Private renting whilst receiving UC

[PinkBird76]

I posted this on the Property/DIY board yesterday and only received one response. Hoping I’ll receive a few more comments on the Chat board.

Name changed for this post.

Bit of a backstory, I was homeless in 2020 whilst pregnant and instead of staying in temporary accommodation long term, the council helped house me in a private property. They paid the deposit and in return, the LL was happy to accept someone who was on UC. I moved into the property in 2021.

Fast forward to now and due to issues with the LL and a persistent rodent problem, we have to move house soon. I now have 2 children (1&2 year old) and they both have a disability/additional needs. Despite being a carer, I just about manage to work 2 days a week and receive UC too. We receive an additional bedroom allowance because of DS’ disability which means that the LHA is covered by UC. I don’t need to top it up at all.

It is practically impossible to find a suitable property that will accept someone on UC. I have a strong reference from the current EA which highlights the fact that I’ve never been late with a rent payment and have always paid the full amount. I’ve never been in arrears. I have a bloody guarantor and that’s still not enough.

My monthly wage is about £700.
UC is around £3100.
DLA is just under £600.
Child Benefit is £160.
Their dad gives me £400 a month too.
That’s £4960 a month.

I can understand that LL’s don’t want to rely on DLA/CB/Maintenance but I don’t understand what else I need to do to show that I can pay the rent. UC will cover the whole rent and it’s still an issue.

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do/say to show that I’m a reliable tenant. Just because I’m on UC does not mean that I’m going to be an awful tenant that messes up their house. Unfortunately, I’m not in a position to provide 6 months rent upfront as that would be about £10k. I’d really appreciate hearing from other single mums/parents that have rented whilst receiving UC. Thanks

@FiresideDreamer I have too many issues with the LL, I can’t get into it. Point is, it’s move by choice or get evicted. Staying is not an option.

@HelloMiss what are you talking about? Why do you keep commenting when you don’t have a clue what you’re saying? What flats did I not accept? I think I’ll ignore your extremely unhelpful comments from now on!

I’m on the council’s housing list and on Band B. I do have priority on some flats due to the nature of my son’s disability but there’s hardly any council properties available.

Rude

From your second post on this very thread 😊

You can only dream of being a single parent to two disabled children? I am not in anyway criticising the op's life but it can't be an easy one.

Here

Op did not say she's been offered she said she's has priority. But so will other people the flats may have been offered to others

Being a priority is NOT the same as being offered a flat. It just means that SHOULD a flat meeting OP's needs come up then she will be considered for it.

But do you have disabled kids and a rent of £1400 a month to pay ?

Yes. And she could have clarified that upthread

It sounds the most promising route to pursue

Private rented sounds like a dead end

She did, to you

@HelloMiss I think you’ve misunderstood. No properties have been offered to me otherwise I would have taken it. It’s a bidding system where you bid each week in hope to get a property. We currently come anywhere between 400-700 and you need to be in the top 5 to even be considered. As I said, we have priority on certain flats due to my son’s disability but we’re usually in the top 30 so nowhere near where we need to be to get shortlisted.

Maybe you should have read ALL her posts instead of just the 2.

@PinkBird76 if you was to find another suitable private rent. Would you loose your banding on the council list ? Also are you bidding if so where are you coming roughly?

More than that, I’m on 63k and bring home £3500

I'm a LL and recently advertised a new 2 bedroom house I just bought. I got it freshly painted and new carpets. It was advertised on a Thursday. By Friday afternoon the EA had 12 viewings for the Saturday. They did the viewings in pairs. By Monday morning 7 of the viewings resulted in an offer to rent. 3 were couples where both worked full time, no kids, no pets, no smoking. 1 was a couple with 2 DC where 1 worked full time and Mum on mat leave. Other 2 single Mums. One with a 3 year old, no pets, no smoking, who worked full time and other 1 with a baby, on benefits, no pets, no smoking. I went with the lady with the 3 year old who worked full time. EA said she wanted her DC to get into local school. I'll have another 3 bedroom coming ready in about 6 weeks and I've offered the family with 2dc first dibs. The 2 I offered both had great references from previous/current LL stating they kept the house nice and hadn't caused any damage. Also the lady with 2 DC had a guarantor too. My reasoning was people with DC need a home for DC and so are more likely to become long term tenants rather than just wanting accommodation for 6 months or a year. Also I thought once a 3 almost 4 year old starts school the Mum probably won't want to move the DC so again more likely to want to be long term tenants. I will say the EA did ask me if I was really sure I didn't want to go with a couple with no DC yet. These are most popular with LL because it is thought if 1 person loses their job the other partner can still pay rent. I wouldn't rent to a person who didn't work at least 30 hours per week.

It's not a myth but some building societies are stricter than others. Some state tenants must be working, no benefits, other lenders are more lenient just working tenants so top ups of UC would be allowed.

Isn't your wage above the earnings threshold for carers allowance?

Apologies if I'm wrong

Carers element on UC doesn't have an earnings threshold.

People can get UC carers element irrespective of how much they earn !

sorry for your situation, I thought there was a new law saying that LL cannot refuse those who are with UC?

and off-topic, may I know how to register as a carer for your own children?

Apologies I thought you only had that if you had carers allowance (then one was disregarded anyway)

I'm gobsmacked at the amount of UC here. I work my arse off for 1500 a month!

because having 2 disabled DC is a walk in the park.

On £1500 you would receive UC if you had 2 DC or 1 DC and childcare costs/rent.

Not judging genuinely curious - do you get help with your council tax? Council tax reduction / council tax support?

Do either of your DC receive DLA or PIP depending on their ages?

@Justasking49 as long as I remain in a one bedroom flat, I’d still be considered ‘overcrowded,’ so my banding will remain the same. If I private rented a two bedroom flat (which I can’t afford anyway) then my banding would go down to Band C. In another post of mine, I explained a bit better where we come on the bidding list. We can come anywhere between 400-600th (there’s usually nearly 2k people bidding for one flat.) For the flats that we have priority on, we’re usually in the top 30. Only problem is, those flats come up about once every 2/3 months so it’s rare.

@caringcarer I thought the same. I thought some LL’s would want tenants that will stay for longer and have children in nursery/school close to the area would kind of guarantee that. I’ll keep on looking.

@SackOfShitandRegrets I have the carers element on UC, I don’t get carers allowance which is slightly different. I pay my full council tax (I have the single person discount but that’s it). If I didn’t work then I wouldn’t have to pay council tax.

@happyfishcoco LLs & EAs can no longer say, ‘No DSS’ on their listings but they still don’t take people with UC. Nothing much anyone can do really. If your children receive MRC/HRC then you can get either the carers element on UC or carers allowance (depending on your earnings).

It is an enormous amount that some people are getting and I honestly don't know how it is sustainable as a country to pay out these amounts but it is the private rents that are causing it mainly and high childcare costs. Op will be getting a significant amount extra due to having 2 disabled children and also getting child maintenance which is not taken off benefits at all but most people on UC will just see it going straight on rent and childcare costs. Until our government significantly starts investing in social housing then we will just have this situation ongoing for years - tax payers footing the bill for huge private rents, young people not being able to afford to buy, landlords getting more and more properties and charging higher and higher rets etc. It is dire situation we are in.

You have a huge monthly income, do you have a lot of debt? Struggling to see how you are not able to save a large amount each month