Advice on renting out to DSS tenants

Leon_W

I have one property that I let out and by far the best tenants have been DSS.

In my view a lot of private tenants just think that they can get away with anything and just walk away, whereas if a DSS tenant causes a problem, where else can they go with such a shortage of private landlords even considering a DSS let ?

The housing benefit does not quite cover the rent so he just chips in an extra £70 a month to make it up. The cheque arrives from the council like clockwork (although in arrears).

Innys

This is going to sound totally un PC, but it's the truthe.

I did let my house to DSS tenants a few years ago - never again. They trashed the place, the council never paid the correct rent and getting them out was a disaster. One of them, a drug dealer, managed to get himself banged up. So I had a room with no rental income and the guy's possessions had to be kept until he got out. Nightmare.

I would never let to DSS tenants again. Yes, private tenants are no guarantee of a better return on your investment, but DSS tenants just have too much going against them.

While I accept the point that DSS tenants have to live somewhere, let's face it, landlords aren't running charities. They are in this business to make money and anyone who tells you otherwise either doesn't know what they are talking about or is a liar.

silvercar

my tenant sorts out the claim herself and pays me direct, on time and in advance. makes no difference to me that she is on benefit.

In answer to a previous comment, taking a deposit greater than 2 months gives the tenant the right to sub-let, unless specifically excluded in the tenancy agreement.

Seanymph

No one has mentioned but if you have a DSS tenant who is fraudulently claiming and the council claim back the rent, they don't claim it back from the tenant - they claim it back from the landlord (softer target)

You, as the owner, owe the council ALL the rent back if your tenant has been, say, claiming benefit and working on the side.

They can take up to three months in my experience before you see any money at all.

They stop it, in some councils annually to 'review' - another three month wait.

The quality of tenant is, sorry, lower. The benefits system is there to pick up people who are having difficulties - those difficulties can impact on your property.

I've done it, and I wouldn't do it again.

silvercar

Seanymph wrote:

No one has mentioned but if you have a DSS tenant who is fraudulently claiming and the council claim back the rent, they don't claim it back from the tenant - they claim it back from the landlord (softer target)

You, as the owner, owe the council ALL the rent back if your tenant has been, say, claiming benefit and working on the side.

Not quite right, they claim it back from whoever they have paid it to. If they have paid it to the landlord they will claim it back from the landlord, if they have paid it to the tenant they claim it from the tenant.

Safer to have your tenant sort out their own claim. Also ensures the tenant is in a position to pay the rent when due not when the council feels like it.

lynzpower

Can we all just remember that DSS ie housing benefit tenants are not a homogenous group, including elderly people, those with disabilities, and wrking families. they are not all scumbags with more asbos than sense. Im currently entitled to housing benefit myself.

Some councils have "fast track" schemes for housing benefit to be paid to landlords. How effective they are Im not sure. But delays in processing of housing benefit ( and lets remeber that companies often do this on behalf of the councils, and they are, in my experience, very poor at what they do) and thus landlords often have to go through the rigmarrol of threatening eviction so that housing benefit gets paid.

A national scandal that housing benefit is so badly administered. I would suggest that this alone is one of the main reasons why there is such poor housing available to those recieving benefits and such lack of choice.

scorpio_princess

Totally agree with you Lynzpower.

It's beyond me how incompetent and lowsy some councils can be. Our taxes pay for these government departments, so they should run like clockwork with the amount of cash we're forced to pay through our wages and council tax! It is a national scandal - the other day I got chatting to a homeless guy in the city centre, and asked him why he was on the street. He told me the local (and only) homeless hostel had an 8 week waiting list - 8 WEEKS! Just to get a bed and meak somewhere out of the cold. It is an appalling situation that needs sorting pronto.

I am also entitled to HB, as I'm disabled but work full time (albeit on a low wage) but i'm doing my very best to not to have to resort to claiming benefit, as I believe in paying your way if you can. But I like to think that there is a framework in place to prevent people like me becoming homeless, which I know could easily happen. I grew up on a council estate, but i'm well educated, have never been in trouble with the police, do not have an asbo and would rather walk on hot coals than leave my flat in a disgusting mess.

It's very easy to generalise, but for what it's worth I reckon each case should be judged on its own merit, rather than a blanket refusal of taking on anyone claiming HB.

lynzpower

the most important thing to realise when talking about the processing of HB & CTB claims is that councils actually had very little choice but to outsource thier processing facilities under what is laughably called "best value"

There are a few key companies who basically run the tenders for almost all English councils ( scotland might be different I dunno) and they are overwhemingly pants.

Sadly central government laid down that contracts for these tenders should be a minimum ( IARC) of 5 years. So if they are rubbish in year one and 2 its a further 3 years before they get kicked out.
Ealing is one case in point I know of where they have dumped vertex ( the worst) and taken processing back in house, losing thousands in taxpayers money.

http://www.ealing.gov.uk/archive/committees/scrutinycommittees/housingmanagementadhocpanel/april2004-may2005/item+-+housing+benefit+summary+-+14+july+04.doc

clutton_2

liverpool HB were not paying landlords for 6 months a few years back - tenants moved in, tenants moved out, still no rent got paid. Then folks wonder why landlords dont want DSS !! its nothing to do with individual claimaints as far as i can see - its every thing to do with landlords being forced to subsidise local authorities incompetence.

I am a landlady - I am not a bank - i do not lend money. but when i am not paid my rent that is exactly the position i am being forced into. Even the Inland Revenue pay tax-payers some interest if they get their tax calculations wrongs - do landlords get the same for having waited months and months for their money ? of course not. We are, after all, the scum of the earth.

i am currently waiting for severl HB claims to come thru - i sometimes wonder why i am accepting HB folks as tenants at all, but, there but for the grace of god and all that .....................

scorpio_princess

clutton wrote:

liverpool HB were not paying landlords for 6 months a few years back - tenants moved in, tenants moved out, still no rent got paid. Then folks wonder why landlords dont want DSS !! its nothing to do with individual claimaints as far as i can see - its every thing to do with landlords being forced to subsidise local authorities incompetence.

I am a landlady - I am not a bank - i do not lend money. but when i am not paid my rent that is exactly the position i am being forced into. Even the Inland Revenue pay tax-payers some interest if they get their tax calculations wrongs - do landlords get the same for having waited months and months for their money ? of course not. We are, after all, the scum of the earth.

i am currently waiting for severl HB claims to come thru - i sometimes wonder why i am accepting HB folks as tenants at all, but, there but for the grace of god and all that .....................

Could you not insist that the HB claimants pay you themselves, rather than having the council pay it to you? From what i've read you can take that option. But I suppose then there's the issue of them choosing to not pay their rent, which still leaves you without the money. I can see why this could put some landlords off, but i'm sure it doesn't happen with every HB claimant and every council.