We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Hb tenants question
mumlady1
Posts: 264 Forumite
As some of you may be aware I have a property (1 of 2) which I'm struggling to find a tenant for. I have taken on board much of your advice & made changes wherever possible but still no takers 
I have had a couple of calls from people on housing benefit (is that the correct term) but have turned them down for the same reasons many other landlords do.
However I don't want the flat lying empty for much longer and I'm sure not everyone on benefits will be a bad tenant. Are there any landlords who let their properties to people on benefits & find the experience worthwhile?
I think I'm correct in thinking the rent is paid from the benefits office in arrears, do you have any way of getting around this? How easy/difficult is it to get the process started?
Having looked at various posts regarding this issue I'm hoping that if I can be reasonably choosy about the tenant (on benefits) they might be glad to have somewhere nice to live (since many landlords won't accept tenants on HB) & they might be able to stay for a longer time due to the problems finding a landlord who'll accept them.
I'm sure many of you have horror stories to tell but I'm sure many of you have found ways to make it work.
Does this way of thinking sound sensible or am I being naive?
I have had a couple of calls from people on housing benefit (is that the correct term) but have turned them down for the same reasons many other landlords do.
However I don't want the flat lying empty for much longer and I'm sure not everyone on benefits will be a bad tenant. Are there any landlords who let their properties to people on benefits & find the experience worthwhile?
I think I'm correct in thinking the rent is paid from the benefits office in arrears, do you have any way of getting around this? How easy/difficult is it to get the process started?
Having looked at various posts regarding this issue I'm hoping that if I can be reasonably choosy about the tenant (on benefits) they might be glad to have somewhere nice to live (since many landlords won't accept tenants on HB) & they might be able to stay for a longer time due to the problems finding a landlord who'll accept them.
I'm sure many of you have horror stories to tell but I'm sure many of you have found ways to make it work.
Does this way of thinking sound sensible or am I being naive?
0
Comments
-
After having been put through the wringer by a HB tenant, I'd say "never again". A void will be far less expensive in the long run.
Problem tenants quite often seem "nice" to begin with, and checks don't always give you the full picture.Under no circumstances may any part of my postings be used, quoted, repeated, transferred or published by any third party in ANY medium outside of this website without express written permission. Thank you.0 -
If they have 1st month rent & deposit (cash, no cheques mind...) and an employed, house-owning guarantor then perhaps ......
Sadly those clowns in government don't realise the terrible damage they are & will do to our dear country... with their plans for Universal C*ckUp...0 -
From my own experience, there are plenty of landlords who would say that even those tenants not claiming HB can be as much, if not more, trouble than those in receipt of HB.
Personally, I would certainly entertain the idea, but tread carefully....
I would be sure to get the 1 months rent and deposit up front, please don't hand over the keys on the promise of HB in 4 weeks or so. People in receipt of benefits can often get a Crisis Loan for rent in advance, and/or the local authority may be able to offer some funds up front.0 -
If you don't have the appetite to rent out to high risk tenants, like students or HB claimants, then it's probably best to sell up.
It isn't for the faint hearted and is best left to experienced and knowledgeable landlords. If you are an accidental landlord, one who ended up having a rental property because you couldn't sell it or moved in with a partner or moved to take up a job, then I'd say stay away.
Do also sell up if you've got next to no contingency for rent voids, repairs, non-paying tenants and so on as any tenant who trashes the place or doesn't pay rent, is very hard to evict for a number of months, leading to the landlord being repossessed.
I'm not talking about benefit claimants, could be any tenant....
I think I'm correct in thinking the rent is paid from the benefits office in arrears, do you have any way of getting around this?
No. HB is always paid in arrears and this Local Housing Allowance (HB for private tenants) is largely paid directly to the tenants unless they are regarded by the council as being vulnerable and unable to manage their money.
Some councils will take more than a month or more to process their claim, leading the tenants straight into arrears at the start of their tenancy....
How easy/difficult is it to get the process started?
The HB process has very little indeed to do with the landlord. A HB claim is a matter between tenant and the local council.
Unfortunately the relationship gets blurred because some landlord's don't understand that they only have a tenancy agreement with the tenant and don't have a joint relationship with the council - the council will largely only deal with HB issues with the tenant directly, citing data protection.
About the only time a council will discuss a claim with a landlord is when the tenant is in 8 weeks rent arrears or more and they may switch to paying the landlord direct but by this time, the relationship has broken down and most landlords would be seeking to evict their tenant.
Also, some tenants have the mentality that they don't owe rent - it's the councils fault, and can't understand why they are held responsible for them and think the landlord ought to either be relaxed about it or take it up with the council themselves (which they can't...)....
...
Having looked at various posts regarding this issue I'm hoping that if I can be reasonably choosy about the tenant (on benefits) they might be glad to have somewhere nice to live (since many landlords won't accept tenants on HB) & they might be able to stay for a longer time due to the problems finding a landlord who'll accept them.
I'm sure many of you have horror stories to tell but I'm sure many of you have found ways to make it work.
Does this way of thinking sound sensible or am I being naive?
