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renting a house
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kellydangerous1
Posts: 15 Forumite
i am currently renting a house at £395 pcm but i have just been made redundent from my job so can afford it i've been in house 2 and a half years now but im letting it via a letting agent.so i pay the letting agent direct but i had to be working ehern i agreed to let the property.could i claim housing benefit and have it paid into my bank account and then give it to them or would i have to involve the letting agent as i fear i'll lose my home if the letting agent dosent agree to this im not a bad tenant ive had 3 inpsections off letting agent since ive been in and kept the property in a very good condition.
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kellydangerous1 wrote: »i am currently renting a house at £395 pcm but i have just been made redundent from my job so can afford it i've been in house 2 and a half years now but im letting it via a letting agent.so i pay the letting agent direct but i had to be working ehern i agreed to let the property.could i claim housing benefit and have it paid into my bank account and then give it to them or would i have to involve the letting agent as i fear i'll lose my home if the letting agent dosent agree to this im not a bad tenant ive had 3 inpsections off letting agent since ive been in and kept the property in a very good condition.
The whole thing changes anyway next month where it will be the norm for the HB to be paid direct to the tenant rather than the LL.
If you have been a good tenant you are probably worrying over nothing."If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools"
Extract from "If" by Rudyard Kipling0 -
kellydangerous1 wrote: »i am currently renting a house at £395 pcm but i have just been made redundent from my job so can afford it i've been in house 2 and a half years now but im letting it via a letting agent.so i pay the letting agent direct but i had to be working ehern i agreed to let the property.could i claim housing benefit and have it paid into my bank account and then give it to them or would i have to involve the letting agent as i fear i'll lose my home if the letting agent dosent agree to this im not a bad tenant ive had 3 inpsections off letting agent since ive been in and kept the property in a very good condition.
You need to go to your local council and pick up a housing benefit form.There is a section in it where you put in your details o the rent gets paid to you. I get my rent paid direct to me and yes the OP is right as of April it will be the tenant that gets paid the rent.Hope all goes well.0 -
I would warn you now, Housing Benefit doesn't pay quickly at first. It might be a couple of months before the money comes through.
You pay your rent in advance monthly
HB pays you rent money in arrears, 4-weekly.
So be prepared for that. You will need to have your rent money for the next couple of months until the system catches up.0 -
Your landlord should be made aware because of his obligations under his insurance policies. Many policies have different premium rates for houses occupied by those who are working, those who are on DSS/Housing Benefit, those who are students etc.
Keep the lines of communication open, but talk to the private tenancies officer at the Housing department if you encounter any difficulties with your landlord/agent.0 -
Your landlord, having accepted you as a tenant, doesn't have a right to know of your change in circumstances. Why stir up a hornets nest? Keep it simple, handle any claim yourself and pay your rent as usual.
Putting in a HB claim would not be accepted as a ground for eviction. Your priority is to pay the rent, put in an HB claim as this will help ensure you are in a position to do just that.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0 -
Your landlord, having accepted you as a tenant, doesn't have a right to know of your change in circumstances.
That could be poor advice in the absence of seeing the wording of the Tenancy Agreement.
If there is any likelihood of the tenant being unable to make the rent payments on time (highly likely if s/he has no savings and is applying for HB) most LLs would prefer to know in advance.
Yes, some LLs (& some tenants) can be difficult but open communication between parties to a contract really does help in general .
Kelly, if you've been there for over 2 years and have shown yourself to be a good tenant there shouldn't be a problem once your paperwork is sorted. People's circumstances do change and LLs are aware of that possibility, but as I said, it may affect the LLs insurance cover for the property if they have their tenant listed say as a young professional but at the time of a claim they fall into another category but this hasn't been notified.0
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