Tenant questions to landords, please?

Wywth

Bassibabes wrote: »

Yep I agree...which is why I'm trying to find somewhere to live while while studying in order to qualify for a job that will earn me enough to pay the rent on a nice 3 bedroom house in the right area lol

I guess if I could get a 12 month tenancy agreement then I would be ok for a year?

Still doesn't solve the guarantor problem lol! x

There are landlords that specialise in supplying student housing. These landlords will not particularly care if you have a job, providing you have a confirmed place at an educational institution's course. Speak with the housing officer at your educational institution for more details.

They may still require a guarantor if they are not confident of your ability to pay the rent.

Wywth

Bassibabes wrote: »

Yep spoke to the housing officer at Uni - they don't deal with anything bigger than a one bed and "certainly not anyone with children"! I need to speak to the council, she told me.

Speak to them again. Most students I know share so a one bedroom flat is no use to 99.999% of students I know.

Annisele

Bassibabes wrote: »

The landlady has told me that if I stay beyond the date on the section 21 notice then her son will change the locks and cut off the water and electricity supply. The council have told me this is illegal- I rang the police who said that unless there was a assault or other violent action against me then it was a civil matter and they wouldn't get involved or come out if he did go through with that threat (and I think he will). In that instance, the council would take him to court and the landlady would probably be issued with a fine - and I would still be homeless!

It would probably be rather more than a fine - see here, where a landlord was sent to prison.

Shelter has information about illegal eviction (that link is for England; the rest of the UK has different procedures).

Your university should have a housing office; this is the sort of thing they can be very helpful with.

silvercar

I'm unsure why they don't allow dss benefit claimants. I think it is true about the insurance thing - but then how does that make sense if you're working and then lose your job one month into the tenancy?

I know of one major insurer in the BTL field who changed their conditions from excluding tenants on HB to requiring tenants to be in employment or retired at the start of the tenancy.

I guess some insurers put in conditions that may not be enforceable in law...

Wywth

Bassibabes wrote: »

I think she meant that they only deal with students who want one room, so they have student houses which let by the room, rather than the whole house. They also don't help anyone with children. Even spoke to the Student Union housing team and they said the same thing...

I can try again tomorrow, I guess.

They should have a list of landlords that are known to supply good student housing.

I doubt they have any one bed flats at all on their books for the reason I gave earlier. They will have 2 bed properties on their books, as well as larger properties.

They don't care how the rooms are let ... but other tenants in the property may do

So you''ll either have to find somewhere where other students don't mind a screaming kid stopping them from studying, and you don't mind your child being waken up at all hours of the night as students do like to party, or you find a place of your own.

Speak to your housing officer at the uni again. You are not the only student with child.

The issue you may find, and the housing officer will explain, is that most student properties are let on a 12 month lease starting in June/July or September/ early October. But they usually have details of some mid year vacancies where a student has fallen out with other housemates, been kicked off their course, or perhaps got kicked out of the property for not having paid the rent.

silvercar

Can the children's father be a guarantor?

Wywth

Bassibabes wrote: »

I'm sorry everyone, it must seem that I'm being very negative but I honestly feel like I've tried everything.

I've spoken to the following (either in person or over the phone):

*local council, one-stop-shop (who referred me to...)
*county housing office (who referred me to...)
*homeless team (can't offer me a loan for the deposit/rent in advance because I have enough money coming in to pay for this apparently!) 2 year waiting list for a council house, emergency accomodation for me only (the kids have dads to live with) and I'm not trying hard enough to find a privately rented house!
*bristol debt advice service - can't help me as i have no disposable income (!)
*bristol money mentors - coming on Tuesday to help me learn to budget so I can pay my rent and bills, even though I have no rent to pay as of the end of April?!
*student union - can't help me as i have children
*uni housing officer - can't help me as i have children
*shelter - told me i need to kick up a fuss at the council (!)
*samaritans - told me to ring shelter
*CAB - told me I need to try my Uni, the council or Shelter!?
*Uni finance officer - won't give me a loan because i have enough money coming in, told me "it'll be fine"
*crisis loan - can't get a loan for the month in advance, because I don't have a deposit?!
*I've lost count of the number of charities/trusts I've contacted for help but no-one could suggest anything I hadn't already tried or that could help.
*posted on facebook, twitter and freecycle about my situation (asking for guarantor and/or a house!)

In the meantime, I spend all of my time on:-
Rightmove
Vebra
Primelocation
Ocean
Trade-it
Adzuna
Zoopla
Gumtree
Adtrader

looking for houses, as well as hassling the pants off all my local letting agents.

This is on top of having no guarantor, trying to get a part time job (so I'm at least a bit employed in terms of being an attractive tenant), being on housing benefit, being a student, having three children and reasonably restricted with regards to location of the house...

