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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that private sector landlords should not be allowed to charge exhorbitant rents to those on benefits

103 replies

therehastobemore · 23/01/2012 22:19

Just watching the news about benefit caps and i have to voice this.

The cost of private rental in this area is astronomical. FWIW we don't rent we own our house but we are struggling and have considered selling up and renting but couldn't afford the rental. I am not talking about our situation here.

My husband is a builder and the other week went to price a job for a landlord, he wanted his house "toshed over" and brought up to standard as cheaply as possible. His long term tennant was moving out. Single mother with six children, she was on benefits (this is not an assumption, my husband chatted to her). DP said the place was in a poor state or repair and that no way would he want to pay the £900, yes, £900 a month that this woman was being charged. This woman said she struggled to get the landlord to make repairs. I have been in that situation years back and the rental is always over and above what woudl be charged otherwise.

The point being that no way could this land lord have rented this out to folk who were paying out of their own pockets, but because this woman was on benefits and needed somewhere to live he could pretty much charge what he liked so long as a minimum standard is met.

This is a massive drain on the tax payer. Inscrupulous landlords charging maximum rents for properties and the tax payer is paying for it. Never mind that people on benefits through no fault of their own are having to live in substandard conditions.

Just how much is being payed out in housing benefits where the properties are not worth the rent that is being paid???

OP posts:
IUseTooMuchKitchenRoll · 23/01/2012 23:05

£900 is not a lot for a three bedroom property in the south East. It was probably that cheap because it wasnt well maintained, but of it was, then the rent would have been a lot more.

shagmundfreud · 23/01/2012 23:06

Rent will necessarily reflect the sale value of the property at market rates.

There is a huge shortage of housing in the UK, especially in the SE. Hence prices are high, hence rents are high.

Landlords who can't make enough in rental to cover their mortgage costs simply won't rent to social tenants. And they probably won't need to/

Original poster
therehastobemore · 23/01/2012 23:06

gosh niceguy, it really makes you wonder why they bother then if there is no money in it for them?

OP posts:
CoffeeDog · 23/01/2012 23:09

We pay 950 for a small 2 bed flat........ 2 adults 3 kid. i dream of being able to aford to rent a 3 bed house...

Original poster
therehastobemore · 23/01/2012 23:12

but coffeedog, you REALLY wouldnt want to rent that one! That is my point.

Anyway, i actually dont know the ins and outs of it, but i am sure no one forces landlords to rent to those on benefits and there must be something in it for them else they woudln't do it. It just seems from my niave point of view that they seem to be taking advantage of the system. I will admit to not knowing what the system is and it is interesting to read peoples points of view.

Thats all from me i think :) wanders off thinking i really shouldnt start threads when i dont know what im acshally talking about

OP posts:
Winkly · 23/01/2012 23:17

What's in it for them - covering the mortgage. OP you don't appear to know what you're talking about but at least you know that :) (oh and YABU)

Original poster
therehastobemore · 23/01/2012 23:19

so a nice little nest egg when the mortgage has been paid then :) See, im learning!! But seriously, i don't actually know what the rules are, it just seems on the face of it, a bit unfair

OP posts:
frownieface · 23/01/2012 23:25

The cost of private rentals is a disgrace I live in an area where if I were on my own I would barely be able to afford a bedsit. Landlords charge the rents they do because of a housing shortage and because they can. If anyone says to me 'well move to a cheaper area then' I will tell them to fuck off then fuck off some more. Social engineering anyone? Sad Angry Oh YANBU!

IWantMyHatBack · 23/01/2012 23:29

It does make me a bit sick at the amount that private landlords are making from HB claimants tbh - my Sister pays £900 a month rent in a normal 2 bed flat - more than we pay in our mortgage for our 3 bed house (rented/bought at similar times, similar areas incidentally).

All comes down the the council house stock being sold off really, doesn't it?

Bloody Thatcher..

oreocrumbs · 23/01/2012 23:31

There are many flaws to the system. It is abused by both LL and tenants. My last tenant was a nightmare, and far too long a story to write out, but the relevant bit is this, she last paid rent in Nov 10, she left the day before the court baliff eviction date in Oct 11! The council knew she wasn't paying rent, but they wouldn't do anything about it. She is entitled to HB and so gets it. The fact that she is not using it to pay rent is not their problem its mine. Chase her through the civil courts for the debt recovery. Not really an option due to the fact that a) it would cost me a fortune to track her down b)my legal fees for strting that action would start at £1k and c) IF I found her and took her to court as she has no income she would be ordered to repay a miniscule amount in debt repayment, then would default and so I would have more fees etc in taking her back to court.

So the government/tax payers have paid this woman around £6000 in HB that was not spent on rent. And they don't care. And she still gets it, as it is her right. So she has no penalties for abusing the system.

The whole HB system is so complicated and so wrong, and I wish I had even the slightest idea how to fix it or perhaps a politician who would be in a better position to act than me!

