fasttrack?

sheady78

Has anyone had any dealings with this company (Fasttrack) im in desperate need to find a lha/dss house that is a four bed local to me , this company want a reasonable upfront fee and offer a low and stated deposit which ends up cheaper than a deposit and a months rent. Now i wasn't born yesterday so can it be too good to be true???? Has anyone any info on them please. Dont want to waste my time and money if they are a con.

Many thanks and apologise as this is my first ever post

ILW

Tell them you will pay their fee after you move in, if they will not accept that ask why.

sheady78

Always think its a con when companies want money upfront maybe i should keep plodding on with the search.

It gets soo deflaiting being told no because im on benefits, i am seperated and have five kids was staying in marital home but we need to rent it out or it will be repossed as neither of us can afford to keep it on and if its repossed we will both have to go bankrupt due having negative equity which wont help the kids in any way, i was self employed market trader for three years after seperating but had to give it up due to economic climate like many hey.

Thanks all , nice to see everyone on here tryin to get the [EMAIL="bugg@s"]bugg@s[/EMAIL] that try to make it bad for us mere mortals lol.:beer:

Trollfever

Have you spoken to your local council housing dept?

princeofpounds

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sheady78

Yep and because I live in exs house I can't get anything towards housing or council tax except single persons rate which was a struggle it's a joke to be honest. That's why I'm looking into private renting, I'm low priority even though I am more and more in debt the longer I live here! Because I have a roof over my head I will always be last to be accepted if I bid on anything.

Svenena

How much up front fee do this company want? You said it was 'reasonable'... what does it include, and how does it compare to what you'd pay other LAs in the area?

Just my personal opinion, but I don't think this company sound that bad. They are saying they can get often get landlords "above open market value rents", by basing the rents on LHA rates. If they did this, then the rent would be more than that of 50% of the available private properties in the area, so I suppose that's a fair statement to make. On the other hand, that doesn't mean they're overcharging the tenant. If you are claiming the full amount of LHA, it doesn't make much difference whether the rent is equal to or below the LHA rate.

I might be missing something, but I think it sounds like a good idea to help those on LHA find privately let properties (which can be difficult). To make this work, they obviously have to appeal to the landlords, which they do by charging a fair, competitive rate of rent, pointing out that social tenants may (no guarantee of course, although backed by some kind of report) want longer tenancies, and vetting the tenants. If this is done thoroughly, it seems like this could work well for all concerned parties.

The main flaw I see is that if they haven't got enough tenants/landlords signed up to this, there's no guarantee they can meet there promises of fewer/shorter voids for LLs, or available housing for Ts.

freespirit

I've been wondering about this company for a few weeks myself. It's so new, there is very little about it to be found in search engines.

The initial fee is £99, then you pay the rest when they find you somewhere and you're ready to move in (in my case, rent between £350 and £1000 pcm = £499 fee in total, so £400 after the £99 is subtracted). Registration is free, and you can view their properties online, but you have to give them your phone number, and this makes me a bit wary of being pestered on the phone, and being put on the spot etc :embarasse

The only property I've found that would take housing benefit, was through a letting agent, who wanted £250 non-refundable fees, plus a guarantor, plus a month's rent and deposit of £750. The guarantor is the main problem for me, but paying £250 in fees is a bit steep. I've been with a letting agency in Scotland for a few years, and have by-passed referencing fees when I've given them a larger than normal deposit. At least I'll get that back. No need for guarantors. I'm trying to move to England, Kent, and it's not been easy so far.

I agree with OP, and I don't want to be taken for a ride.

Associate

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had any feedback on this company. They are actually recommended by my local authority - Tower Hamlets Council - as a company people seeking privately rented accommodation, who are on DSS, should contact.

If anyone has had experience with them, do they find properties quite quickly?


Would you recommend the use of their service?


Thanks.

Jay

fasttrak

As the managing director of FastTrak I just wanted to provide some clarification on the upfront fee issue for any reader.

Renting with housing benefit is very difficult - landlords are reluctant to accept housing benefit and the fees are high as some people have commented. FastTrak was set up to provide tenants in receipt of housing benefit access to a wider selection of property and to reduce the upfront costs associated with renting.

We do this by pre-referencing the tenant to provide the landlord confidence that the tenant is a good bet and we provide the landlord certain guarantees.

There are two ways to apply:
1. Make an application for us to find you a home.
We need to do the work in referencing you, for which we incur costs. We then need to invest time into searching for a property just for you which also has a cost for us. We ask the tenant to make payment of 99.00 to help cover these costs and show commitment to us, however we only take payment of the balance of the fee due when you find a property. There is also a refund policy in the event that we genuinely can not find you suitable property.

2. Make an application on a specific property we advertise
You can register on the website for free and keep an eye out yourself for suitable property. Whilst we cant then conduct a personal search for you, we do advertise any properties that we have available and you can call us to arrange a viewing on anything that looks suitable. You then only need to pay an application fee when you have already found a property you like.

I hope this helps.

Happy househunting.
Damon Thomas