To want to move house? It's f***ing impossible.

[MyDogShitsMoney]

I'm renting and want to move as the house I'm in is starting to need a fair bit of maintsoenance. (damp issues, wiring problems, garden wall falling down, kitchen tap broken.....)

The problem is every single fecking advert says no housing benefit. Every single one. WHY?

Surely a Landlord would be happier with HB as it means guaranteed payment?

I do work as well but only part time so since stbXh left I have to claim a little help.

My credit history is absolutely fine, I keep my house immaculately, I have never once been even a day late paying the rent and I have great references from 2 landlords from houses I have lived in for 4 and 6 years respectively to prove it.

Yet just because I no longer have a husband I'm not deemed worthy of renting a little 2 bedroom house. Anywhere.

I'm so fucking pissed off. I just want a nice little home for me and my son. Is that really too much to ask?

I don't understand that serenity

isn't the temptation there if you work too?

(plus the OP does work!)

We are landlords and rent. Mine and DHs jobs moved to another area and the commute was a pain. We rent out house out, we aren't allowed to accept people who claim HB as the mortgage provider won't allow it. We only just get enough rent to cover the mortgage. I would sell it tomorrow if we could but 'lost' about £30k in value so we are stuck with it.

I hate renting and we could afford another mortgage but we don't have enough deposit. Our lease is up in 3 months and I'm always worrying that they aren't going to renew and then we will have to rush about trying to find somewhere else close to where we live so we don't disrupt the children and their childcare places. Paperwork, credit checks, scrapping together a deposit because we won't get this one back in time. It's an awful situation to be in. As both a tenant and a landlord I would prefer long term leases as it gives everyone some security.

"As both a tenant and a landlord I would prefer long term leases as it gives everyone some security"

YY to that, as a LL you get people in who can feel its their home so care for it accordingly, with the current short leases (the only type we're allowed to offer) even the best tennant is never gonna care for your property as if it were their own are they?

and as a tennant you could settle in and feel at home, when renting the longest I got to stay in one place was about 18 months, I hated all the moving it made me feel depressed!

Sorry to derail from the ops problem but another thing that winds me up is the massive issue about decorating. We had to ask can we put pictures up, can we paint a room, can we change the freezing cold wooden floor to a carpet. I would have thought the landlords would be glad we were spending money on it and making it home but oh no it has to stay a clinical white throughout. I couldn't give two hoots what the tenants in our house do decoratively as the next tenants can redecorate if they want to. If it was particularly offensive then I'd spend a weekend painting it neutral again.

I've just got home and now the fucking kitchen ceiling is leaking. The bathroom is above it so it must be a pipe or something.

I pay a decent rent, is it too much to ask for a decent house?

No, it's not :( and getting a bit at your landlady.

Time to bite the bullet and lay it on the line with her. It's DANGEROUS for you to live with your DC in a house with damp, leaks and faulty wiring.

Tell her that either she sorts things out or you'll have no option but to withhold rent (NB>>>READ MY PS ABOUT THIS AT THE BOTTOM) or involve environmental health. If she threatens to sell, tell her she'll have a job with all these problems - even brand spanking new places are sitting empty at the moment.

PS While it is OK to "threaten" to withhold rent - you must NOT actually do it.

Go to the forums at landlordzone and ask what the LLs on there think you should do about all this. I've had some fantastic advice from those guys.

"PS While it is OK to "threaten" to withhold rent - you must NOT actually do it."

I'm glad you said that, NEVER DO THIS as them breaching their obligations to you do not negate your obligations to them and they can really get you for it and their obligations aren't considered in the non payment as its a separate thing

they don't in any way "break" your contract to them by breaking theirs to you, you can still be held to it

(doesn't sound like the OP is the type to not pay anyway, but just thought I'ld mention it)

Yes - what Cherie said. Never, ever actually withhold rent - but you can threaten it if you think that would work.

Will definitely try that website, thanks, haven't heard of it before.

No, I won't be threatening anything, really can't afford to piss her off.

