Existing tenant is applying for Housing Benefit...

LuciferTDark

If a landlord chucked me out for claiming HB I'd be straight down the CAB & the local press & their name would be mud faster than they can spit.

custardy

adouglasmhor wrote: »

The landlord has to fill out a form saying how much rent is due, so of course they know who is on HB.

I think you are more than harsh with your assesment of the other posters on this thread though.

I do know that sometimes people on low wages are entitled to HB though and totaly agree with this. I would rather someone had a little hand up like that than no help at all.

not so.i was on benifits for a couple of months and just supplied my lease documents and had the money paid direct to me.
this was paid via DD as usual to my landlord from my account.
i was the same person before,during and after recieving HB

HugoSP

aardvarkuk wrote: »

I used to rent to a chap who was on HB and to be honest I wish I had him back as a tenant he was the most responsible person in the housing market I had ever met, he was clean, tidy and decorated and also repaired the odd thing when I offered to do it and he actually did a very good job, I really do miss this chap, but now I have another bloke who is renting my flat and he is behind with his rent and has broken items on numerous occassions and in the middle of being evicted and he works as a dental surgeon on good money ( I expect ) but is just a complete waster.

Tarring people by advertising and saying no DSS or claimants is discrimination that has to stop and is unfair to certain sectors of society, you can get good and bad whether working or not.

The first tenant you mention could be the very same chap I have on DLA.

clutton_2

""
Tarring people by advertising and saying no DSS or claimants is discrimination that has to stop and is unfair to certain sectors of society, you can get good and bad whether working or not.""

sadly, it is not about the tenants when landlords put "no DSS" - its because of the system that more and more landlords will not accept ~HB tenants.

it is also about maintaining a balanced portfolio - a landlord needs to be able to increase rents in line with the market, and to keep cashflow at a decentish level - you cannot increase HB tenants by anything like market rental increases - they just dont have the money. So having some professionals and some HB is wise business strategy.

aardvarkuk

clutton wrote: »

""
Tarring people by advertising and saying no DSS or claimants is discrimination that has to stop and is unfair to certain sectors of society, you can get good and bad whether working or not.""

sadly, it is not about the tenants when landlords put "no DSS" - its because of the system that more and more landlords will not accept ~HB tenants.

it is also about maintaining a balanced portfolio - a landlord needs to be able to increase rents in line with the market, and to keep cashflow at a decentish level - you cannot increase HB tenants by anything like market rental increases - they just dont have the money. So having some professionals and some HB is wise business strategy.

Oh its that System again :rolleyes:

Why wont landlords accept DSS? for me when I rent out I just make sure I get the payment into my bank account and I also make a bi monthly inspection of my abode, also the council will bond over a tenant if need be, so if they mess things up in my place and have scuppered the bond then they wont be able to get any council help again.

A Balanced portfolio?? thats twaddle, you can increase the rent to what you want as its upto the tenant if he or she will pay it, as the fair rent officer has no power to make a landlord pay a more reasonable price if need be, he/she cannot enforce anything.

At the end of the day if you are a good landlord you will keep the price at a reasonable level and not conform to Rackmanism, also some proffesionals are complete wasters as I said in an earlier posting.


:beer:

Old_No.7

Hello all, and thanks again for all your responses (yes, even the Landlords are Scum ones... I don't think I fall into that category, but you obviously know me better than I do, haha).

First of all: I totally agree that I don't want to chuck her out when things are going bad already. If she was the only person in the house, I wouldn't have ever brought it up! But she isn't, and there's where the dilemma came in. The chucking out would relate more to her behaviour, not to her HB per se: if there hadn't been these difficulties with the other tenants, I really wouldn't mind paying a bit more for insurance etc to allow her to claim HB. Like you've all pointed out: either way I get my money.

Second: I was surprised too that the landlord (or landlady, in this case) gets involved in HB, but the tenant asked for a letter to prove she'd lived there for 2 years. She has a contract and bank statements to prove rent paid, so why I would have to provide a letter (and therefore be informed), I don't know. I think especially as it's such a sensitive issue here, people should be allowed to claim without anyone knowing. I'm from the Netherlands and if your income drops there, you get housing subsidy without anyone being aware: it works perfectly there, but obviously the system here is different.

On the matter of knowing so much about my tenants' life: for starters, I used to live in the flat with one of the current tenants, so I know him well. Unfortunately the others, they drag me into their lives! It's not just: "we've got mice, can you help with that?" but "we've got mice, because she did this, and then he did that, and now I have to clear it up again, blah blah blah." It takes up way more time that I'd like: I feel like a social worker sometimes. ) Am getting better at staying out of it though, but I do want to keep the option open to chuck a troublesome tenant out if it means the others will stay.

Anyway, I spoke to the tenant this afternoon, and she was very understanding about my concerns, and has decided to drop the HB claim (she still gets some other benefit while she's looking for work). She's very eager to get back to work, and is temping when she can, so she wasn't sure it was worth the hassle anyway (just in case you think I bullied her into giving up the claim). I would help her out a bit if I could without the others finding out, but it's just too risky, and it might make matters worse.

So in a way it's been resolved, many thanks again for all your feedback!

Ebany

I have recently put in a claim for HB and attitudes like the ones seen in this thread are why I categorically put 'no' on the page where it asked if they could contact my landlord. Nothing has changed in my personal circumstances, I have just been made aware that in my situation there is a good chance we will be given some help (I work full time, but not a stunning wage, my husband is a full time student and also receives DLA). We have been able to afford the rent for the past 18 months or so (and will continue to do so if it turns out we don't qualify), but it has been tight so when someone mentioned we could get help we wanted to grab it with both hands!

Just because someone has claimed for assistance they are entitled to is no reason to assume they are going to become some house-wrecking layabout.

Old_No.7

I can't resist this, so just a quick background note: I'm not a big property magnate, I own this one flat with a friend, and we rent it out all-inclusive to people who aren't earning much in general, and who therefore prefer to pay all costs inclusive so they know where they stand. We don't ask for references as I trust people, and it's the other tenants that decide if they think they can live with someone, not me (they are at more risk from anyone dodgy, I would only lose money, they might lose more precious things if the wrong person moves in). I ask for 1 month's deposit, which gets refunded against the last month's rent so they don't have a cash flow problem when they move out (plus, had about 15 tenants in the rooms, and never any problems with the state of the rooms when they left).

So I feel I do what I can to be a nice landlady, as I rented for a long time myself, and this is the first time we've had these kind of problems between the tenants. I'm hoping it will resolve itself, but if I feel I need to step in to prevent bullying, I will: I think that's part of my responsibility towards everyone in the flat.

HugoSP

Old No 7.

IMO she should be encouraged to claim HB if she is entitled to it. It is there so that she can maintain her accommodation. Please don't discourage her from doing so. If she can still pay the rent without then none of the cashflow problems predicted by The Clutton will arise. But cooperating with her to enable her to claim HB will help her and it won't cost you a penny.

The letter is quite simple. IIRC I had to enter some details on the form to confirm that the tenancy agreement hadn't been invented by my tenants. Your letter will do the same for her. It's not like she can use it to steal your identity.

As far as her not getting on with the other tenants, that is a separate issue. TBH you sound like the sort who is prepared to give her a chance, which is great. See how she sorts herself out. You never know she may have to move to another job

Old_No.7

Thanks for that, HugoSP, that makes sense, as the agreement would be easy to forge (then again, so would a letter, no?). I do feel bad about her not claiming now, but she was already thinking it wouldn't be worth it as it takes a while to kick in, and she's hoping to be working again soon. Fingers crossed she finds something soon, there's plenty of work in London still, I hope.