Renting to DSS tenants

jockettuk

what if someone in a good job then gets made redundant and has to get lha help .. are they still no gooders as some suggesting

Jowo_2

ajones28 wrote: »

If this is the case then I apologise. The last time I was claiming HB I was in a Private rented property was approx. 4years ago and I chose to have it paid direct to my landlord. I did this for the whole tenancy which was upto about two and a half years ago. If the rules have changed since then or if its a matter of different area - different rules I don't know. .

One of the primary changes in the switch to LHA from HB in April 2008 is that the tenant or landlord can no longer insist that the landlord is paid directly. It is paid as a matter of course to the tenant to empower them and make them responsible for their budget and improve their ability to shop around for new accommodation.

Councils tend to only pay the landlord when the tenant is classed as vulnerable by them or are 2 months in arrears.

Note that this applies to private landlords only - after the government insisted that the tenants need to be responsible for their own budget, they protected local councils and housing associations from this so they get paid directly the HB for social housing tenants!

Wee_Willy_Harris

clutton wrote: »

WWH says ""As for the reluctance of LLs to take LHA claimants, I think the physical evidence would indicate this not to be a major issue as the number of homeless applications from those who have had an AST ended has not markedly increased since prior to LHA being introduced. ""

There are many many landlords who have not evicted their LHA arrears-tenant - simply because they now get their rent direct from the council and they would be mad to end such a tenancy - as someone has said - the council wont run out of money...... maybe.......

There are millions of pounds worth of arrears in this country .... and my guess would be that a higher percentage of those are from benefit tenants....

We were discussing the risks of letting to LHA tenants. You have demonstrated how those risks are often mitigated BECAUSE they are LHA tenants and enjoy acces to proceedures and payment methods not open to LLs renting to non LHA tenants..

Wee_Willy_Harris

ajones28 wrote: »

As for the legalities around stipulating in the Contract that the rent is paid direct, I presume if the LA do it then it could be added and surely if that is not done then surely it is a breach of Contract and therefore a valid reason to threaten eviction.

No, it's not.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Jowo wrote: »

Yes, the legal process for serving notice and gaining possession back is identical whether the tenant pays through earned income or benefits.

But where it diverges is that an employed tenant will usually encounter little difficulty in finding onward accommodation, knowing that they would get short thrift if they presented themselves as potentially homeless to the council.

In contrast, a tenant on benefits is more likely to seek council support when they have no accommodation organised in the next 28 days and therefore be instructed by the council to ignore the notice that's been served.

Working tenants rarely resort to applying as homeless to the local council when served notice, knowing the most they'll get is a list of local B&Bs. Tenants on benefits are much more likely to apply as homeless, knowing that councils have a statutory obligation to house them.

Councils advising tenants to ignore a notice to quit are very few and far between. In fact, I would go so far as to say that NO council would advise this as a course of action. To insist that a landlord goes to court before the tenant would be regarded as homeless is also rare and very poor practice. The Homeless Code of Guidance for LAs makes this quite clear. Any approach to a LA will be given full advice on what their rights are, that is only fair. They may take that advice and CHOOSE to remain rather than taking the (often very poor quality) temp that may otherwise be offered. Such is their right.

Jowo_2

I know the guidance makes it quite clear that a local council shouldn't tell a tenant to stay in the property and ignore the notice until a court order is obtained but here are various landlords who cite problems of this nature.

"I am assuming that I will have to go down the court road as I was told by LB Hounslow that they advise their tenants to stay put for as long as possible."

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=29116

"if you were in Westminster [trying to evict a tenant] this would be going to cost you a substantial amount of money because the Council will not house anyone who has voluntarily made themselves homeless by leaving on receipt of a Section 21 or 8"

http://propertytribes.ning.com/forum/topics/do-evicted-tenants-stand-more

"I let my home in Yorkshire on a six-month tenancy agreement, which expires next week; the tenants have been given three months' notice to vacate. The estate agent tells me that the local council advised the tenants to “stay put” until legal action is taken. Meanwhile, my daughter and I will be homeless. "

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article5196526.ece
"
The tenants were aware that the Rileys wanted their property back at the beginning of July, so the family were shocked when they received a phone call from the tenants' daughter saying that Enfield council had advised her parents not to vacate the property.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/aug/31/debt.renting

"So we are now at the stage of applying to the courts for the bailiff to remove our tenant, who has been advised by the council to wait until he is notified that the bailiffs are being called in, before they will re-house"

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=20917

"We have given the tenant two months notice and its the end of his 6 month contract. and was due to leave tomorrow.
The agents have phoned to announce to us that he has emiled them to say hes not leaving and apparantely hes been down to the council for advice who have told him he has 28 days grace(?) even though hes 6 months are done and we gave him the two months notice."

http://www.landlordzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18974

C_Mababejive

dlk wrote: »

A tad harsh to say people who rent are a blight on a neighbourhood!

