Private Renting- housing benefit??

wiggywoo9

This is my first time renting but I just have a few queries, if people could help?

Can I find my own place (2 bed house), phone up and view, if I intend to pay via housing benefit?

I want to start shortlisting housing- if it's a long-term contract, surely they can't kick me out after so long? I've heard that people on HB in private housing get kicked out suddenly cos its not protected? I need a permanent home for me and my son and this is my first move out of my mum's place, so this is it, no going back.

I can provide 1 month rent and deposit, can I get started looking, viewing, etc, or do I need to wait for HB? It can't start processing if I haven't found a place, is this right?

Any advice or help? Or should I just go to CAB?

dseventy

If you private rent you need LHA (Local housing allowance) not Housing Benefit. Look at your local council to see what the allowance is in your area.

You will struggle to find a LL who relies on others to pay their rent (I am a LL and certainly don't).

D70

HappyMJ

wiggywoo9 wrote: »

This is my first time renting but I just have a few queries, if people could help?

Can I find my own place (2 bed house), phone up and view, if I intend to pay via housing benefit?

I want to start shortlisting housing- if it's a long-term contract, surely they can't kick me out after so long? I've heard that people on HB in private housing get kicked out suddenly cos its not protected? I need a permanent home for me and my son and this is my first move out of my mum's place, so this is it, no going back.

I can provide 1 month rent and deposit, can I get started looking, viewing, etc, or do I need to wait for HB? It can't start processing if I haven't found a place, is this right?

Any advice or help? Or should I just go to CAB?

If you do find a landlord that will rent to you then you will most likely need 6 months of rent up front. That will avoid any issues in the delayed payments from housing benefit/lha and if if isn't processed by the end of the 6 months the landlord should have issued you with a S21 and you should move out.

If you want a secure tenancy then the easiest way would be for your mum to throw you out on the street as evil as it sounds. Then you can approach council and get emergency accomodation and jump up the list in priority for a council/housing association tenancy. Once granted to you it is unlikely that it will be terminated if you look after it.

BigAunty

wiggywoo9 wrote: »

..

Can I find my own place (2 bed house), phone up and view, if I intend to pay via housing benefit?

Yes, though you will discover that many landlords for many reasons do not accept Local Housing Allowance (housing benefit for private tenants). Some of them that do accept claimants will demand a guarantor.

Have you identified on the Direct Gov or local council website what your LHA rate is? Otherwise if you are viewing properties far higher than this, you'll have to find the extra out of employment income or other benefits and some claimants struggle to pay the top-up.

wiggywoo9 wrote: »

...

I want to start shortlisting housing- if it's a long-term contract, surely they can't kick me out after so long? I've heard that people on HB in private housing get kicked out suddenly cos its not protected?

How you pay your rent is entirely irrelevant to your rights - all tenants in private accommodation have the same rights. Generally, landlords issue 6 month fixed term contracts and can typically only evict a tenants who owe several months rent during the fixed term.

wiggywoo9 wrote: »

..
I can provide 1 month rent and deposit, can I get started looking, viewing, etc, or do I need to wait for HB? It can't start processing if I haven't found a place, is this right?

You need a place first (signed tenancy agreement) for the local council to start processing the LHA claim and you can view now since you have the deposit and 1st months rent. Landlords expect tenants to pay the first month and deposit upfront, even if they are dependent on benefits. If you go through an agency there will be admin fees to pay on top, too.

wiggywoo9 wrote: »

..


Any advice or help? Or should I just go to CAB?

Don't go to CAB. Read up about tenants rights and how to find and pay for accommodation on the Shelter website.

Caz3121

we had a long term let some years ago and made a point of saying we were looking for something long term. It was an initial 6 month AST, as is common, then month my month after that. It turned out that the owners, despite saying it would be long term, were actually waiting for the market to pick up a bit and within 4 months they had the house on the market and we would not extend after the initial 6 months. We managed to negotiate rent reduction (otherwise we would have refused them the option of doing viewings) and some compensation for the things like telephone line rental and cable we had installed that were on 12 month contracts but if they had been honest up front and said it was a 6 month lease we would never have taken it

incorrect_2

We rent privately and have been here for 7 1/2 years (best move for us) we asked around and tried various LL before we found one that would take us on HB. We provided references and I showed a copy of my rent account from previous tenancy. You do need to check the LHA rates though as already said so you would know how much you would be allowed then if you have to you would pay the extra yourself (we do this).

Morlock

dseventy wrote: »

If you private rent you need LHA (Local housing allowance) not Housing Benefit. Look at your local council to see what the allowance is in your area.

The LHA rate dictates how much Housing Benefit a claimant is entitled to when renting privately. It is still Housing Benefit which needs to be claimed.

Hmm71

Really Morlock? Then why do my husband and I get Local Housing allowance not housing benefit? We are renting privately.

HappyMJ

Hmm71 wrote: »

Really Morlock? Then why do my husband and I get Local Housing allowance not housing benefit? We are renting privately.

Different councils call it different things. Mine is still called housing benefit on every cheque I get. Whenever I speak to council they talk about housing benefit even though it is private rental. Every application and notes talk about housing benefit and an occasional mention of rent allowance but not very much about LHA.

wiggywoo9

Thanks everyone, very helpful, I just want to say I appreciate each of you taking the time to help me

merlin68

When i rang round letting agencies, even though hubbie works. They still wouldn't let to us as we were claiming tax credits.joke, they said you had to have a guarantor if your income alone didn't cover the rent. There's very few landlords that will rent to some one in your situation. Best to go down the council route. Not many people would be a guarantor to a lone parent either and i didn't know anyone who earnt over £21000.