To want to give up on private renting completely..

[Bornfizzle]

Hi all

I've just recently given birth and due to unforeseen circumstances I'm going to have to look for a home to rent privately but this is proving to be an impossible task as most landlords are listing in their ads "no dss" or "no housing benefit", some for homes that are 300 a month and under so I am no way looking too far out of my price range. The LHA in Belfast NI is roughly 363 for a two bed.

I know some landlord's mortgages don't permit tenants who are getting housing benefit but after surfing the subject for a while on MN and other sites there seem to be those landlords who tar anyone who is getting benefits as scroungers who will ruin their property and spend their rent money on drugs, alcohol ....you name it! I understand being spurned by previous tenants but surely blanketing us all is slightly unfair!

I am in no way any of those things and only want a place to call home for my DC.

Sorry for the rant ...after DP abandoning us at the last minute and a difficult pregnancy everything just seems hopeless. Waiting list for council housing for non priority is roughly 3 years, even waiting for a hostel would take a good while....I just feel like crying and screaming all a at once!

FAO Bornfizzle:

I'm sorry to hear about your predicament. I registered with Mumsnet just to post a few suggestions of places that look like they might be nice/alright for you to rent with your baby daughter in Belfast, where rent is between £550-600 pcm maximum. These places either state that DSS/DHS(S)/Housing Benefit is allowed/accepted, or that it is considered; or else barring those terms, they do not stipulate that DSS is not allowed- ergo they may not immediately rule you out from applying if something should suit.

So without further ado, here are my suggestions:

www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/33925598#bZHMbdYuSqWJy2q6.97

www.citylets.co.uk/property-rent/holywood-road-glendhu-manor-bt4-297682/?utm_source=nestoria

www.citylets.co.uk/property-rent/cherryvalley-gilnahirk-road-bt5-167801/?utm_source=nestoria

www.citylets.co.uk/property-rent/donegall-road-lecale-street-bt12-167304/?utm_source=nestoria

www.citylets.co.uk/property-rent/holywood-downshire-road-bt18-346601/?utm_source=nestoria

www.citylets.co.uk/property-rent/bloomfield-greenville-road-bt5-359119/?utm_source=nestoria

www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/34132384#hO3bElpj4y3BrDXm.97

www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/34115173#UFJlEpJdby06K2aP.97

www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/33743141#Ayc1ISZ06M6Kmrtd.97

www.mcclearys.co.uk/brochure.php?p=MCLMCC2282&s=289639425&i=47&c=57

www.mcclearys.co.uk/brochure.php?p=MCLMCC1788&s=289639425&i=50&c=57

www.mcclearys.co.uk/brochure.php?p=MCLMCC0977&s=289635633&i=8&c=57

www.templetonrobinson.co.uk/Property/belfast/TRETRE68294/15-invernook-drive/1211791/Page4

www.templetonrobinson.co.uk/Property/belfast/TRETRE71291/4b-helens-lea/1211791/

I hope that maybe, just maybe, I have helped a little bit. :)

(However I have never been to Belfast, nor have I been to Northern Ireland before so I do not know where the safe and nice areas are nor how the rental market works there- or elsewhere tbh).

I don't know if you'll read this OP, but I recently had to rent out my home while working away. What I found was there was a surprising number of people who simply couldn't frame a polite initial text or phone call or email. I lost count of the number of responses that simply said "Can I come and see the property as soon as possible?" A please was rare, never mind a description of themselves and how long they were looking for.

Meanwhile I was flat hunting where I was going to work. I would try and phone, failing which I would text or email something along the lines of "Hello. I'm FaultlesslyFootloose, I'm a 31 year old accounts assistant moving to X town to work at X Company. I'm looking to rent for at least six months and hopefully for up to a year or maybe longer. I don't have a current landlord's reference as I own my own home in X town but I can provide an excellent employer's reference, bank reference and personal references if you require. I would be grateful if you could get back to me if this property is still available".

Apologies if this doesn't apply to you, but I was honestly shocked at the number of fully grown adults out there who cannot string a few sentences together politely to introduce themselves. I've also had a couple view my property who seemed all right but when asked for the deposit and first month's rent up front, seemed astonished that they might actually have to pay money to move into a property.

I found somewhere within a week in the town I'm moving to. I had my references printed out or my referees warned they might be phoned in advance. Its a competitive situation and you have no right to just live in someone's property without convincing them you will be a good tenant. I appreciate your stressed and your situation must make it very difficult to think straight. But please keep trying, remember you are a decent person, and be polite and pleasant to people, even though you might not get anything from them that time, they might remember you in future. I ended up renting my own house to two gay men from an ethnic minority background who I guess might not be everyone's idea of ideal tenants but compared to some of the above, I'm pretty certain they are mine. Good luck OP x

Thank you for taking the time and effort (especially making an account! ) just to print those, Turquoise. I've emailed the ones I haven't already, there a few there I must have missed on the sites!

