Landlords and Housing Benefit

bujin

Hi All. My daughter has just moved into a house and is in the process of claiming HB. She has a mental health illness and has had to give up work recently. When she began her claim she handed in all the necessary paperwork, but had a letter at the weekend stating they couldn't accept a copy of the Tenancy Agreement and needed to see the original.

My daughter's problem is that she is worried that in asking the Landlord for the original, the landlord is going to ask why and she doesn't want the landlord knowing she's in receipt of HB given that it seems to be generally held belief that Landlords are not keen on housing people on HB. She's got herself into a panic that she'll be evicted which given her present ill health is a worry she could do without.

The HB people have said that if she writes a statement stating the above then they may look favourably on it, obviously that's not a guarantee, so we are tempted to just ask for it and not say why, but as we need to present it to the HB we have to actually take it away, so we're stumped if the landlord literally lets us see it and waits for us to hand it back. Obviously if it was me I'd just be up front and take a chance, but my daughter has troubles enough and is hyper anxious about everything, no one would cope well with eviction but when you have a mental illness it's a whole different ball game.

Apart from the obvious are there any other reasons why Landlords prefer not to have HB tenants, someone said that it voids their insurance? Anyway any thoughts gratefully received.

New_User

I've looked into this recently, as I have taken in a LODGER (not tenant) on LHA...

LHA causes problems for LLs due to:
Mortgage lenders
Insurance
Late payment by councils (who actually provide LHA, not DSS/DWP).
Plus, you can't claim LHA if you're related to the LL, in even a minor way (usually).

...so basically a load of ball ache that many LLs can't be bothered with.

Plus many LHA tenants have difficulty producing employers references.

(Although previous LL references are obviously important also).

How did your daughter get the tenancy without telling the LL she was on LHA? Didn't he ask at the beginning?

If your daughter has difficulties with her LL accepting her on LHA, she may be better off looking for a place as a LODGER, rather than a Tenant, as the risk is much lower to the LL. (That's what I've done).

Good luck!

bujin

The landlord didn't take out any employer references.Ordinairily my daughter hasn't had her rent paid directly to the Landlord. In fact you can tell the HB that you don't give them permission to contact your landlord.

My daughter livesin the house with 3 students, so I don't know if the landlord presumed she wa sone, but she hasn't ever been asked and there's nothing in the contract.

With all the problems with mortgage,insurance etc is that documented anywhere that I can access, for example if it affects the Insurance I can't find anything on that.

New_User

bujin wrote: »

The landlord didn't take out any employer references.Ordinairily my daughter hasn't had her rent paid directly to the Landlord. In fact you can tell the HB that you don't give them permission to contact your landlord.

My daughter livesin the house with 3 students, so I don't know if the landlord presumed she wa sone, but she hasn't ever been asked and there's nothing in the contract.

With all the problems with mortgage,insurance etc is that documented anywhere that I can access, for example if it affects the Insurance I can't find anything on that.

It all depends on the individual insurers and mortgage lenders...

Surely the LL should know student status, as this affects council tax liability? But ultimately, that is the occupants / tenants responsibility...

Four unrelated people can constitute a HMO.
Is it registered as such?

New_User

Regarding original documentation;
It's a difficult call...
I guess your options are either come clean, or make up another reason for wanting them (eg daughter's contents insurer wants to see them etc...?)

I'm no expert, but good luck!

bujin

Yes the landlord knows that the other 3 are students.The same three students rented from her last year, my daughter is friends with one of them and advised the Landlord that my daughter would be joining the three of them to make up the four. I believe her friend told the landlord she had finished her degree, but they didn't ask anything further. My daughter was still technically employed even though she was off sick at the time.
I must stress there was no subterfuge here, she was never asked what her employment status was and was unaware at the time that she would lose her job and was not in receipt of HB at the time of signing the contract.

Actually your idea about contents insurance is not a bad shout . I'll see if anyone else has any suggestions. Thanks.

harrys_dad

If your daughter is not a student, and is sharing with three students, I suspect she is liable for all the council tax, albeit with a 25% single occupancy discount. Has she applied for council tax benefit as well as HB?

bujin

harrys_dad wrote: »

If your daughter is not a student, and is sharing with three students, I suspect she is liable for all the council tax, albeit with a 25% single occupancy discount. Has she applied for council tax benefit as well as HB?

Yes thanks I believe the form is for both Council Tax and Housing Benefit.

theartfullodger

New_User wrote: »

....
LHA causes problems for LLs due to:
Mortgage lenders
Insurance
................

The "Insurance" problem is a myth put about by either stupid or lying landlords & agents.

Some Landlord insurance does indeed exclude HB/LHA claimants: However it is relatively easy and not that much more expensive for a landlord to get insurance that covers HB/LHA tenants: So, if a landlord says he "can't" you'll know he's either lying, stupid, or too mean to pay the few quid more...

He might of course be using "insurance" as a convenient excuse, having some deep-seated resentment of those in receipt of benefits: Odd when most (approx 64% of all families) are in receipt of one benefit or another (Child Benefit, state pension, CTC/WTC etc etc etc..).

Cheers!

silvercar

theartfullodger wrote: »

The "Insurance" problem is a myth put about by either stupid or lying landlords & agents.

Some Landlord insurance does indeed exclude HB/LHA claimants: However it is relatively easy and not that much more expensive for a landlord to get insurance that covers HB/LHA tenants: So, if a landlord says he "can't" you'll know he's either lying, stupid, or too mean to pay the few quid more...

He might of course be using "insurance" as a convenient excuse, having some deep-seated resentment of those in receipt of benefits: Odd when most (approx 64% of all families) are in receipt of one benefit or another (Child Benefit, state pension, CTC/WTC etc etc etc..).

Cheers!

The landlord does need to know that the tenant is relying on HB in order to inform the insurers and change insurance company or pay the higher premium.

It can be a genuine problem. For example, DirectLineForBusiness require tenants to be in work or retired. If a landlord has all his properties insured with that company he is not going to be willing to change insurers to take on a new tenant.

BigAunty

bujin wrote: »

Apart from the obvious are there any other reasons why Landlords prefer not to have HB tenants, someone said that it voids their insurance? Anyway any thoughts gratefully received.

They are viewed from a business perspective as a higher risk, more likely to get into arrears and that even if the landlord wins a judgement for this, they are unlikely to be able to enforce it from someone without any employment income, at best receiving a fiver a week.

A few years ago, the govt changed the legislation so that all but the most vulnerable of tenants receive the HB directly whereas in the past, the tenant could direct the council to pay the HB straight to the Landlord.

HB claimants used to have the reputation for being harder to evict and perhaps this still lingers. The notice/eviction process is the same for all tenants regardless of how they pay but realistically HB claimants were more likely to approach the council housing/homeless department when served notice by the landlord. Councils used a process nicknamed 'gate keeping' to cut down on the demand for their services by telling the tenant to stay put and ignore the notice until the landlord gained a court order. They told the tenants they wouldn't help them until the eviction process was much more advanced and that if they cooperated by moving out due to the first notice, they would be classified as having made themselves intentionally homeless and the council would no longer help them.

This has supposed to have changed in England in the last few years due to the localism act and it was expected councils would stop telling tenants to ignore the notice from landlords as they should act upon the initial notice letter, not force them to wait until court action. Don't know if this is the case or not.