I'm generalising of course...you know who i mean

fkelanne

i get housing benefit, when i went onto it the coucil asked me if i wanted it paid to me or my landlord so it is up to you. you can ask them to get it paid to you if you wish. i also still had to pay a bond. plus one months rent before moving in.
i really dont no why people think just coz you are getting housing ben you wont pay the rent! i work for what ive got and due to been silly when young with money i cant get a mortgage thats the only reason i rent for!

Jowo_2

"Between April 2008 and October 2009 over 80% of tenants who have received direct payment of LHA in the form of a cheque made payable to them have cashed it and not paid the money to me, their landlord....63% of the tenants who have had their housing benefit paid directly
to themselves and have kept it, have left as soon or very soon after direct payment to them was stopped. Presumably to do the same with other landlords...9% of all LHA claims have not been paid due to the difficulty of claiming. Typically the tenant leaves before the claim can be
processed, and without the tenant's co-operation the claim cannot be successfully completed and I am not paid. ..Since April 2008 where I have let houses or flats to tenants on LHA or they have lost their job and had to claim LHA, I have evicted or in process of evicting 1 2 families, mainly due to their failure to pay the Housing Benefit they received to me, or on one occasion, their failure to process their claim for Housing Benefit. This represents 40% of the houses and flats I let to families on Housing Benefit.....In all cases, where direct payment has been made to me because the tenant is eight weeks in arrears, the tenant has not paid their arrears or made any attempt to do so... There has however been an increase recently in those I have to formally evict.. more are waiting for the bailiff to evict them. During the 14-20 weeks this takes I do not receive any rent. The
tenants do not appear to be unduly upset at being evicted or being asked to leave and they appear to easily find accommodation elsewhere."

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmworpen/memo/local/ucm8602.htm

experience of a landlord with 18 years experience who decided to start letting to LHA tenants after ceasing to do so because of bad experience with HB tenants.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Jowo wrote: »

I know the guidance makes it quite clear that a local council shouldn't tell a tenant to stay in the property and ignore the notice until a court order is obtained but here are various landlords who cite problems of this nature.

"I am assuming that I will have to go down the court road as I was told by LB Hounslow that they advise their tenants to stay put for as long as possible."

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=29116

Notice not expired on date of post.

"if you were in Westminster [trying to evict a tenant] this would be going to cost you a substantial amount of money because the Council will not house anyone who has voluntarily made themselves homeless by leaving on receipt of a Section 21 or 8"

http://propertytribes.ning.com/forum/topics/do-evicted-tenants-stand-more

Notice not even served on this one.

"I let my home in Yorkshire on a six-month tenancy agreement, which expires next week; the tenants have been given three months' notice to vacate. The estate agent tells me that the local council advised the tenants to “stay put” until legal action is taken. Meanwhile, my daughter and I will be homeless. "

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article5196526.ece

Again, notice not expired.

"The tenants were aware that the Rileys wanted their property back at the beginning of July, so the family were shocked when they received a phone call from the tenants' daughter saying that Enfield council had advised her parents not to vacate the property.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/aug/31/debt.renting

Again, notice not expired.

"So we are now at the stage of applying to the courts for the bailiff to remove our tenant, who has been advised by the council to wait until he is notified that the bailiffs are being called in, before they will re-house"

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=20917

"We have given the tenant two months notice and its the end of his 6 month contract. and was due to leave tomorrow.
The agents have phoned to announce to us that he has emiled them to say hes not leaving and apparantely hes been down to the council for advice who have told him he has 28 days grace(?) even though hes 6 months are done and we gave him the two months notice."

http://www.landlordzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18974

Again, notice not expired.

In only ONE of the above examples has the notice actually been served and expired. In one case, it hadn't even been served!!