Tenants getting housing benefit

atrixblue.-MFR-.

8-15 weeks with my local authority to pay HB.

my council do not pay a private landlord directly it goes to the tenant, and is paid monthly in AREARS and may not cover the whole rent, so they the tenant may have to find somewhere the rest of the rent from other means such as JSA.

did the couple put a deposit + 1 months rent when signing tenancy agreement? this may coushin the blow.

the dilemma you have now is that once they are in reciept of HB you need to arrange a day that it is paid to them to go and collect it from them.

i dont know either whether your landlord insurance has clauses about tenants in reciept of HB either, so you may want to check that and have that aspect changed.

NoAngel

Thanks everyone. I'll contact the HB office today and ask for advice.

I also already changed the LL insurance and it made the premium increase which is why I didn't want them in the first place.

Yes, they paid one month plus a deposit. They weren't going to bother telling me their next month wasn't coming till I called them and I was only so keen as it was 4 days before my wedding and I wanted it sorted so I could relax. Unfortunately still not sorted over a month later!! Just can't believe it's my problem, surely they should be the ones finding the money from elsewhere if they can't claim the money in time...

MissMoneypenny

When the tenant has received their LHA benefit for the rent, if they then fall 8 weeks behind with the rent, you can ask the council to pay you directlty. I'm not sure what will happen under Universal Credit. It seems the council have a backlog of claims though and the tenant hasn't received their first LHA payment. A landlord always need to keep at least 3 mortgage payments in hand in case the tenant can't or won't pay; plus anyer sum incase of big repairs i.e. new boiler.

NoAngel wrote: »

I recently decided to rent out our house while it's on the market to help with paying the mortgage (we live away at the moment).

Did your mortgage lender agree to let you do this? If not, your insurance will be invalid if you need to make a claim or the tenant needs to make a claim against you. I assume you have complied with all your landlord legal obligations too i.e. gas safety certificate? And declared the rent to HMRC (even if your profit is zero)?

Also be aware that the tenant does not have to show buyers around their home, under the law of quiet enjoyment that every tenant has. Even if they do allow people to view the property, they don't have to tidy or clean the house before the viewing and will be in a good position to put buyers off buying i.e. dirty underpants and smelly socks lying around, cooking fish before the viewing etc.

Trying to sell a property while also letting it out to help pay the mortgage, is never a good idea; especially if you didn't warn the tenant you were doing this.

Buyers will also be put off buying a property that has a tenant still in it as tenants can be hard to remove and can take months of going through the courts. Young couple with children; living on welfare; landlord tryng to throw them out through not fault of their own: that puts them to the top of the council housing list doesn't it? But only after they are homeless (being removed by the bailiffs). Any buyer you find will be long gone by then, with all those months going through court to get to the bailliff stage.

terryw

NoAngel wrote: »

Just can't believe it's my problem, surely they should be the ones finding the money from elsewhere if they can't claim the money in time...

Indeed it should but you have to be proactive here. Have you issued a section 21 ?

RAS

Hi

Please go over to the Housing and Renting forum where they will help you with the legals.

Have you secured the deposit in a ascheme and sent the required documentation to the tenant?

Is the gas Safety Certificate upto date and does the tenent have a copy?

is so you need to:

Write to the Council and ask for the rent to be paid directly to you.

Write to the tenant with an account and give them a few days to bring it up to speed or a section 8 will be in the post.

NoAngel

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

When the tenant has received their LHA benefit for the rent, if they then fall 8 weeks behind with the rent, you can ask the council to pay you directlty. I'm not sure what with happen under Universal credit. It seems the council have a backlog of claims though and the tenat hasn't received their first LHA payment.



Did your mortgage lender agree to let you do this? If not, your insurance will be invalid if you need to make a claim or the tenant needs to make a claim against you. I assume you have complied with all your landlord legal obligations too i.e. gas safety certificate?

Also be aware, that the tenant does not have to show buyers around their home, under the law of quiet enjoyment that every tenant has. Even if they do allow people to view the property, they don't have to tidy or clean the house before the viewing and will be in a good position to put buyers off buying i.e. diry underpants lying around, cooking fish before the viewing etc. Trying to sell a property while also letting it out to help pay the mortgage, is never a good idea; especially if you didn't warn the tenant you were doing this.

Hi, thanks for the advice but I am well aware of all of the essentials, yes our mortgage lender know, yes we have insurance, we have gas and electrical safety certificates.

I am also aware that the tenant does not have any obligation to show people round, this is all in hand. The tenants were also aware that the house was for sale, it has a for sale sign on and has done since before they moved in.

Although I appreciate the advice I do feel as though it's a little patronising when it's not really related to my question.

MissMoneypenny

NoAngel wrote: »

Just can't believe it's my problem, surely they should be the ones finding the money from elsewhere if they can't claim the money in time...

Welcome to the land of of 'being a landord'. Tenants have lots of laws on their side.

NoAngel

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Welcome to the land of of 'being a landord'. Tenants have lots of laws on their side.

So it seems!

Just called the HB office. Found out the payment went through today and will take a few days to clear. It's in arrears so isn't as much as we'd have had if they'd been paying as agreed but I am relieved. And it's coming directly into my account which is good.

Going to move back into the house as soon as their tenancy is up as its got to be cheaper than renting it out as there are still always costs for us (insurance for example). Being a landlord is not for me...

MissMoneypenny

NoAngel wrote: »

Although I appreciate the advice I do feel as though it's a little patronising when it's not really related to my question.

Would you have found it patronising if your house had burned down and your insurance was invalid? Or you didn't realise you needed Consent to Let from your mortgage lender and they caught you and imposed an instant interest rate rise of 2% or demanded you repaid your mortgage? Or you got a 5K fine for not having a gas safety certificate? Or National Hunter had a "fraud" marker against your name and this impacted on any future borrowing you were hoping for?

Many people don't realise they need to get permission from their mortgage lender to let their property. Others do realise this and just hope they don't get caught; and aren't aware of the financial difficulties they might find themselve in because they didn't get consent from their lender.

caringa

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Welcome to the land of of 'being a landord'. Tenants have lots of laws on their side.

Totally agree! We have tenants on housing benefit and will only take them on if they arrange for the Council to pay us direct. Even so as previously mentioned, some times they will not pay the whole amount and the tenant then has to find the balance - not easy in the current economic climate! Best of luck!!