Quick guide on how not to get ripped off by landlords

chrissie22

I dont know why most landlords dont accept housing benefit, its paid directly to the landlord and is never missed, its garenteed (sp) to be paid. And so what if the tenant is on a low income as long as the rent is paid on time and in full surely thats all that should matter to a landlord.

I also think all rented properties should have key gas and electricity meters installed so if a low income tenant cannot afford to pay the gas or electric then its them who will have to go without, it will not affect the landlord at all.

helpthetenant

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

If they don't, you could try Rentokil.

I can't use Rentokil on the trolls. But I can ask moderarators to ban them if they make sarcastic and offensive remarks like you:D.

casper_g

chrissie22 wrote: »

I also think all rented properties should have key gas and electricity meters installed so if a low income tenant cannot afford to pay the gas or electric then its them who will have to go without, it will not affect the landlord at all.

As a private tenant who quite likes getting a good deal on his utilities, I'm glad this piece of advice has zero chance of being put into action!

helpthetenant

chrissie22 wrote: »

I dont know why most landlords dont accept housing benefit, its paid directly to the landlord and is never missed, its garenteed (sp) to be paid. And so what if the tenant is on a low income as long as the rent is paid on time and in full surely thats all that should matter to a landlord.

Exactly, many landlords don't accept people on benefit because they want to avoid taxes, because they don't trust people on low income and also because they associate people on benefit with troublemakers. In a few words they want an easy job without any risks.
If you decide to become a landlord you are deciding to get paid, it's a job, and like any other job it can be difficult and you have to deal with risks. If you are a shop owner, a doctor or a dentist you can't discriminate against men, people on low income, students, people on benefit. If a disabled guy on low income comes to your shop to buy something you are not allowed to reject him, so I don't understand why it's still legal for landlords and bankers to reject them. I have been refused twice a bank account because I was on low income. Why politicians don't do anything about it? What are they waiting for? Are they afraid of going against the rich arrogant and selfish businessmen born with a silver spoon in their mouth?

FTBFun

helpthetenant wrote: »

Exactly, many landlords don't accept people on benefit because they want to avoid taxes,

Don't be ridiculous - it's still taxable income. Receiving housing benefit payments is still rental income and still required to be reported to the taxman.

If anything receiving a government payment is more likely to be traceable by HMRC.

N79

chrissie22 wrote: »

I dont know why most landlords dont accept housing benefit, its paid directly to the landlord

No it is not (it is paid to the T unless they are "vulnerable" or in serious arrears. Neither is an ideal T.

chrissie22 wrote: »

and is never missed,

No it is not - Ts often fail to complete paperwork in time or sometimes LAs are just inefficient. Some Ts then claim that the resultant arrears are not their problem.

chrissie22 wrote: »

its garenteed (sp) to be paid.

No it is not. - If the claim later turns out to be fraudulent then the LA can demand the LL repay the money. Ouch.

Perhaps you can now begin to see why these Ts are less attractive.

chrissie22 wrote: »

And so what if the tenant is on a low income as long as the rent is paid on time and in full surely thats all that should matter to a landlord.

So long as the income is sufficient to cover the rent then I agree that the absolute income is not relevant.

chrissie22 wrote: »

I also think all rented properties should have key gas and electricity meters installed so if a low income tenant cannot afford to pay the gas or electric then its them who will have to go without, it will not affect the landlord at all.

Debts don't affect the LL anyway. Unfortunately, pre pay meters are a rip off in the UK. They companies charge significantly more for the power while the collection and admin costs to the company of using a prepayment meter are lower (typically 5% instead of 20% for a credit meter) as they can outsource most of the billing. That 5% will drop further if they manage to bully the government into allowing remote operated key meters (ie with a phone to allow them to be managed remotely).

chrissie22

Casper, it has been said that LLs wont accept housing benefit because they dont like people on low income, there are many many homeless people out there who need somewhere to live, if they have a place to live they stand more chance of getting a job, the landlord will always get his/her rent, the other main concern of a landlord is that the utility bills will not be paid by someone one on a low income/benefits but by putting meters into their properties these bills are sure to get paid. Maybe it does have zero chance of being put into action but it should be considered by a landlord if that is one of the reasons they will not accept those on HB.

Thankfully in my area there are quite a few LLs who work with the local housing companies and will advertise their properties to let in the housing offices, they get the deposit paid by the council and the monthly rent goes straight to them, if any damage is done by the tenants then the housing company will pay for this and they are the ones who will chase the tenants for it, and of course the tenants will not be offered any further housing with in the private sector or by the housing associations so its in their interest to keep the property in good order. The landlords do install prepay meters in most of their properties and so far the scheme seems to be working well as more and more landlords are using the scheme.

00ec25

chrissie22 wrote: »

I dont know why most landlords dont accept housing benefit, its paid directly to the landlord and is never missed, its garenteed (sp) to be paid.

Not quite, LHA "problems" are:

1. it is paid in arrears, rent is due in advance. For a new claim there will be a delay whilst the council process the claim meaning the LL might not receive any rent for the first 1, 2 or even 3 months.

2. It is always automatically paid to the T. The LL can only ask for it to be paid direct to them only if either a) the T is 8 weeks in arrears or b) the LL can show the T has a history of being unable to manage their own financial affairs - clearly the latter is quite a task and requires the cooperation of the T

3. If the T has made a false claim, or an error comes to light after the payment has been made direct to the LL, the council has the right to force the LL to repay - obviously the LL has no idea if the claim is invalid before this happens so the LL will face having to rebate the council and chase a T (possibly through the courts) for the rental underpayment in the full knowledge that the T has little money and could not afford to pay the rent in the first place, hence they were on LHA benefit


Given the above an LHA tenant is a higher risk person that a non LHA tenant - therefore it is a stargiht business decision for the LL - are their properties in an area where the most likely T is one who will be on LHA? If not, why take the added risks given that the rent that can be charged is, to an extent, capped by the max amount of LHA payable. less risky to charge market rent to a non LHA T (who has been throughly vetted of course)

These are sound business risk decisions,

mustrum_ridcully

helpthetenant wrote: »

3) Take only wooden floor or tiles, it's much more hygienic and easier to clean. Carpet actracts insects, they thrive on it. Carpet might be ok only if you change it often but you need a lot of money for it.

What if you're in a 1st or 2nd floor flat? Wooden/laminate floors could make the lives of your neighbours below living hell and they'll be complaining to your LL and the freeholder of the property.

Derivative

Quick guide on how to disregard all business sense.
This post reminds me of a religious conversion video.
Talking sense and then suddenly at the end, pop in something completely off the wall and expect noone to notice.

At the end of the day I would imagine most landlords couldn't give a toss whether you're on benefits or not. It's not a personal judgement, it's a decision based on risk assessment. Much like insurers charging little old me £2000+ for car insurance. The stats don't lie.