Taking the under 35 benefit cuts too far?

R_P_W

Do you have sufficient income to pay the rent? I'd be really surprised if it has anything to do with your age or that your single or that you have no kids!

I know loads of people in your position - never heard any of them have a problem renting.

moneyistooshorttomention

R_P_W wrote: »

Do you have sufficient income to pay the rent? I'd be really surprised if it has anything to do with your age or that your single or that you have no kids!

I know loads of people in your position - never heard any of them have a problem renting.

I think this rule has only come in a matter of weeks ago from memory and I can imagine that landlords in different areas will be more or less slow on the uptake about amending their renting practices accordingly.

I would think that there is a certain "critical mass" factor at play here - ie once more than a couple of landlords in a particular area have come to grief with finding that an under 35 tenant became unemployed and wasn't paying the full rent any more then word would get round in that particular area and other landlords would then start refusing to rent to under-35s as a precautionary measure.

Soot2006

I can see the point,

OP, I think you should forget about LAs.
I rented for many years, from a very young age and was rejected outright by letting agencies (esp as I moved to the UK aged 21 so no history of my existence before then). Much better luck with privately renting LLs. Admittedly many didn't know what they were doing and so *I* had to brush up on LL/T law, but at least I had a home!

jamesmorgan

The key point to recognise is that under 35's are now a higher risk to landlords. Any investor presented with higher risk will want additional financial compensation to offset this risk. There is little point complaining about government policy or landlords behaviour. The nearest comparison is probably car insurance for young drivers. They pay more because as a group they represent higher risk. As an individual you may not present higher risk, but you pay higher premiums because of your age profile.

The complication comes in how landlords can look to offset this additional risk, Age discrimination laws now also apply to property rental. In theory this means that landlords can't look to charge higher rent to under 35's, or discriminate against them in other ways (eg asking for guarantor's or so many months rent up front). It should also mean that they can't refuse to rent to someone purely because of their age. However, given the choice, it is probable that landlords will take a risk with the latter approach rather than the more overt financial discrimination in any of the former. Note that age discrimination laws can be side-stepped if the person offering the services (ie landlord) can demonstrate a genuine reason for their discrimination. This is how car insurance premiums can continue to be applied to young drivers.

So you need to first recognise that you present higher risk to landlords and then consider your possible options to overcome this. Some ideas that spring to mind are:

a) Offer a higher deposit, or pay n months in advance, or supply a guarantor
b) Look for landlords that are likely to be less financially astute (and prepared to rent to under 35's for no additional financial compensation)
c) Threaten the landlord (or agency) with age discrimination laws - unlikely to get the relationship off on the right footing, but may work as a last resort

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I'm single and turned 35 this year- never had a problem renting on my own.

It's nothing to do with your age; LLs want reassurance that you have a reliable income that easily covers the rent. It's not unreasonable to expect evidence of this.

When dealing with letting agents you need to clearly and confidently state the source of your income. If your opening post is anything to go by, you waffle on and include a load of unnecessary detail. Are you receiving any kind of bursary/stipend from your university? Are you living off savings? Does your part time job cover the rent? Summarise these details succinctly.

princeofpounds

Either that or they are making a huge assumption that you will end up having to apply for HB in the near future and not get enough to cover the rent.

It's this. As Out Vile Jelly says, you are clearly failing their income tests (which may be crude) as you are a student without a proper income.

This has as much, if not more, to do with it as any changes to benefits. And that's what it's got to do with you 'as a person'.

Most non-mature students would also find it hard-to-impossible to rent something that was not dedicated student accommodation. Many are asked for guarantors even for that.

I'm not saying that's a great or fair situation.

ognum

As a landlord I have found at there is usually a choice of tenants. It is not unusual to have several applications and choose the applicant that appears to suit the property best.

I am afraid to say that given the choice between a student who works part time and a professional couple both of whom are employed I am afraid I would choose the professional couple.

As a student when your grants/loans stop what then, how will you guarantee the rent? How do you know you will want to remain in the area, presumably you will be looking to move to where a job is?

Landlords are in buisness, we read constantly about landlords who do not manage their properties, keep up with repairs etc. In order to do these things you need to consider it a buisness, pay tax, get repairs done etc and to do this you need settled tenants who are happy in your property (their home) and want to remain. For this you need stable rent paying tenants so you are bound to accept those at least risk.

Sorry but that is life!

tim123456789

alexann12 wrote: »

I just need some advice relating to renting a flat. I've lived in my current flat for 7yrs so don't know much about renting at the moment as you'd expect. I'm not on benefit, female, 30yrs old, single with no kids. I'm a mature student and a very responsible individual money wise. I also work part time to top up my student loans. But money wise, i'm doing great.

I've recently decided to look for another flat mainly due to the fact my current landlord is the landlord from hell and yes, I have tried every possible avenue available to me to resolve the many issues that I have with him e.g neglect of property, difficult neighbours etc I have even spoken to the council about this and other issues and even they have given up. My landlord is a law unto himself and thinks he's untouchable.

I have nothing against DSS tenants as I know people on benefit who work hard but unfortunately struggle to make ends meet and others who've lost their jobs due to the recession. I was once one of them but years ago. However the tenants my landlords takes on are the reason why alot of landlords and agents won't take DSS. They don't always pay the rent, destroy the property....you name it, they do it.

I'm not on benefit. I've paid my rent every month without fail for 7yrs and my flat looks the way it did when i moved in. It's in excellent condition. My landlord seems to hate the working class tenants he has and because we pay our rent from our own pocket not from benefits, we have every right to complain when things are not as they should be and believe me, my landlord has broken almost all the rules landlords have to follow. He even tricked some DSS tenants into paying for loft insulation that they did'nt ask for (he obtained their benefit details, NI numbers etc underhandedly to obtain money/grants from the government to install insulation) but failed with me as i cottoned on and luckily due to not being on benefit, i'm not entitled to freebies like loft insulation.

Actually you are (or were), up until it was replaced by the green deal, absolutely everybody was entitled to free loft insulation, there were no qualifying criteria for this.

(Well it wasn't actually free it was paid for by the electricity companies out of everyone else's bills, but the money gets charged to customers even if it isn't spent)

tim