Housing Benefit

Bubby

Hello,

Please excuse my ignorance but is there a reason that its so difficult to find a lanlord that will accept housing benefit? If so does anyone know why?

[Deleted User]

for private lets its LHA,as fr or the reason,well some will accept and some wont,you just have to shop around

BigAunty

Loads of reasons why private landlords do not accept HB claimants.

Ultimately it's about risk - like students, HB claimants are also seen as a higher risk of going into arrears due to having limited savings and the fact that their claims can take ages to process, can change (lots of recent changes to HB that have reduced the amount) or be suspended.

With a working tenant who defaults, it's seen as easier to get the arrears paid back. For someone on benefits, it's seen as a waste of time to take them to court and get a CCJ - you can't get money out of someone who doesn't have it.

Housing benefit is now paid directly to tenants whereas in the past it could be paid to landlords. The rules changed a few years back and many landlords dislike it. If the HB does get paid to the landlord (it can in certain circumstances) it used to be the case that if the tenant had fraudulently claimed HB, the landlord had to pay it back to the council. Apparently that's not the case now but I expect many landlords don't know this.

Some buy to let mortgages/insurance forbid the landlord from accepting HB claimants.

Also, HB claimants have the reputation for being harder to evict in order to secure social housing. The main way now to secure social housing is for the tenant to present themselves as homeless to the local council which they can do if they are served notice by a private landlord. However, the council will often tell them to ignore the notice and this forces the landlord to have to take them to court for a possession order. A working tenant served notice would normally feel that the council won't help them so don't tend to bother.

So that's the practical side of why HB claimants are very unattractive to landlords - it feels personal to the claimants but it's about business risk.

Many tenants feel that there is social prejudice against HB claimants, some kind of snobbery.

I'm not sure this is the main driving factor but there are bound to be some landlords who feel that if a tenant isn't actually paying the rent through the fruits of their own labour, then they develop a negative attitude. Because their accommodation is free, because they don't 'earn' it, it can develop within them sense of entitlement or attitudes that don't make them ideal tenants. This includes not taking care of the property (because some tenants have borrowed the deposit from the council or relatives so it's still 'free', because they've not invested a penny of their own money in it). Also they have a repuation of not dealing with arrears (because they don't pay for it,they feel that any rent issues are between the council and the landlord to sort out, they don't take any ownership over debts - "it's not my problem you are owed rent, blame the council" etc).

There may be other reasons but these are the main ones.

delain

Apparently we are all scuzzbags who won't look after the house or will do a bunk!

It does get me down. Apparently you have to be earning 3x the rent every month not to be classed as 'DSS'. Insane if you live in an area where an average 3 bed house is £900 odd a month.

HappyMJ

delain wrote: »

Apparently we are all scuzzbags who won't look after the house or will do a bunk!

It does get me down. Apparently you have to be earning 3x the rent every month not to be classed as 'DSS'. Insane if you live in an area where an average 3 bed house is £900 odd a month.

Yes that's about it. Some agencies are different and will not allow an application unless your annual earnings are 30 times the monthly rent which is 2.5 times the monthly rent. However, even on that wage/salary in a low value property of let's say £450 a month for a run down 3 bedroom property such as around here (and landlord wonders why no one wants it and says STRICTLY NO HB/LHA/DSS) you can still claim housing benefit to help pay the rent. You only need to earn £13,500 per year to rent it but you need housing benefit with 2 children to afford the bills. Someone earning more and not entitled to housing benefit would not rent it as it is in a run down area. Some landlords will allow partial housing benefit claimants or allow tenants who pay 6 months rent up front.

BigAunty

delain wrote: »

Apparently we are all scuzzbags who won't look after the house or will do a bunk!

It does get me down. Apparently you have to be earning 3x the rent every month not to be classed as 'DSS'. Insane if you live in an area where an average 3 bed house is £900 odd a month.

I've know 4 landlords who would never rent to housing benefit claimants again after having encountering rent arrears or having their properties trashed.

I'm not saying that there aren't bad working tenants or good HB tenants, just that in a personal capacity I've never known any landlord who have been happy with their HB tenants.

The only person I know that is in favour of HB tenants used to work as a letting agent and said that lone parents made the best tenants because they wanted long-term tenancies to bring up their kids attending a local school and tended to look after them very well.

Why don't HB claimants actually accept that it is the behaviour of a small number of their fellow HB tenants that actually make it difficult for them to secure accommodation? Obviously the landlords I know who won't now touch HB claimants will have dissuaded many others from considering this group - they weren't originally prejudiced!

Among my relatives who claim HB are those that I define as 'working poor' - low income, for example, but with a good work ethic, great domestic skills, but others that have claimed HB in the long term are alcoholics, mentally ill or find it hard to secure employment because of their criminal records (such as one of my lot who burgled his neighbour...).

Again, these issues are found in those in employment who pay their own rent but I expect landlords know that many HB claimants are vulnerable in some way and they aren't a branch of social services, they just want the rent paid on time, the tenant not to annoy the neighbours, and to keep the property clean and undamaged.

Credit-Crunched

I have let to HB tennants on 3 occasions, and every time I have been let down and had to evict due to numerous problems.

Not all the same I agree, but my private tenants (working) of last 18 months have been angels. I think it is due to me asking for references from work, thus providing one more reason for them to pay.

Bubby

I am in fact a lone parent,my child maintenance and spousal maintenance give me a fairly good income however I am technically "entitled" to housing benefit. I don't claim it because I haven't found a landlord that would accept it. I have never trashed anything in my entire life and could afford to pay 6 months rent up front immediantly however I have never even offered this due to the fact that as a housing benefit is frowned upon by landlords.

I don't have any intention of taking the governments money as I don't financially "need" it and live a fairly comfortable life however I was just curious as to why it seems to be so difficult for people who need a bit of extra help to get it.

HappyMJ

Bubby wrote: »

I am in fact a lone parent,my child maintenance and spousal maintenance give me a fairly good income however I am technically "entitled" to housing benefit. I don't claim it because I haven't found a landlord that would accept it. I have never trashed anything in my entire life and could afford to pay 6 months rent up front immediantly however I have never even offered this due to the fact that as a housing benefit is frowned upon by landlords.

I don't have any intention of taking the governments money as I don't financially "need" it and live a fairly comfortable life however I was just curious as to why it seems to be so difficult for people who need a bit of extra help to get it.

Then just use your income to get the tenancy and claim housing benefit once you have moved in. The landlord does not need to know you are claiming some housing benefit.

Bubby

I am sure that I would need the landlords consent on the application or the housing benefit would write to them afterwards. I am hopeful that I will be able to work soon as I am in recovery and getting fitter all the time.

Tigsteroonie

Bubby wrote: »

I am sure that I would need the landlords consent on the application or the housing benefit would write to them afterwards. I am hopeful that I will be able to work soon as I am in recovery and getting fitter all the time.

Actually not - you can request for the payment to be made to you directly and there is no reason for the Council to notify the Landlord.