Renting - what are my chances?

smj43

I am looking to rent my first property. My girlfriend has recently given birth to our little girl and we need to move from her parents house. I'm looking to rent privately. Now here are the problems....

Firstly, I have no choice but to claim partial LHA for the time being until my girlfriend can go back to work. I am on a low wage and my income will not cover rents, bills and living. I know this rules out most properties as most landlords will not accept this.

Next, my girlfriend and I don't have good credit. We don't have 'adverse' credit, just too many searches and lack of history. Everything we do have (credit cards, phone bills, etc), are paid on time every month. How extensive are estate agents' credit checks? Are they mainly looking for defaults or CCJs?

I have the money for security deposits and rent advance, so this isn't a problem.

Will I be able to get somewhere for us to live? Using a guarantor isn't an option.

BitterAndTwisted

smj43 wrote: »

Are they mainly looking for defaults or CCJs? Yes, they are and that's for the most part all that they will be able to see. The details of applications etcetera are only available to lenders, banks and credit-card companies.

I have the money for security deposits and rent advance, so this isn't a problem. Good.

Will I be able to get somewhere for us to live? Using a guarantor isn't an option.

Of course you will! LHA is paid to the tenant so a landlord wouldn't even know that you've applied for it, but might be able to guess from the proportion of rent-payable to your income. Don't be tempted to try and rent a three bedroomed property as you may only be entitled to claim the equivalent of a one-bed for the three of you.

krycek985

You could also rent private as well. Dont need to use an estate agent. All of my flats have been let privat eand never had any trouble so far.

smj43

I know LHA says we are 'eligible' for a 2 bed property so we wouldn't go for anything bigger than this. I have queried with estate agents before about their views on tenants who claim LHA and a lot of them seem to be against it. I was even told by 1 agent that I needed to earn 3x the rent before they would let me rent. That would be around £3000 PCM! If I earned this much money, I wouldn't be renting. Does anybody know of agents that will accept LHA tenants? Or a safe place to rent privately? I have heard too many horror stories about renting on Gumtree etc.

BitterAndTwisted

If agents are sniffy about tenants claiming LHA then just don't tell them. The money is paid over directly to you, so they don't need to know. All you need to do is to prove to them that you can pass the affordability test and that could entail earning certain multiples of the proposed rent. If that doesn't satisfy them then you could offer to pay several month's rent in advance if you can't supply a guarantor.

smj43

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If agents are sniffy about tenants claiming LHA then just don't tell them. The money is paid over directly to you, so they don't need to know. All you need to do is to prove to them that you can pass the affordability test and that could entail earning certain multiples of the proposed rent. If that doesn't satisfy them then you could offer to pay several month's rent in advance if you can't supply a guarantor.

Well I can't afford it, hence claiming LHA, so therefore won't pass any affordability tests. I make just over the average rent in my area. Obviously looking at my income, any estate agent would know I can't afford the rent as well as living expenses. So not telling the agent about LHA is not an option.

I can't afford a rent advance either. I can afford the deposit and at most 2 months rent up front.

Jowo_2

Your historic posts indicated that you live in London because you were then seeking 2 bed properties in Zone 3 at £1300 per month - are you aware about the future signficant changes being made to LHA?

For example, the move to calculating LHA based on the 30th percentile of rents in an area rather than the 50th which means that it will be based on the bottom third of local rents rather than the median? And the proposed £290 weekly cap for a 2 bedroomed property ? This is a guide that shows how households will be affected. The LHA direct and Turn2us online benefit calculator will also help you.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/housing-benefit

smj43

Thank you I know this. My rent will not be more than £290 per week anyway and I'm not going to be claiming for my full rent to be paid. I don't think the changes will affect me? I thought these changes were designed to stop unemployed people claiming for full rent on expensive homes?

[Deleted User]

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Of course you will! LHA is paid to the tenant so a landlord wouldn't even know that you've applied for it, but might be able to guess from the proportion of rent-payable to your income. Don't be tempted to try and rent a three bedroomed property as you may only be entitled to claim the equivalent of a one-bed for the three of you.

Councils write to the landlords so they would definitely know. Proof of income ie salary slips, etc is standard practice also.

Some private landlords will probably deal with you but since rent has been paid to tenants not landlords this has dwindled as a proportion. Don't be offended if you get turned down as the terms of many buy to let mortgages stipulate no DSS and this could be the reason.

Good luck and hope you get a nice home

Jowo_2

[quote=[Deleted User];41527712]Councils write to the landlords so they would definitely know. [/QUOTE]

Under the old HB system, yes, but under the new LHA system, no - the payments go directly to the tenant who simply supplies them with a copy of the tenancy agreement with their LHA application.

Landlords are not notified. However, as you've already indicated, basic upfront tenant screening will flag up that the OP cannot afford the rent and will have entitlement to LHA.

[Deleted User]

Jowo wrote: »

Under the old HB system, yes, but under the new LHA system, no - the payments go directly to the tenant who simply supplies them with a copy of the tenancy agreement with their LHA application.

Landlords are not notified. However, as you've already indicated, basic upfront tenant screening will flag up that the OP cannot afford the rent and will have entitlement to LHA.

There are two of mine that I have had HB, albeit not recently and the council write from time to time to advise about changes to the claimants money, delays and periodically they write to tell me to notify them should there be a change in the tenant's circumstances.

Have the above stopped as well? If so I will have to be wary with some of mine.

As a side note I wouldn't recommend deceiving your landlord, besides common decency, it probably wouldn't do you any favours if you ended up in a legal dispute with them.