Paying housing Benefit Rent to Private Landlords

donewalking

Why is it that the Council Benefit Rent section pay the rent direct to the council & to Housing Assocations but if you are a tenant of a private landlord the rent gets paid to the tenant & because of this tenants are not paying all there rent to landlords & are now getting kicked out.
What will happen if all private landlords get together & say "Thats it we do not rent to DSS tenants" the Councils will be in deep sh-t as they keep asking private landlords to help them with empty properties.

What will be next ???????????????????

fishtastic

If a tenant is made unemployed, a council/HA will not get a bug up their !!! about it, as their role is to provide housing to those who need it. On the other hand landlords can often get really funny about tenants sans employment even if they have the means to continue to pay (that HB etc), easiest way is to not tell them, the easiest way of not telling them is to pay the tenant. I'm obviously taking about those made unemployed during their tenancy, if a landlord doesn't want to let to someone on HB, they can't easily weed out such people by going do you have a job and prove it...

You say "What will happen if all private landlords get together & say "Thats it we do not rent to DSS tenants" the....", many landlord already refuse to let to DSS on priciple as they belief they are less likely to be paid or the let will be ruined...

That's my take on it anyway..........

bluejake

fishtastic wrote: »

...

You say "What will happen if all private landlords get together & say "Thats it we do not rent to DSS tenants" the....", many landlord already refuse to let to DSS on priciple as they belief they are less likely to be paid or the let will be ruined...

I would guess if the taxpayer subsidy in the form of housing benefit was removed from the market the price of property would fall and rents would fall.

More empty properties for rent would be chasing fewer employed would be tenants. There would be fewer employed tenants because lower property prices mean more would buy rather than rent.

Taxpayers do not owe property speculators a living.

Housing benefit is claimed by and paid to tenants.

Taxpayers are not rent collectors for landlords. It is a landlords job to collect rent or they should pay for agents to do it on their behalf.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It is the taxpayer who should feel sorry for themselves.

poppy10_2

Well said, jake!

socrates

bluejake wrote: »

I would guess if the taxpayer subsidy in the form of housing benefit was removed from the market the price of property would fall and rents would fall.

More empty properties for rent would be chasing fewer employed would be tenants. There would be fewer employed tenants because lower property prices mean more would buy rather than rent.

Taxpayers do not owe property speculators a living.

Housing benefit is claimed by and paid to tenants.

Taxpayers are not rent collectors for landlords. It is a landlords job to collect rent or they should pay for agents to do it on their behalf.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It is the taxpayer who should feel sorry for themselves.

Interestingly - what is your opinion on the tenants on this scheme who do not pay their rent to the LL and spend it on non essential items?

Taxpayers are not being asked to collect rent for anyone - the benefit exists - it is just a case of who it is paid to.

What is the benefit of paying LHA to a tenant who then passes it on to a LL?

There is a huge thread on this very subject on LandLordzone.

Incidentally did you realise that the 'taxpayer' due to the fact that less LL's are accepting LHA claimants due to it being paid to tenants directly - is paying for temporary accommodation which costs 50% more than the same accommodation from a private LL.

It is getting so bad that they are introducing incentives like rent deposit schemes, rent guarantee schemes and 4,8 and sometimes 11 week payments up front to LL's (non refundable and not offset against rent) to take people out of temp accommodation and get them into the private sector.

But its all OK as long as the LL's are deemed to be suffering - who incidentally ARE taxpayers too!

RomansProperties

Check with your local council as they may have schemes where the LHA can be paid directly to the landlord.
We only accept tenants where the benefits get paid direct to us.
It worth speaking to a few different departments as the one in Leeds is very co-operative with Landlords.
They need to inspect all properties and you need to be an accredited Landlord to get direct payments but its worth it to not spend ages chasing rent.

KeepYourChinUp_2

RomansProperties wrote: »

Check with your local council as they may have schemes where the LHA can be paid directly to the landlord.
We only accept tenants where the benefits get paid direct to us.
It worth speaking to a few different departments as the one in Leeds is very co-operative with Landlords.
They need to inspect all properties and you need to be an accredited Landlord to get direct payments but its worth it to not spend ages chasing rent.

The only problem with the LL being paid directly is that if the tenant commits any fraud its the landlord the council chases not the tenant. I didnt know you could be paid directly if you are accredited I will have to look into that as we are accredited. Incedently how do you get round the wait while the tenants claim is processed or do you take people who are already claiming it? You wouldnt want to wait 6-8 weeks and find out they can not get HB and you end up with a tennant that cant pay.

Bibbitybob

As far as I'm aware with my local council (N.E.Lincs), if the tenant can be proved to be at risk of not passing on their rent money (eg. drug, alcohol abuse are the ones I've come across) then the rent can be paid directly to LL.

KeepYourChinUp_2

Bibbitybob wrote: »

As far as I'm aware with my local council (N.E.Lincs), if the tenant can be proved to be at risk of not passing on their rent money (eg. drug, alcohol abuse are the ones I've come across) then the rent can be paid directly to LL.

Understandable. However why would you want to have a tenant with those kind of problems? your just asking for trouble because its never just the tenant, those kind of people usually have lots of hanger ons coming and going at all hours and arent likely to worry about something they dont own.

socrates

RomansProperties wrote: »

Check with your local council as they may have schemes where the LHA can be paid directly to the landlord.
We only accept tenants where the benefits get paid direct to us.
It worth speaking to a few different departments as the one in Leeds is very co-operative with Landlords.
They need to inspect all properties and you need to be an accredited Landlord to get direct payments but its worth it to not spend ages chasing rent.

Are you sure this is not for a situation where the council leases the property which would be different to people claiming LHA. The big difference between LHA and HB is that there is no need to inspect the property.

I do not doubt what you say I have heard similar stories for Brighton BUT in London the HB Depts. are determined NOT to pay LL directly other than in the extreme cases mentioned.

socrates

KeepYourChinUp wrote: »

Incedently how do you get round the wait while the tenants claim is processed or do you take people who are already claiming it? You wouldnt want to wait 6-8 weeks and find out they can not get HB and you end up with a tennant that cant pay.

Technically there should not be a long delay like the past - if the tenant is claiming other benefits e.g income support go along with them to the Benefits Office, complete the forms with them, get them to sign that you are able to discuss their claim.

The Officer will be able to tell you exactly when the payment will be going out. Make sure to ask for 2 weekly in arrears not four - this means you can jump on the situation much more quickly in the event of non payment.

Remember you do not need to wait 8 weeks to report arrears you can report arrears as quickly as 2 weeks and a couple of days. You can ask for the claim to be suspended which means they will not get paid any rent until they explain why they have not paid their rent.