Blanket ban on renting to tenants on benefits in rental property ads - lawful?

AdrianC

ACG wrote: »

It almost reads like they think their property is too good for the people who claim certain benefits.

Well, if it's priced at double LHA - the 30th percentile of rented properties of that number of bedrooms in the area - then that suggests that it's not really the end of the market that those on low incomes would be looking, doesn't it...?


You could spin that as "too good for", but...

Cakeguts

pinklady21 wrote: »

Thanks all for the thoughtful replies.
The property is indeed "upmarket" and the rent level is therefore not affordable to someone on benefits income.
I think it would be irresponsible of me to consider a tenant whose income was insufficient for them to be able to afford the rent!
My issue is that I am receiving enquiries asking "Do you accept housing benefit?"
If I am entirely truthful and answer "no", then I risk this being deemed discriminatory. Equally, there is no point in wasting everyone's time, with viewings etc and then turning them down on income grounds.

The issue at stake in the court case earlier this year was one of indirect discrimination, the prospective tenant was female and claimed that as such she was more likely to be claiming benefits and therefore more likely to be discriminated against.
The case was settled out of court, and was not binding, but it does raise an interesting question about what is reasonable and not reasonable for a landlord to put in an advert or to say to a prospective tenant.

What I don't understand is why you are being asked if you accept housing benefit if the LHA won't cover the rent? I mean it is a silly question if they can't afford the rent so what is the point of asking it? Anyone who can't afford the rent could ask this question but they don't seem to do that?

pinklady21

Cakeguts wrote: »

What I don't understand is why you are being asked if you accept housing benefit if the LHA won't cover the rent? I mean it is a silly question if they can't afford the rent so what is the point of asking it? Anyone who can't afford the rent could ask this question but they don't seem to do that?

Agree. It does not make much sense to me either. There are cheaper properties around here of a similar size. I usually respond to these questions with "The LHA is X, how would you meet the shortfall?"
I am not sure if some folks think that the rent might be negotiable, which it might be for the right tenant, but not by nearly 50%!

It occurred to me that a lot of other ads for properties to rent do stipulate no benefits and because I have not put that in my advert, this may be generating a hope that it might be suitable. Similar to the "no pets allowed" that often appears, if it is not there, then prospective tenants might surmise that the landlord will allow pets etc.

Comms69

G_M wrote: »

I'm gonna resist responding as I don't want to get banned quite yet. Or slated. Or pillaried.

I know.

Unfortunately I’m the pursuit of ‘equality’ we’ve gone too far the other way

Mnd

Could be like my niece, single mum, 2 kids. Never worked.. 4 bed detached..subsidised by parents!

pinklady21

ACG wrote: »

Wow!
I do not think I have read a post that sounds so elitest/condescending in one go.

"I do not want to build their hopes up"
"it would be unlikely any potential tenant on benefits would pass the checks." - Why? Would they get a negative employers reference? Or are you assuming everyone on benefits has bad credit?

Believe it or not, as a Mortgage broker who specialises in bad credit, I come across quite a few professionals who have plenty of defaults. In fact I remember doing a Mortgage for someone who earns a 6 figure salary who had 3 defaults and various late payments. Most of my customers are people who messed up their credit at uni but have gone on to have high paying jobs.

I was rather taken aback at the tone of this response, and have thought carefully before responding as I think incorrect assumptions may have been made about my motives. The property I am advertising for rent is simply not affordable to someone whose income consists of state benefits.

It is akin to someone approaching their financial adviser to arrange a mortgage on a £500k house, when their income only allows them to consider buying a £250k house.
What sort of conversation would it be appropriate for the adviser to have with the applicant in that scenario?

EachPenny

pinklady21 wrote: »

What sort of conversation would it be appropriate for the adviser to have with the applicant in that scenario?

.."So, what were the lottery numbers you will be picking this weekend?"

More seriously, having helped people on the other end of the 'no benefits' equation, my experience is landlords are erroneously thinking benefits=bad tenant : no benefits = good tenant.

I know some excellent tenants who are getting modest amounts of benefit topping up what they earn. Your property might be out of their league, but my advice to any landlord would be to keep an open mind about people and assess them on the whole picture, not just dismiss them because they cannot tick a box.

silvercar

I have a tenant that you would call a benefit tenant - totally reliant on housing benefit, not able to afford any top ups, stays at home to bring up her kids.

The upside is that she is a long term tenant with no desire to leave. Keeps the house incredibly clean and tidy and she notifies me of maintenance issues promptly. If she had moved out I would have increased the rent on re advertising, but I would also have had voids and the cost of re decorating before each new tenant, hassles with agency fees etc

Murphybear

We are pensioners who rent. We have 5 pensions between us and can afford a decent property. We get top up LHA

When looking for a new house fairly recently we had the following experiences

Lovely bungalow, been in the market quite a long time because of location, no transport. We loved it and put in an offer which was accepted. We advised them we had small amount of top up HB and they immediately said no without going back to the LL. Property was still unlet 2 months later.

Another agent had lots of properties in our price range. I went in the office and explained we had pensions plus top up HB. They then said their "no HB" rule didn't apply to pensioners with top up:rotfl:

We found a large farmhouse where the rent was low and we passed the affordability criteria without mentioning the HB

That didn't work out and serendipity pointed us to an over 60s Housing Association property which they couldn't let because it was large and the rent was too high for single pensioners. We loved it and 2 months later we moved in. No credit checks, no fees, no deposit and no references:D. We pay the rent every month on time and look after the place, what more do they want?

I suppose the moral of this tale is that LLs/agencies treat everyone the same rather than checking on an individual basis whether a prospective tenant would be suitable.

Not all bad tenants are on HB, not all good tenants are not.

I'm still waiting for a response to my question "what happens if working tenants lose their job and have to claim HB". You can't ask a tenant to leave just because they've lost their job and the insurance company wouldn't like them

AdrianC

Murphybear wrote: »

We are pensioners who rent. We have 5 pensions between us and can afford a decent property. We get top up LHA

Can I ask how?

Housing Benefit is means-tested for all, regardless of age. If you're past pension age, then the only way to get it is that's different to non-pension-age people is if you receive the Guarantee Credit rate of Pension Credit, which tops your income up to £250/wk for a couple - and takes account of assumed income from savings.