If there's anything else anyone can think of to try, then I'm open to ideas!

For the third time, speak to him again.
He will help, even with a child of your own.

Wywth

Bassibabes wrote: »

Hi Upsidedown Bear, yes you are indeed right, I didn't pay the rent for a few months and was in rent arrears.

Now that may be the real reason no one can help you

Not many landlords want tenants that fail to pay their rent ... especially if the tenant received tax payers hard earned money in the first place specifically to pay such rent.

But there are some landlords willing to offer properties to just about anyone, no matter what the risks. Don't be picky though ... beggers can't be choosers.

Wywth

Annisele wrote: »

It would probably be rather more than a fine - see here, where a landlord was sent to prison...

Maybe the fact that individual also had 8 previous offences in breach of the HMO Management Regulations had something to do with the courts decision

http://www.oxfordstudentpad.co.uk/documents/HMO%20Council%20Update%20(November%202011).pdf (page 3, centre article)

As you can see at the top of page 3 of that same link, there was another guy who only got a suspended 6 week sentence plus 60 hours community service ... and that appears to have involved some ongoing homophobic abuse prior to the illegal eviction.

Upsidedown_Bear

Bassibabes wrote: »

Hi Upsidedown Bear, yes you are indeed right, I didn't pay the rent for a few months and was in rent arrears. I have spoken to the landlady's daughter-in-law about this and tried to come to an arrangement about paying the arrears and continuing to pay the rent but, due to the landlady's current personal situation (which I know more about but don't feel it is appropriate to post on here) she has decided to sell. I tried to change her mind, but I understand the reasons for selling.

Because of her situation, I am even more reluctant to stay in the property beyond the given date as I know this will cause even more trouble for her and her family and I'll be scared to be in the house at night because I know her son will be a nightmare.

I appreciate that the rent arrears probably had something to do with the original decision to ask me to leave, but on further discussion it does seem that the LL had decided to sell anyway. In all fairness, I knew that I wouldn't be in the house longer than a year or so as this had been made clear to me at the beginning and I had already started making plans to move out just after Christmas and have been on the housing register for a year.

My mistake was thinking it would be easier to find somewhere to live and not understanding the hurdles in the way - some of my own making (i.e. previous rent arrears and bad credit)

So why do you need the LL to lie when she writes a reference for you?

Bassibabes wrote: »

No harm done, Aliama - you explained in your post that you realised after I meant a free service

In terms of what I've tried - my LA is being reasonably helpful atm. They have confirmed that I can apply for a Tenancy Start Up Loan which will cover my deposit and a month's rent up front. This will then mean that I can look at renting privately. My landlady is actually selling the house anyway and I have tried negotiating to stay until we get somewhere else, but there have been a few bereavements in the family, so they just want to sell up and get on with things - which I completely understand. The council have advised me that I can actually stay in the house legally until I find somewhere else and insist on the landlady taking me to court to get me evicted, if I genuinely have nowhere else to go. This is most definitely a last resort. The LA have said that they will house us temporarily in a halfway house for drug addicts and offenders as "emergency accomodation" - again, not an option. Worst case, the kids will have to stay with their dads and I can stay with friends if I have too. The LA have confirmed that this will not impact on our homeless status.

The uni are unable to help us find somewhere as they deal with one bedroom properties only. The LA haven't got enough houses, and even if they upgrade my status on the HomeChoice register, I'll still only be a Band B - around 50th in line for each of the properties on a weekly basis. Agencies won't touch me with a bargepole as I'm on DSS and a student and have children. I'm applying to the LA for a support worked to help me find somewhere cos I don't think I'll have any luck finding a place within the two months - even though my Mum is a guarantor for me. I have just started searching in earnest for a place, but seem to spend all my time on the phone trying to beg landlords to even consider me as a tenant. I also have to contact my landlady about giving me a good reference and not mentioning the rent arrears to the council as they will say I have made myself intentionally homeless and I possibly won't even get housing benefit then!

I have contacted various charities and I don't seem to qualify for any grants or trusts as I am studying, or have children or a mixture of things really. Even the Samaritans were a bit lost as to what to do with me!

Don't think I mentioned it above, but my housing benefit has also been suspended as the council didn't receive a form I sent (by recorded delivery which was signed for...). They suspended it from the 3rd Feb, sent me a letter on the 18th Feb telling me it was suspended and just didn't pay me last week, when the payment was due! This will be back paid and should go to my landlady, but I don't know how I can afford to live without spending it...

Anyway, the good news is I've managed to sort out a way to keep the boys for now as the buses are cheaper and more available than I though AND I realised I didn't get paid my childcare grant in January which will get backpaid in April, as well as the additional payments I am due - about £600 extra which I've paid out, thinking I had already had the money! That's good anyway

Back to paperwork...xx