question for landlords

TAZ

i am in the process of trying to find a property to rent and i suppose on paper i am one of the wrong type of tenants wanted, ie in receipt of housing benefit, have a large family(5 children) and have pets but all that said i have been in my present property for 9 years,no prpblems with the landlord or neighbours etc but still i find it hard to find a DSS acceptable property. is it something to do with how the property is been paid for, that make it unacceptable.
and the other question i had was, is there a website anywhere where indiviual landlord can post properties they have available, i am sure in the past i have been to a site that links all of the most popular websites but cannot find it now.
thank you for any advice you can give me in this matter , and before anyone gets the idea that i am just sponging off the state etc etc, i am actually a full time carer for my disabled hubby.

lynzpower

I work in social services and I feel for you as your situation is not uncommon

the main reasons summarised as such
1) that LLs presume that anyone on benfits must be anti-social, stream of asbos, burnt out fridges in thier front etc.
2) that housing benefit is notorious at taking nigh on forever to cough up to private landlords some of my clients have been waiting almost a year for HB to pay up. Not good enough for anyone as the LL has to pay for the property overheads until HB pay out.

Given your circumstances, have you asked the council to rehouse you? Youd be in priority need, with children and with your husband having a disability?

Additionally, each LA will have a priovate lettings officer that sources property from private LLs, so they would be a good place to start.

Hope this helps
Lynz
x

black-saturn

I'm not a landlord but my ex was and I used to sort his paperwork out. He used to take DSS tenants but the reason why quite a few landlords didn't was that there was a backlog of work at the HB office. A tenant which had just moved in would have to wait 4 months before any of their rent was paid. Therefore the landlord wouldnt get any money from that tenant for 4 months. It was backdated when it was finally paid though.

TAZ

lynzpower wrote:

Given your circumstances, have you asked the council to rehouse you? Youd be in priority need, with children and with your husband having a disability?

x

thank you both for taking the time to post andit does make things a little clearer fot me

Lynz, i am actually trying for council property at the moment but our LA HAVE BROUGHT IN A NEW "BIDDING" system which altho good in letting you say which property you have an interest in, can be somewhat annoying as they don't quite seem to have got it working right yet,
ie i bid on a 4 bedroomed property back in late Jan, having heard nothing and having seen no feedback(they publish letting feedback) regarding this property i went into my local office in late feb, where i found out, (by very helpful staff member ,;) that the property had been offered and withdrawn on 2 occasions to single mothers with 3 children, withdrawn because they didn't match the specs required for the property, i am actually 7th on the list for that property that has not as yet been let, all of those above me are classed as homeless, i actually hope that the other 5 don't match the specs and then maybe i stand a chance

Gorgeous_George

I only have one BTL so all my eggs are in one basket. I prefer working couples because they are not in the house as much as non-working couples might be and therefore less wear and tear.

I let the house at just £80 per week but would need more if HB were paying the rent to justify any delays and additional paperwork that I would need to complete.

If I had 10 houses, I would probably be better positioned to have a mix of tenants.


GG

clutton_2

i think another reason is that HB rarely pay the full market rental - and decent landlords know that folks on Income Support can not afford any kind of sensible top up to bring the rental up to a market value; also private rentals can be increased every year by a reasonable sum - whereas HB rentals are increased by the council by a few pence in a year.

Having said all that many many HB tenants are decent folk, and will often stay as tenants for years and years.

However, legislation is afoot (currently being trialed in Blackpool and 2 other places) which may mean that landlords will not be allowed to be paid their rental directly from the HB office - the rent will go to the tenants directly.

This will further reduce the number of landlords willing to offer a home to HB tenants.

Plus Tenants deposits will be regulated from next September.

Finally - for a landlord to buy a house large enough for a family of your size, often means that the profit on rentals is very very low indeed, as house prices have gone up - but rents have not kept pace.

TAZ

i have paid the top up on my property for the last 9 years it started off at £10 a week but now has dropped to £5 a week (after my last son). in all this time have never had a problem with my HB been paid, even got an overlap of HB when we moved.
i have a big problem finding a 4 bedroomed house maybe that why, there is less 4 bedded so my options are shortened
thanks for you imput itsgood to hear from the other side anyway

lynzpower

Taz

incidentally, is your landlord going to formally evict you? if oyu havent been through this before, discuss it with your landlord. If your LL isnt going to evict you properly, you CAN be found intentionally homeless, so ensure that your landlord is going by the book on this one. Fair enough he might want to sell or live there himself, but unless you have been formally evicted via the court system ( dont worry theres nothing to be afraid of, this is really a box ticking excercise for the local authority then the state can find that you are intentionally homeless for leaving the property when you guys coulod legally have stayed. It is a expensive pain in the rear for your LL,but unfortunately as the way things are at the moment, a neccesary evil. Talk to one of the housing officers at your LA to find out more about this and gain an understanding of why this has to happen. you wont be classed as homeless unfortunately until this has happened.

HTH
Lynz
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clutton_2

i dont know if this would help you or not, but, in many areas, tenants such as yourselves attract "free Central heating" grants for properties which currently are not centrally heated. Maybe this might induce a landlord to take you on - as it is not a well known or even well publicised grant ?

gallygirl

Taz, I have 4 BTL's and agree with the other postings. I would welcome the opportunity to have HB tenants - long term, guaranteed rent etc, however I cannot afford to pay the mortgage for 4 months while HB is processed.

Sorry you are having such problems, hope you get something soon.

Tassotti

If HB is paid directly to the LL, and the tenant is working cash in hand and found out, the council reclaim all the rent paid back from the landlord.

If HB paid to the tenant directly, they go out and buy new things for themselves, and don't bother paying the rent.

I am not saying this applies to you, but it does happen. It happened to me, and I will NEVER take HB tenants again.

I am sure there are good HB tenants out there (I was one many moons ago, and you sound like you are a good one) but this puts LLs off