Renting to DSS

barnaby-bear

geek0 wrote: »

As for getting people to move out i would imagine the tennant would be bound by the rules of their tennancy agreement like everyone else

They are - any tenant can choose to ignore notice and force a LL to go for formal eviction through a long and expensive process however a working private tenant who stands no hope of social housing will usually take the notice and move on wanting to keep a good LL reference to get the next place, won't want the record of court action and usually has the funds to move plus can access all the "no DSS" rentals available. A "DSS" tenant may find it hard to move on as fewer rentals take such tenants, may find it harder to get the funds to move on and may also stand a good chance of getting cheap, stable social housing - they can increase their chances staying put and some councils advise this and so they need the formal eviction process to access what is probably the most suitable housing.

silvercar

barnaby-bear wrote: »

They are - any tenant can choose to ignore notice and force a LL to go for formal eviction through a long and expensive process however a working private tenant who stands no hope of social housing will usually take the notice and move on wanting to keep a good LL reference to get the next place, won't want the record of court action and usually has the funds to move plus can access all the "no DSS" rentals available. A "DSS" tenant may find it hard to move on as fewer rentals take such tenants, may find it harder to get the funds to move on and may also stand a good chance of getting cheap, stable social housing - they can increase their chances staying put and some councils advise this and so they need the formal eviction process to access what is probably the most suitable housing.

True, but it can also work in reverse. A private tenant may be hoping to get council accommodation and therefore be following the council guidelines on waiting til the last minute in order to be deemed involuntarily homeless. A benefit tenant evicted for rent arrears would be classed as voluntarily homeless, have no chance of being rehoused by the council so may know to sort themeselves out.

Kitten_Pie

I have had both.
First HB was great paid on time kept the place nice, even did the place up a bit. Was my first ever tenant so next time i was happy to use someone on HB however they got into arrears, not hugely but £30 every month which then go higher and higher. Gave them notice and they moved out no problem.

Went with a private tenant recently and am having to get them out due to them subletting to huge numbers of people who are noisy and causing lots of disruption.

I am not put off HB in fact would be more inclinded to go with them because the council do pay some if not all the rent.

socrates

Kitten_Pie wrote: »

I am not put off HB in fact would be more inclinded to go with them because the council do pay some if not all the rent.

Difference is now they pay ALL of it to the tenant not some of it to you

jacnorm

I rent privately and have done for years I have never missed the rent or been late with any payments and we are H/B tenants. Please do as others have said and dont judge us all the same some of us are decent people and do pay the rent and look after the property afterall it is our home.

mlz1413

Are you in england / wales or scotland? Scotland has different laws for LL to E&W.

I think with DSS / LHA you need to ensure they understand the rent needs paying to you on the date agreed as per the contract and that it is up to them to sort out the LHA payments they receive. Any prospective tenant that thinks its up to the LL to chase the benefits scheme is going to be hard work and best avoided.

A guarantor is a good idea.

clutton_2

renting to LHA tenants is much riskier than with HB tenants - and landlords up and down the country are losing money hand over fist with tenants absconding with money.

having said all that - i have housed benefit folks for 10 years, and still do -

but i now take an inordinate amount of time to check all the infomration they give me, i insist on getting guarantors who are working - i need bank statements, pay slips, proof of address for several years, work reference, National insurance number, passport/driving license, CCJ/credit check - and now i insist on a new tenant opening a joint bank account for LHA with me - and that i have the authority to withdraw funds

this may sound very harsh, but, any tenant who is utterly determined to pay their rent will not have a problem with all of this

in return, i do repairs as quickly as i can, i sometimes give bonuses for clean houses at christmas and i generally look after my tenants .....

now that i have taken on direct LHA payment again, i write to both tenant and local authority every month to get a confirmation that the tenants circumstances, and therefore, eligiibility for LHA has not changed - hopefully - if a claw-back of benefit is every contemplated, this could be enough to prevent my losing all the rent i have receieved - but this is a gamble...

having said all this, i meet the prospective tenant first, and form my own judgement .... i take folks as i find them - and i have only been Really conned twice in 10 years - and they were very clever con-merchants

there are LLs who will take Benefit folks, but you must be prepared to provide a lot more information than in the past

Welshwoofs

jac/norm wrote: »

Please do as others have said and dont judge us all the same some of us are decent people and do pay the rent and look after the property afterall it is our home.

This isn't a personal thing though, it's about risk assessment. Nobody on this thread has judged anyone.

When LLs received payments for rent direct from local authorities the risk was extremely low, now the payments go to the tenant the risk is high. When all is said and done you're trusting a total stranger to pay for and take care of a large asset of yours. Most people in those circumstances will go for the option which represents the least amount of risk. It's not personal, it's just pragmatic

Jowo_2

I'm with Welshwoofs on this one - I would never rent to LHA tenants for being too risky. It's a real shame to me that the safety net of social housing has all but evaporated but many private landlords aren't cut out to fill this vacuum of dealing with complex social problems and chaotic lifestyles that some tenants have.

Regretably, the only 3 LHA tenants I personally know are my alcoholic or workshy or cash-in-hand relatives who are sob-story addicts. In addition, my partner rented their property to the council to house LHA tenants on their waiting lists and now the freeholder and neighbours are furious with a stream of anti social tenants, who have apparently wrecked the interior.

Clutton has provided some good tips and you will find others here

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=18
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/tenant_screening.htm

Angelhales2601

Im a DSS tenant keep my place neat and tidy, always pay rent on time because its always their and as a LA pointed out to me when I was looking for my latest property DSS is the only guarenteed income atm, as people are losing jobs like wildfire!

We arent all bad! Honest!