Advice needed re. renting a home

Cyberman82

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum and after a bit of advice if possible.
I'll start from the beginning - I am currently living with my parents, but due to recent circumstances they have asked me to leave home, and the only place I can really go is my girlfriend's house. Neither of us are working, but I am looking for work (I finished working in October last year), and I am not claiming benefits as I finished work voluntarily (I am not entitled to anything). My girlfriend is on Income Support I believe, and can't work due to illness. We have recently found out that she may be pregnant, which obviously wasn't planned being in such a situation as we are. She is living in a one-bedroomed home and as such she is going to need to find somewhere a bit bigger.
We have been looking hard and came across a 3-bedroom house for £400 a month which is really cheap but it looks in good nick. DSS will pay the majority of this - I will have to source £100 per month, but that's not a problem as I have savings.
I phoned the agency today to ask a couple of questions - she said that because I am under 25 I would need a guarantor. I did not mention that we would be claiming DSS, so if I did tell her this, would there still be need for a guarantor? Obviously as soon as I get a job, we would both stop claiming and I would have to pay for all the rent etc. using my income. Another problem is that I really don't know who to use as a guarantor - I know for a fact that my family won't, especially with the fact that I'm being thrown out of my house.

Anyone have any advice - we need to sort this out really soon and are trying to get as much advice off people as we can

Cheers,
Cyber

Omertron

You will need to tell them that you are on DSS. A lot of landlords will not take a DSS client due to the hassle you often get with the council re getting paid etc (Been there done that).

As to a guarantor, you'll probably still need one as they will want to know who'll pay the rent if you default. You could ask them if you could pay x months upfront - if you can afford it.

Can your g/f's parents be guarantor?

Cyberman82

I have spoken to them and they have said that they will accept DSS also we will be putting a bond down of £1200.
They want references from my partners current landlord, but due to a mix up when she started working (was told because of low wage council tax and rent would still be paid and wasnt told until three months later that its not the case so nothing had got paid). she ended up in £1000 debt (which has recently been paid off) but her landlord really has a problem with her and they have had run-ins in the past (my partner is not the only person) so do not want to ask them for a reference as she has been living in that house for five years, so thinking of saying that live with parents (her).
Cant use her parents as her Dad is on benefits as he is ill, and her Mum and Stepdad are now on benefits as he recently lost his job as the company closed down.

Any suggestions?

lynzpower

Is there any reason why you are not working? You said you left your old job voluntarily. You wont automatically not get HB/CTB depends on your working patterns and what moneys coming in, but that will really help.

No reason why you couldnt use your parents as a referee. Although it might be more useful to tell the truth. If your potential LL is happy to rent to DSS then they may well have experienced delays in HB coming on stream and other mess ups anyway.

td

On a less financial note don't panic about having room for the baby - even when our first arrived she didn't go into her own room for 5 months so maybe wait until you are in a better position tomove.

td

black-saturn

Another path you might be able to think about is ask your parents to write you a letter to say that they want you to leave. Surely they will do this for you? Then take it to your local council who may be able to house you in a 1 bedroom flat. Then you could ask your girlfriend to move in with you when she has the baby. A one bedroomed flat is considered room enough for a baby. Then hopefully when the baby gets older you might be entitled to a bigger place.

Cyberman82

lynzpower wrote:

Is there any reason why you are not working? You said you left your old job voluntarily. You wont automatically not get HB/CTB depends on your working patterns and what moneys coming in, but that will really help.

No reason why you couldnt use your parents as a referee. Although it might be more useful to tell the truth. If your potential LL is happy to rent to DSS then they may well have experienced delays in HB coming on stream and other mess ups anyway.

I left work because of problems there - the manager's kept on giving me other people's work because they knew that I could do it and even though I had several meetings with them to resolve it they never backed down. Now it's near enough impossible to find work again - I've signed up with numerous agencies with no luck yet I want to work but finding it is the trouble. I started claiming JSA but after they contacted my former manager he wrote back saying basically that I was talking a load of crap and ever since, the claim has been in dispute. The landlord has no problems accepting DSS - they have told us this, but I haven't actually asked whether we need a guarantor if we use DSS to pay the rent/council tax. Any idea?

black-saturn wrote:

Another path you might be able to think about is ask your parents to write you a letter to say that they want you to leave. Surely they will do this for you? Then take it to your local council who may be able to house you in a 1 bedroom flat. Then you could ask your girlfriend to move in with you when she has the baby. A one bedroomed flat is considered room enough for a baby. Then hopefully when the baby gets older you might be entitled to a bigger place.

My parents will write a letter (or at least my mother will). I was just hoping that we could set up a nice home together, because this place is really nice and cheap at £380 a month, ready (if indeed my girlfriend is pregnant) for the time the baby comes along. I want to do everything proper, and not end up having to move about from home to home all the time, as this will only cause stress for everyone, which is the last thing we want

Cyber

Cyberman82

Oh I forgot to add that I also have savings that I am willing to withdraw out of - I don't know how landlords work as I have never lived in rented accomodation (only with my parents). I could probably afford to pay rent in advance for about 3 months but I don't know how these things work and whether the landlord would consider it?

lynzpower

Cyber, perfectly clear. My understanding is you dont need, and shouldnt have a guarantor for HB. One of the downers for landlords is that housing benefit take a while to come "on stream" especially where I work in london some landlords are waiting 5 months to get income.

In this case, its not YOUR fault or your guarantors fault if HB take a while to pull thier finger out. So whatever you do, dont get a guarantor. But what I would do is fill out the HB forms with your LL or take photocopies and give them to your LL so that they know what date the letter/ application was sent. You can do, and should not do , any more than that. Ive never heard of guarantor needed for HB, or anyone having one. So you should be OK :-)

Hope this helps and all the very best for the future
Lynz
x

Cyberman82

Thanks for the advice all - I shall post back with the landlord/agency's replies on Tuesday after we have a good and proper viewing of the house. It's also the day my girlfriend has the results of the pregnancy test too so we'll see how things go!

Cyber

Alleycat

Good luck with the PG results!

I have only just found this thread, but had a thought (not sure how workable it is). If you are unable to find someone to act as a guarantor, do you think the landlord would settle for a copy of your savings account? I know its not guaranteed money for them if things went wrong, but it might show that you are reasonably financially secure. Its definately worth a shot, if you don't ask you don't get!

Apart from that, I know that some local authorities offer a Guarantors scheme for prospective private tenants. Might be worth contacting your housing advice service to enquire about that as well.