IUseTooMuchKitchenRoll · 23/01/2012 23:32

Why do people seem to have more of a problem with landlords making money out of HB claimants than they do with landlords making money out of private renters?

varicoseveined · 23/01/2012 23:34

900 quid would be excellent, in my not v desirable corner of London a two bedroom flat costs about £120 pcm Angry

niceguy2 · 23/01/2012 23:34

How much do you think of that £900 does the landlord actually profit from?

I don't know what it's like in the South East but here in the north there are a lot of properties available to rent. Landlords simply cannot dictate unfair prices because they'd just price themselves out of the market.

The council already pay lower than market rate rents. So just how do you suppose a landlord can 'milk' the HB claimants?

issey6cats · 23/01/2012 23:35

where i live the average private rental is around £350 a month for apartments, 350 -400 for two bedroom houses, 400-450 for 3 bedroom houses, 500-550 for 4 bedroom houses, the houses here a lot of them are back to back houses hence reasonable rents, my house is a nice two bedroom house in a cul de sac and while not posh i have a decent landlord who gets repairs done if anything goes wrong, my rent is 400 a month,

issey6cats · 23/01/2012 23:40

mind you there needs to be a lot of private rentals here as penine housing (the social housing people) boasted last year that they had rehoused 500 people when there are 2000 on the waiting list, its a bidding system and almost impossible to get social housing, most people are on the list that long they give up and go private we did when we had my ex husbands 16 year old son sleeping on the sofa for 6 months in a 1 bedroom bungalow because we kept been put down the list despite him being autistic and really hard living on top of each other as he had meltdowns nearly every day due to having no private space

mayorquimby · 23/01/2012 23:52

tbh if it's private I think they should be able to charge as much as they like and what the market will allow them.

IneedAbetterNicknameIn2012 · 24/01/2012 00:09

oreo that is awful :( Where I am, if you default on your rent more than once, the LL can apply to the council and have it paid directly to them to stop that happening.

ComposHat · 24/01/2012 00:11

We have two pieces of legislation passed by the Thatcher/major governments to thank for this, the sale of Council houses at below market rates (and preventing councils from building new ones) and the deregulation of the rental market, that allows greedy profiteer landlords to fleece the system.

See what happens when free market economics gets a grip on social policy!

LineRunner · 24/01/2012 00:28

ComposHat Absolutely right.

NinkyNonker · 24/01/2012 07:59

Needs to be same for all. A landlord can't charge what local market won't stand or he/she'll have an empty property.

oreocrumbs · 24/01/2012 09:35

Ineedabetter after 8 weeks you can apply to our council, which I did every 8 weeks and would get some rent, but after you begin trying to evict someone you can't do that. So she got a years benefit for nothing. I still have to pay my mortgage, insurance etc.

Just another thought for the discussion, the rents in my area don't vary much, its not like the south where demand is greater than supply, the outcome of this won't effect us very much. We have to be competitive, but if you simply say that a family in London on HB will only get £400 pcm, and the average rents are £900, then LL won't take them. They will be able to get an extra £500 from other people.

And if you start telling LL that they must take them, they will sell. The majority of private LL will have a mortgage, insurance, maintenance etc to pay for and if they can't cover that they won't rent. Then where will people go?

Its too complicated to easily sort it out, the country has been run into the ground by years af inept idiots elected to lead us.

StrandedBear · 24/01/2012 09:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

nailak · 24/01/2012 13:45

I was talking about over 900 for 2 bed not 3, and the Lha rates are set as the average of lowest 25% of housing of that many bedrooms in the area. So most houses will require tenants to top up even if the get maximum housing benefit.
The housing that is at a level that hb would cover is not available to hb tenants as majority of landlords don't take hb tenants.

Also many people talk about stresses of being a landlord. In regards to maintenance of property etc, those renting to hb tenants generally just don't do it. If you have mould on your walls making your kids ill and note from Dr saying so, tough. If you stay at friends as kids ill, hb will stop paying for property as you are not living there but you will still he liable for rent.

The landlords don't tend to do anything, as they no the tenants don't have the choice that those not on hb have of moving to any property in price range.

And they often put substandard fittings, for example in my house carpet wasn't fitted properly and kids stepping on nails, and those metal bits at end of carpet by doors not.screwed in properly etc. But when it comes to deposit I bet they will take money out for damage to carpet, also tiles in bathroom wall falling off and shower broken, for over a year now, landlord won't fix it, buy when it comes to deposit he will want money. Now tell me how is it my fault you didn't fit the tiles properly?

And as for hb not paid on overcrowded property, they do as we have 3 kids in 2 bed.

NorthernWreck · 24/01/2012 13:55

It is pretty hard finding a place to live if you are going to tell the LL you get HB. Most landlords will not accept it.

The local housing allowance, until this April (or sooner if you have had to move or changed jobs) has been cut.

It used to be that the council would calculate what a tenant ought to be paying in rent based on the average rent for the area.
Now, this calculation is based on the lowest third rental accomodation in
the area.

This has meant a reduction in real money of £50 a month where I live.

People on LHA simply can't pay more money to landlords than tenants who are not reliant on this benefit.
The average rent in my area is about £100 a month more than the local housing allowance.

NorthernWreck · 24/01/2012 13:55

Not until this April-I mean this April.