Question to LLs from DSS/Student Tenant

AngelPie78

BigAunty wrote: »

Given your history rent arrears, will your landlord actually give you a positive reference?

You have 4 issues, really - landlords don't like students, HB claimants and those with poor credit records/history of rent arrears.

Generally, landlords that do accept tenants in these 3 groups prefer that they offer a guarantor and you can't provide one, issue number 4 (or payment of 6 months rent upfront which doesn't seem possible for you). You will have 5 issues if your landlord doesn't provide a positive reference though it seems not to be a problem for you.

It's about your level of risk from a business perspective, rather than flaws in your character (re your offer to provide a character reference which I feel is pretty worthless - who will supply this - a friend? a relative? perhaps pointless).

I feel the provision of a guarantor would bring the most benefit but this is not available to you - not even from your ex?

Go ahead and write those letters. Put up a 'wanted' ad on Gumtree and similar sites (be aware of scammers) and do contact each and every ad where they offer accommodation but say 'no HB/DSS' to see if you can persuade them. It can't do any harm but might not bring any joy, you won't know until you try. I imagine agencies just have pretty much a blanket ban on HB claimants.

You may have to accept that you will end up seeking the services of the local council to prevent your homelessness.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply I have seen three houses this week that would take me, and two of them were through smaller agencies, which is a positive step, so things are not as bad as they seem. The smaller agencies seem to be more flexible and I find the ones that also allow the landlord to have more of a say are better as the landlords can be more sympathetic to my situation.

I have written a letter and my friend, who is a journalist, is going to look over it and we'll start sending it out and see what happens. I've got an advert on Gumtree and someone else who's looking for a similar property actually text me about one of the houses I went to look at, which was an expected positive response from the ad. Hopefully, more will come of that as the weeks go on.

One of the biggest problems I seem to have come across is that we can't move until I get my student loans through at the end of April and landlords are looking for tenants to move in in the next few weeks. We're going to keep an eye on it, but not go and view houses until we know that they are happy with our dates.

Unfortunately, this is my only option as the council cannot house us - if we are homeless, then they will put us up in a hotel 20 miles away and it's £40 per night with no HB. They have recommended that I will be in that position for two years until they have a property for us. They have said that they have mums with young children living on their friend's sofas who can't get a house, so I'm not going to get anywhere and I certainly can't afford £40 per night to stay somewhere...

I think things are not as hard as you possibly think, and we have a lot of people in the areas I am looking at who get HB, so landlords are a little more flexible in this area.

In terms of a guarantor, I have just emailed my uncle about this but he lives in Thailand and doesn't work as he retired at 50. Am not sure if he's acceptable as a guarantor and I don't think he'll do it as we're not close, but it's worth a try!

Thanks again

x

AngelPie78

Also, depending on the rent and deposit, I can pay for several months up front which I think helps when I've spoken to some of the agencies etc. I can certainly pay for 2 or 3 months and a deposit. Do you think that will be better?