carer then she is going to be a long term renter, it is also unlikely that she will want the hassle of moving year after year, nor would she want to keep uprooting her child. Could be a good long term tennant for you. Also very few benefit claimants cause problems on rent, those that do are the minority who have no respect for anything. This lady is on benefits so that she can care for her child, not so that she can get a "free ride". I'd ask for reference as you would with any other tennant, ask for a monthly standing order to pay rent, tell her you can't accept rent payments as and when her benefit comes through, and then welcome them with open arms. But it's entirely your choice.

barnaby-bear

pineapple123 wrote: »

Difficult one, yes the tenant would be on benefits not an issue if there is an agreement to pay housing benefit directly and your property was managed by a good company , also worth considering you could get tenants that during the tenancy with you go onto benefits, however if you decided to not renew the agreement after the tenancy term ie; yearly agreement expires then you may have a problem removing a tenant that has a dependent person living with them until suitable housing can be found for them , I have experienced this to our cost - unable to evict single mother with child and no rent paid for months, no payment for extensive damage ie:large hole throu bedroom door, walls with large holes, damaged kitchen units, etc.
but as the previous post said if you are looking for long term tenany she probably would be more likely to stay causing you less hassel than having to get another tenant in next year.

My biggest question would be the tenancy ending. Yes a carer would most likely be a good tenant and if planning to rent indefinitely great but if you think you may need to sell/have the house back it's quite likely the lady will have "no dss" issues finding elsewhere and to be eligible for social housing will be advised to force you to go formal eviction route to avoid making her self intentionally homeless.

Also do you have a mortgage? Many mortgage providers stipulate no benefits tenants - blanket ban (mainly because of the reclaiming the property with ease issue) - so it might not even be an issue if doing it by the book.