All tenants should go through thorough tenant screening - previous landlord references (not just the last one), credit check and so on.
The few landlords that accept HB claimants will invariably demand a guarantor - you cannot get money (rent arrears, cost of damages) out of someone who has no employment income. Even if you do get a court judgement in your favour, you'll be lucky to see a fiver a week and even that will be hard to enforce.
You cannot assume that a HB tenant will look after the property out of gratitude for finding a place. At the end of the day, like any tenant, it is dead money, there's no real investment in it, it's somebody elses property.
Some HB tenants will be relieved and will have good house-keeping and communication skills. Others won't, like any tenants, due to the usual personal character reasons, integrity,social skills and so forth....
...
I'm sure many of you have horror stories to tell but I'm sure many of you have found ways to make it work.
One of my friends was a letting agent and said single mums were ideal tenants because they looked after the properties and wanted longterm lets so their kids could attend local schools.
Another of my friends let out her property to the local council to house their HB homeless tenants and it was completely trashed, the neighbours were in tears about their anti social behaviour and blamed them for drug use and stealing communal mail, piggy backing onto their unencrypted internet service (and then complaining when they encrypted it!).
Some HB claimants have hit bad times through no fault of their own, many will be in employment.However, others will have health and welfare issues, vulnerabilities that will make them a nightmare as tenants.
There's a post on this forum who let out his family sized property in November to a lady on benefits who hasn't seen a penny in rent and he's just found out that she didn't even apply for HB and she isn't entitled to as much benefit as he thought because her kids don't live her so she only gets a tiny rate of HB......
Does this way of thinking sound sensible or am I being naive?
It's not about being sensible or naive. It's about managing risk, how to reduce it, if you are up to the challenge.0 -
I am on lha (as they call it) I have been private renting for over 12 years, we work self emoloyed and are very good tenants,
We now need to upsize, and are finding it very hard to find a property where they accept lha, if we could get a mortgage we would but unfortunately we can't being SE is hard as it is but getting a mortgage is even harder.
Meet the tenants, check there references, if they seem ok, then go for it,
It's such a shame there's not more landlords who accept people like us, all HB tenants are not Drunken, scruffy, layabouts, .
Some of us are hard working, take care in our homes,
I look at the house as the landlords house BUT my home, and look after it as if it was mine .
God luck in finding tenants, hope you find some as nice as us. XDont forget that little Thanks button , only takes a sec0 -
No. HB is always paid in arrears and this Local Housing Allowance (HB for private tenants) is largely paid directly to the tenants unless they are regarded by the council as being vulnerable and unable to manage their money.
Some councils will take more than a month or more to process their claim, leading the tenants straight into arrears at the start of their tenancy.
The claimant has a right to ask for a 'payment on account' if the claim has taken more than 2 weeks and is still not resolved. My understanding is that the direction to HB offices is that they should look favourably on such a request unless there is a very good reason why they shouldn't - such as the claim is likely to be refused anyway.
This isn't a widely used course of action, but is there in the legislation.0 -
Hi i agree, I'm a single working parent but do get some housing benefit. Alot of LL just see HB and just say no when in fact i think I'm a better tenant than some.
Im quiet (no parties here), pay my bills/rent on time, love gardening, keep my home spotless, my children are not little devils terrorising the neighbours, and i want a very long tenancy.
I love my home and wouldn't want to loose it, my LL seems happy with me
btw I'm 36, passed all credit checks, paid deposit and month in advance. I also made sure i saved the first (or is it second) months rent up, so i never got into any arrears. I didnt need to as the council took 3 weeks to sort out my claim.
So not all of HB tenant are bad tenants xxxPay ALL your debt off by Xmas 2023 #59 £7008 Paid £570 Owing £6438 #1 H1 £151, #2 H2 £100, #3 O £200, #4 M £1500, #5 Z £295, #6 C1 £340, #7 L £1084, #8 N £840, #9 C2 £19300 -
The claimant has a right to ask for a 'payment on account' if the claim has taken more than 2 weeks and is still not resolved. My understanding is that the direction to HB offices is that they should look favourably on such a request unless there is a very good reason why they shouldn't - such as the claim is likely to be refused anyway.
This isn't a widely used course of action, but is there in the legislation.
Yes, I understand that a tenant can do this 2 weeks after submitting the claim if they've given all the right information and the council hasn't got around to processing the full claim.
However, on this or the benefits forum, I've seen people refused this by the local council. They should honour this request according to the legislation but apparently if they don't comply, there's little that the tenant can do to address this.0 -
Im actually in the same boat as a lot of people, I pay my rent on time, a on HB because Im on ESA for the moment.
My house is kept clean, tidy and when I leave, generally the house is in better condition.
I've found that a lot of landlords that accept HB in any form, are usually not the most helpful, not repairing things, ignoring requests for the previous tenants stuff to be removed (personal one there)
We're not all lazy, messy disgusting creatures.0 -
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.3K Spending & Discounts
- 247K Work, Benefits & Business
- 603.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.3K Life & Family
- 261.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards