Advice on renting out to DSS tenants

clutton_2

"" Council advised tennants to stay in house as it would take me 6 months to go through the courts to get them out.""

wouldn't you just love someone to take a council to court for "aiding and abetting theft and/or fraud " - in my dreams !!!!

But the worst victims in all this, are those families who are forced to stay in houses and live thru all the stress of "not" being evicted whilst waiting for the court case, and then the bailiffs, and never knowing where they might be sleeping from one day to the next - and finally when the Bailiffs arrive, where will they put their stuff and where will they sleep that night ?

I witnessed a friend call the local DSS (as it then was), to ask for an emergency loan to cover a deposit for a new rental house on the day he had just been evicted (with 20 hours notice from the court) with 2 children only to be told "no loan - this is not an emergency" - how DO these folks sleep at night ............

DSS - Department of Social Security (as it was) it is now Benefits Agency - ie folks who have no money to pay their own rent, and who apply for Housing Benefit from the government to pay for their rent.

clutton_2

Getting back to the original question, i think if i were contemplating buying a property now, i would have serious reservations about taking on DSS tenants for the following reasons:-

When this new welfare bill is made law (dont know when, but probably within the next 2 years) the local councils are hoping to dispense with a lot of staff by standardising the amount of HB paid to each applicant in each housing need category - ie same amount to all 2 child families, same amount to all single parent mums with one child etc etc. HB will then be paid to tenants directly, and, like any new system, there will be hiccups and rents will take forever to be paid initially to tenants - it will probably take 3-4 months (it takes 2-3 months now).

There are bound to be some tenants who will have had the use of your proerty for 4 months and who will then just up sticks and take the 4 months rent and clear off - the council wont care if the landlord has not had his rent.

From the landlords point of view - What will be the point in suing for 4 months rent from someone who is on benefits ? the court will only award £1 a week for ever, and what is the point in that ?

IF there is a standardised rent, then it is inevitable that it will be on the low side, and this will mean that top ups (to bring rents up to even a low market level) will increase - making it more and more difficult for tenants to find anywhere decent to live.

The new HHSRS regs will mean even more regulation and property inspections and costs will be incured by landlords, as a result of these latest council-imposed standards.

I surmise that as a result of all this sledge-hammer-to-crack-nut-legislations more and more landlords will sell up ....... tenants will be the victims in all this - as more and more decent quality accommodation is removed from the market.

So, OP - think very carefully.

half of my properties are with DSS tenants, but, i spend a huge amount of time finding the right tenant, and with one recent exception, i have been very lucky. My single parent mums realise what a good landlady i am, and they are all set to stay with me for a long time (i hope). But there will come a point when i have to increase their rent, and they may no longer be able to afford the top up ? then what ?

Paul_Herring

cwcw wrote:

Sorry, but what is a DSS tenant? What does DSS stand for?

Department of Social Security - people 'on the dole' who cannot afford to pay all/some of their rent, so the council pays for them.

Councils are notoriously bad in getting payments to landlords in a timely fashion.

the_commander

Well I would never let to them again unless I was desperate. I had to sell the house in the end to pay off my debts caused by the tenants and their damage.

I was young at the time and well I certainly learn't an important lesson.... Life is not always fair and governments will screw whoever they can!

clutton_2

commander - as someone has pointed out earlier - there is no "them" - they are individual people in a wide range of circumstances - single parent mums (often the BEST long term tenants); middle aged folks on disability; unemployed folks looking for work; pensioners etc etc

choosing a house at the best economic price is the first informed decision a BTLer must make, and choosing the right tenant is the next -

how much research did you do on them before they moved in ? Did you employ a credit reference checking agency ? If you did not, then ...........

the_commander

Clutton, I paid for the services of a professional letting agent to handle such matters as references etc. As soon as the !!!!!! hit the fan, the agent ran a mile and said they were not responsible (which they are correct).

By "Them" I generally refer to the system, please do not get upset by my generalisation, I am merely stating my personal experiences.

Tassotti

I think it also depends on the property. I certainly would not put DSS (DWP now I think) tenants into any of my properties, but if I owned an ex-council flat, maybe the only tenants I would get would be HB people.

Mind you, I wouldn't ever purchase those types of properties.

I lost 10K to DWP scumbags, so, my opinions may be biased (underdstandably)

space_rider

My sister was a dss tenant although she did/does work. She left the place better than when she moved in. She had laminate flooring put in at her own expense and was there for years until she bought a house of her own. DOn`t automatically assume that all Dss tenants are bad news. If any of you hit hard times does that mean that you will trash the place, not pay the rent etc.

prudryden

the_commander wrote:

Clutton, I paid for the services of a professional letting agent to handle such matters as references etc. As soon as the !!!!!! hit the fan, the agent ran a mile and said they were not responsible (which they are correct).

By "Them" I generally refer to the system, please do not get upset by my generalisation, I am merely stating my personal experiences.

Interesting comment re: "professional" letting agent and their responsiblility. Was this agent a nationally known company such as Winkworths or Foxtons? What reason did they provide to you that they were not responsible? Did they say that all they were doing was collecting references for you to make your own decision?
If that is the case, then I will start insisting on certified copies of passports or driver licenses and original copies of past utility bills in addition to the other normal references.

Snow_Angel

Having just read this post i'm very disheartened. I have recently graduated as a physiotherapy student (2 weeks ago). The job situation in the NHS is diabolical - 300-400 people applying for every junior physio post. I am also struggling to find other work because employers are aware I probably won't stay if I get a physio job. I also have student debts and need to get money together.
My student rent runs out at the end of this month and I will need somewhere else to live obviously. However, I have just had to sign on for jobseekers allowance while I try to find a job.......any job.
Obviously I am reliable, honest, hardworking and would look after a house - physios have proessional codes of conduct and are pretty damn trustworthy health professionals. But I am finding it impossible for landlords to take me as a tenant because I am claiming government benefits.
Please don't assume we are all the same and will trash the place. I'm actually just desperate and possibly soon homeless.
And to think of the waiting lists in hospitals and the desperate need for physios, it just makes me plain angry that I have been left in this situation.
ANY advice on how I can go abaout finding somewhere to live would be much appreciated by the way. Thanks for reading.