landlords & tenants on HB

nat38

would you take a tenant on HB?
what precautions (if any) would you take?
would you be paid by the council or by the tenant?

thanks!

Werdnal

Another question Nat?

If it is your first let don't complicate it by taking an HB tenant.

You can request that HB is paid direct to you, but usually tenant has to be in arrears before the council agree. Changes to the benefits system has resulted in tenants having to make up the difference in payments, and often they don't bother and you have a shortfall every month.

A guarantor would help, if they can find someone with adequate finances to support them, but many HB claimants find this difficult.

You cannot evict on rent arrears ground until tenant is atleast 2 months in arrears, and even if HB is paid to you, if they are only missing the "top up" portion every month, that will take a long time to accrue!

If they get into arrears and you do manage to evict, they often have very few assets, so chasing to claim money owed is not worth it.

nat38

thanks werdnal! yes, another question

I know it doesn't seem a good idea to get a HB tenant in our first let, but she is a single mum with 2 kids and I really doubt she'll want to mess up as the house is exactly what she needs (only 5min from her mum who looks after her kids)

jimjames

The thing that would put me off any tenant is whether they have a financial interest in looking after my property. If the deposit is provided by someone else (eg council) then there is less incentive for them to keep property in good order as it isnt their money to worry about.

I know its a big generalisation and might not be relevant to a lot of tenants but something to think about unfortunately.

Fire_Fox

AFAIK you can't automatically be paid directly from the off, the tenant has to be in arrears and they may even need to agree. Plenty of single mothers are wonderful tenants, plenty more are professional scam artists. Don't pigeon hole anyone - it is only ideal and near her mother because she tells you it is.

[Deleted User]

HB recipient posting. I have never ever in my life been behind with the rent.., and yes I do pay it to the landlord and I do have to top it up by over £100 a month. Its first priority before anything else so it always gets paid. And this is in spite of having a bit of an iffy landlord who won't do repairs lol.

My deposit was paid via a loan from my local authority.., I am paying them back.., and I hope to god I do get it back whenever I leave this property.., I've sweated blood over it! So the remark that tenants in this situation don't care doesn't always apply.

I'd advise you to recognise that while there is a risk of a tenant taking advantage whatever their financial situation, the risk can be higher with recipients of housing benefit. BUT this does not mean that every recipient of housing benefit will do a runner owing 6 months rent.

Its easy enough to ask for bank statements showing whether the recipient can manage financially (when I was thinking of moving recently, I carried a years worth of bank statements with me to prove income and my payments of rent and was happy to do so to prove I was a good tenant). I don't have a guarantor, recognise a lot of landlords won't consider renting to a HB recipient so was willing to do whatever it took to prove I was a good tenant.

You could also ask to visit the prospective tenant in their new home. 20 seconds and u'll know if they look after wherever they are living.

In my opinion, these kind of checks are better than just taking references and doing credit checks.., these checks need to be done but a LL has to recognise they are not foolproof. No lettings agency would let me through the door as I don't have an income through working (I am a carer) and yet I manage my finances as well as the next person.

I wish you well.

whalster

As has been said above it pays not to pigeon hole anyone however I find single mums on HB better than most ,lots of times I have viewings with the mother father and sometimes extended family who are happy to put up a bond and be guarantor to help out the young girl who has found herself in a circumstance that she did not expect to be in .Mothers on hand to look after baby says a lot also .
The problems with HB in such cases comes when they get a job even a part time one and this is reflected in their claim but once again this is a flaw in the system not in the young person .
The other thing is that you could have the best tenants inthe world who meet all the criteria but there is nothing stopping their situation changing and them moving onto HB and if they keep up payments you willnever know this

caringa

We do take on tenants on HB and have had mixed experiences. We will only take them if they agree to instruct the local council to pay us direct. You do have to be aware that if the council decide to drop their payment, then the tenant will have to make up the shortfall, something that is quite often not possible.

It is also true that some, but definately not all, HB tenants do not consider it their responsibility to take care of the property. Some do but we have had a wheelchair bound lady in a one bed flat that decided to keep two huge Husky dogs and she let them use the bedroom as their toilet whilst she slept in the lounge! By the time she did a moonlight flit, the whole flat was destroyed, including the kitchen and bathroom where they had, poor dogs, chewed the fittings! We couldnt trace her but by the amount of post that came for her afterwards, it as obvious that she was going round the country doing the same thing! So beware, and dont be taken in by sob stories - unfortunately you have to take everything you are told with a big pinch of salt! Good luck!!

J_i_m

I don't think you can loose to much sleep worrying about if being on HB makes a persona a risky tenant. You could take on person in employment with a salary and still have the worst kind of tenant.

slopemaster

I would not take someone on housing benefit.
I decline to even do viewings for HB people so as not to waste my time and theirs. This is nothing to do with assumptions about what kind of people they are; it is to do with the FACT that affordability is always going to be problematic, and also the FACT that the government keep changing the rules.

But, if you do decide to go for it, make sure you have a WAGE-EARNING, HOME-OWNING GUARANTOR

nat38

Fire_Fox wrote: »

AFAIK you can't automatically be paid directly from the off, the tenant has to be in arrears and they may even need to agree. Plenty of single mothers are wonderful tenants, plenty more are professional scam artists. Don't pigeon hole anyone - it is only ideal and near her mother because she tells you it is.

I know it is true because I replied to her advert (without knowing she was in HB) asking for accomodation in the area.

whalster wrote: »

As has been said above it pays not to pigeon hole anyone however I find single mums on HB better than most ,lots of times I have viewings with the mother father and sometimes extended family who are happy to put up a bond and be guarantor to help out the young girl who has found herself in a circumstance that she did not expect to be in .Mothers on hand to look after baby says a lot also .

Exactly this. She came with her parents and boyfriend. It seems she was so keen she had sent her mum to look at the house before and they also looked at it on RM