council tell landlord to increase my rent by £175

mimie

Since 2005 to date I have been renting from a private landlord (provided to me by the council), I am a single mum and work full time (always have worked), and do get some housing benefits towards my rent. My current is £750, last August my landlord informed me (shocked me is more like it ), that he is increasing my rent to £925, and that this increase is council approved ie the council told him that he could raise the rent and I would receive benefits towards it. I consulted the councils benefits department and they informed that because i am housing benefits and not local housing allowance, I will not be receiving any help. A rent of £925 is by far too expensive to my modest means, infactalmost equals my modest fulltime salary with NHS.
The benefits officer told me, then I should go and find myself another flat..I almost fell into depression and desperation, where am I going to get money for a deposit. I called the housing officer and he reassured me, that because thats not my fault, and I am going to made homeless, I will be entitled to a higher pirority on the housing list and will get rehoused in council place. Which ofcourse is what I really w..and and have waited for for 5 years, a place that I could afford and feel secure in. Now..my landlord, who doesnt want a new (unguaranteed) tenant or for me to leave yet ofcourse still wants his £925 per month rent, tells the benefits people that he is willing to stay without rent for a week, ie I dont claim for a week, and then put in a new claim so that my claim could be changed from housing benefits to local housing allowance..and the housing benefits department will let him do that !! Apparently he has 3 other properties, thats what he has done with all of them. Are they allowed to do that, are they twisting the law rounf to his benefits, despite that it will have deterimental effect on me. I am not given any choice..at the end of the day..i work and pay part of that rent..and the flat..is really not worth that much at all..its old, mouldy everywhere, carpets esp in my bedroom mouldy..no drying area..for 5 years I have been drying my clothes indoors..its just not worth £925. and no one from the council has come to see if its worth it. Shouldnt be given a choice, even if not provided with council accomdation, to take advantage of being transferred to local housing allowance to get maybe a place cheaper than £925 and keep the £15 per week the goverment is talking about to help people like myself..or is just a one way system to make the rich (my land lord) richer and the poor (me, single mum working fulltime with a 5 year old child ) poorer..isnt that pushing my child in more poverty......
I need help and advice, as I am getting extremely depressed and anxious over all this.

delain

I'm not sure i can offer any help, but i do feel for you. Hopefully it will get sorted in the end *hugs*

alwaysonthego_2

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

dmg24

The council have not told him to do this, and they are not twisting the law. Your landlord has researched how much the relevant LHA rate is (this information is available to anyone) and applied it to your property.

The £15 excess is being withdrawn shortly, so I would not take that into account in making your decision.

I'm not sure what advice it is that you need?

[Deleted User]

AFAIK its perfectly legal to miss a week then change to lha
As for the £15 week thats about to end next april and only applies if your LHA exceeds your payable rent by upto £15 per week,unlikely in your case with £925 mnth rent.
Cant you find anywhere cheaper?I know you mentioned a deposit but wont you get the current dep.returned?

mimie

thanks for your reply.. I am so upset, I couldnt even write clearly..crying and anxious.

well the local housing allowance for a 2 bedroom property in my area is £925..so he wants the maximum. As for the deposit..I initially 5 years ago, escaped domestic violence, and the council (kindly and I am grateful to the to this day ) paid the deposit for me. I just dont think nor feel its fair...how can justify paying £925 for a property they have not even seen..my landlord will not even get £750 for it in the open market..its that bad...isnt that tax payers money..they are handing to the rich..(he already has 3 properties which he gets £925 for)..properties that he doesnt renew..or do anything to...its as if the law and the council are on a mission to get him rich..it just doesnt seem right...can i disagree..or will i be making myself homeless..I would rather sign a lease for the £925 for a better place..at least I could dry my laundry..

dmg24

With LHA, the local authority rely on the tenant to decide whether a property is worth what the landlord is charging for it. They are essentially handing responsibility for any such decisions to the claimant.

Would the LA be willing to allow you to transfer the deposit to a new landlord?

always, although the OP has phrased it as a general question, I really think that this is a benefits issue, and could be lost on this board without the OP getting the help they need.

Thriftysaver

When you say mouldy. Do you mean damp?. That's a health issue and the council can make the landlord sort it out. DD could get asthma etc. or indeed yourself. If so get LHA to do an assessment.

Thriftysaver

SouthCoast

Speak to Shelter about your situation:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/

mimie

oh God ..you guys are all giving me so much advice..thanks so much..yes the carpet in the bedroom is mouldy..i have to scrub it with mt muscle bathroom, every so often..I ll have to tell them this..I am writing them a long letter.I ll also mention about transferring my deposit. its just so heart breaking, when you do everything thats "right", work fulltime, pay your bills, taxes etc..and all you get is hardship..and you see people who dont and get rehoused ..given houses with gardens etc..(good for them..I am not envious at all we all have different circumstances), the coucil actually told me it would be easier if I was on income support..and my landlord said that too...well I wont be crying my eyes out over the rent increase and try to fight it..make you wonder.strange system..Martin Lewis where are you??????this needs some whistle blowing !!!.

where can I post to get maximum response?

Anthillmob

dmg24 wrote: »

The council have not told him to do this, and they are not twisting the law. Your landlord has researched how much the relevant LHA rate is (this information is available to anyone) and applied it to your property.

The £15 excess is being withdrawn shortly, so I would not take that into account in making your decision.

I'm not sure what advice it is that you need?

and so it should. previous to that people were making an absolute mint. what an absolute eff up from the powers that be. lets chuck extra money @ people.

i have no problem with people claiming what they are entitled to unless they are taking the !!!! but this was a major thing that needed sorting. i dont get £15 extra a week on my DLA for being disabled or in my wages per week for working so why throw £15 a week at people in their housing benefit. plus it wasnt fair on those who didnt rent privately.

and the amount of people who dropped their claims when LHA first came in just to qualify for LHA and get the extra cash made my blood boil. greedy.

but this is probably a moan and whinge all on its own and not appreciated on this thread but i have to moan for the simple fact it wasnt fair.