I'm just so sick of all this. I used to love my little house, I'm starting to hate it.

Ok, feeling a bit guilty now.

Just spoke to LL about the leak in the kitchen and she was lovely.

She also asked about the front wall without me prompting and apologised for it taking so long.

She said herself that I am paying them money so I shouldn't have to live in a "disaster zone"! She promised she's going to get it sorted.

I know I'm lucky in the grand scheme of things. There are a hell of a lot of LL a lot worse than mine, and a lot of rental properties a lot worse than mine.

I love my little house, I really do.

I just wish renting was as straight forward as everyone seems to think it is.

Lie. I have never, ever told an agent I get HB. If I had we would be living with my mum. And I would be in jail for murder.

I am working, I just lie about how much I earn, and don't mention any kind of benefits, inc tax credits.

Sorry if some people have an ethical problem with this, but life is made pretty hard for renters.

Funnily enough 60 % of ALL RENTERS get some HB...

TBH thinking about it, my current LL doesn't know actually.

It's not something I have actively hidden, It just never occurred to me that it would be relevant to her. I pay my rent in exactly the same way as I always have.

Surely I can't be invalidating her insurance or mortgage if she genuinely doesn't know?

I honestly had no idea she needed to know, nothing was ever said when I put my claim in.

There you are then. You can find a new house if you want-just don't mention it. They won't ask. Agents know full well loads of people get HB, and that if they didn't let to them landlords would go hungry, the poor dears.

I want to move too, but I can't get together the £1000 I would need to pay the new deposit and moving costs.
Signing a new tenancy agreement in a new flat is £140 alone, as opposed to the mere £60 I need to pay to sign a new one in the house I am in.

My rent, I worked out the other day, is the equivalent of me having a £110000 mortgage. It's mental. HB covers maybe one third of my rent, so is still a struggle, and I would try and find somewhere cheaper if I wasn't stuck!

Aint renting grand!

Oh it's a treat and a half!

I very much appreciate my LL for allowing me to pay her mortgage for her!

I'm more than happy to lie to the surveyor your insurance company is sending round to asses the damage done by the leak I reported 6 months ago.

I'm more than grateful that you fixed the kitchen tap "for now" with some duct tape.

I'm also very appreciative of your spending your hard earned rent money on some new display coals for the fire rather than going to the expense of replacing it with one that works. I don't at all mind having to put the central heating on instead.

Anything that saves you a few quid is fine by me!

No, she is really nice TBF.

Her husband came straight round this afternoon to sort out the leak from the bathroom and she has someone coming round this week to check out the damp so hopefully it'll all get sorted soon.

In the grand scheme of things I'm very lucky. I've been here almost 6 years and the rent has never been raised. I know the market has done some crazy things in that time, and after doing some searching over the last week I have found the average prices to be almost identical to what they were last time I moved, but still, I've got a pretty good deal in fairness.

She's really friendly too. Always says she hates getting a call from me because she knows I'll only every ring if I really have to. I think she does genuinely appreciate that I'm a good tenant.

Swings and roundabouts I suppose.

I'd go through gumtree and email prospective landlords your situation. My sister did that and she was in a v. similar position to you re. working part time and getting some housing benefit and wanting to be upfront about it. She found a lovely flat very quickly in a fairly buoyant housing market.

Good luck!

I'm not on housing benefit but trying to move and finding it bloody hard finding a landlord in my area who will even accept CHILDREN. Unfortunately, the way the housing market is at the moment, landlords can cherry pick their preferred tenant. I really really REALLY hope something will be done (pull your finger out, Dave!) as I cannot see how this can be left to continue - but like you I am stuck.

Unfortunately, we have damp and mould in my son's bedroom (no drying on rads, air room regularly, heating on in winter etc.) and the landlords know and won't do anything about it. Or fix the leaking toilet. They have been allergic to doing any repairs during our entire tenancy. They actually get downright annoyed about it. I don't want to kick up a fuss as we're moving anyway and this is stressful enough, plus don't want a bad rental reference. So, lucky for having a LL who is going to sort it out! :)