Housing benefit -will I be entitled?

msmicawber

Hi hm2be,

Yes, it is a problem finding landlords that will take you if you're in receipt of benefit and you can't hide it from letting agencies because they have a duty to the landlord to ensure that you are in a position to pay the rent, so they perform financial checks on you. Some landlords are biased and won't even consider you, so you just have to keep looking, I'm afraid. You also cannot prove that the Council will pay your housing benefit beforehand as they will only consider the claim once you've got a tenancy agreement. You can, however, ask them to advise whether the accommodation and rent are reasonable and give you an indication in advance of how much they would pay towards your rent. (I'm in the same position myself as I'm on a low income topped up with benefits.)

Could/would your parents (or a friend or family member) stand guarantor for your rent? If so, that tends to make landlords view you more favourably.

You'll also need a deposit and a month's rent in advance in most (all?) private letting circumstances. I'd recommend contacting your local council or CAB and finding out about any local schemes for lending deposits.

I hope all goes well for you.

jonuk7

Me and the missus have recently split and have an 18month old baby, now at the time we were living in Military housing (through my job). however now we have split she is moving out and originally applied to the council for a council house, when she took the forms in they basically said "thanks it could take up to 2 years". a little disheartend we started looking at other options, we came across the rent privatley theory. Went into the local estate agents "Reids Associates" explained she needed a 2 bed (the baby is living with her) and asked what they had. We were shown a really nice 2 bed semi priced at £450pcm, they explained that she needed to fill in a reference check form and this was charged at £30, then it was the deposit of month and half rent, first month rent in advance and the estate agent admin fee. We came home and had a chat about it etc... when we went back to the estate agents and said she was really intrested she said fill in the reference form dont worry about the £30 charge, so she did. we filled in a "pre-tenancy agreement" for the council (used to check the rent is fairly priced for the area, got a letter back 3 days later from the council saying all was good and they agreed to pay £450 p/m in housing benefit, luckily her dad had agreed to give her the money for the deposit, so she got that sent direct to the estate agents (cheque) This was on 14th Sept, went in on the 15th and said her dad had posted the cheque, went to the council and gave them the housing benefit form, popped back into the estate agents and was given the agreement there and then, signed it and was given the keys to her new house.
Bearing in mind she is only 19, our little boy is living with her, they have asked for no guarantor, no proof of income, they have just took her word that she can afford it, because it later came back that it doesnt matter what the reference check shows its just an admin exercise. and she no longer has to wait 2 years for a council house.
Sorry for going on, hope it helped.
not sure if the estate agents is National or the one here is the only one but definatley try them.

As for the rent deposit scheme the council run, its very very strict criteria, the big point been:

1) You are likely to become homless within the next 3 months-Involuntary.

2) You are able to maintain the rent.

Hope it helped.
Jon