Hi there, Faultless In in my current situation I've never been rude it forgotten my manners to an estate agent (they are who I mostly deal with and act as the man in the middle until the LL has screened and accepted). My initial asking to set up a viewing (something similar to yours minus employers and references) goes along the lines of "Hello, my name is Bornfizzle I'm hoping to rent long term and I was wondering if a viewing of 'insert property name here' would be possible, please?" Most agents ask the automatic "Are you in full time work." To which I tell them honestly "No, due to my current circumstances I am a benefit claimant for now but I can provide a guarantor and the first 3 months rent along with the security deposit."
Some tell me they don't accept DSS and others go back to ask the LL which usually turns out to be a bust as well.

I've never had the arrogance to assume I could just live in another person's property without convincing them that I would be a valuable tenant, but my point here is after offering my guarantor and the first 3 months rent (I'm hoping to save more while with my parents) so that I could never go into arrears and put the LL's mind at rest I've never been given the chance to prove myself. Since after most agents hear benefit claimant they refuse, I know it is the LL's right and business to rent to who they wish and some mortgage providers/insurance companies won't allow benefit claimants but it just leaves me stuck in a viscous circle that doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon.

If housing benefit didn't exist, landlords could not get the rents they currently get. Most people simply couldn't afford them

You do understand that 'most people' in the UK are not given housing benefit yeah?

whois - There are 4.99 million recipients of housing benefit. 4 million households privately rent, 3.7 million rent from the social sector. So actually the majority of tenants do claim housing benefit.

You don't have to claim housing benefit to rent in the social sector. Lots of people pay their rent themselves in council or HA properties.

I dont think femin was equating social tenants= housing benefit recipients. I think she was giving the stats on rentals (total 7.7m) and of that total 4.99m receive HB which was a response to the comment that most of the UK dont receive HB.

The majority if tenants might claim HB, but that doesn't mean the majority of people do.

Yes, that's right. [Confused] Not sure of your point.

About 60% of tenants overall have to claim some housing benefit.

So landlords do depend on housing benefit. That is the point. And that is a huge waste of taxpayers money, when we should just build more social housing.

We looked into letting to someone on housing benefit - tripled the house insurance and my mortgage company wouldn't allow it. Had to be people in work, no multiple occupancy, three good references etc......

Given most of those of us who have let to tenants are not allowed by our mortgage or insurance to let to HB tenants it is not surprising 40% or more of landlords do not let to people with housing benefit. If you have a nice place and high rent it may well be outside the scope of what the local authority might pay as HB rates can be below market rents.

I am certainly not against abolishing housing benefit entirely. The UK used to manage without it. It is a huge distortion in a free market which is never a good thing.

private renters have shit rights in the UK. I find it odd that landlords can discriminate against people with children, or even people on benefits.

And then when you move in you have little legal protection (rent control etc).

People are saying that landlording is a business and businesses naturally want to limit risk. I think it should be illegal to discriminate on the above basis. All the businesses will be on an equal playing field.

all I can say is good luck.

boring facts again - your rent cannot be increased for the duration of your tenancy, which can be as long as you can agree with the landlord.

rent controls have proved time and again that they either result in massive drop in supply, drop in standards or both.

Can someone explain to me what happens if a tenant begins a tenancy in work, and then circumstances change where they end up claiming housing benefit? Do mortgage and insurance companies stipulate they then get evicted?

Special (or anyone) - have rent controls ever been brought in alongside an increase in the provision of adequate social housing to make up the shortfall?

Sorry, I should say begins a tenancy "self funding", rather than "in work".

Most tenancies are short term. And the rent can be increased if your contract says that.

Plenty of European countries have rent controls and most people rent.

Not only do landlords depend on housing benefit, they are also massively subsidised by the government (at the expense of sensible savers) in the shape of rock-bottom interest rates to underwrite their reckless borrowing.

There is no free market in housing, and any landlord who goes whining on about not wanting kids or pets or whatever should realise just how much their investment is subsidised by their fellow taxpayers.....

Bornfizzle - as well as going through the Housing Executive, have you looked at other Housing Assocations such as Clanmill, Habinteg etc. I can't scroll up again but have you been to CAB to see what they advise.

Not only do landlords depend on housing benefit, they are also massively subsidised by the government (at the expense of sensible savers) in the shape of rock-bottom interest rates to underwrite their reckless borrowing

It's not the current crop of landlords who have borrowed irresponsibly.

It was the 2000 to 2007 self certifying idiots who borrowed 110% for their own home.

BTL generally requires a huger deposit and is sized of the rental income.

Higher. Not huger. But I like the idea of a hugging deposit.

"It's not the current crop of landlords who have borrowed irresponsibly. "

With gross yields around 5% in many places, they certainly have.

Councils might have a responsibility to house people but they are not fulfilling it. So... what does that mean? That there is nobody responsible for housing the majority of poorer British families? That people are responsible for housing themselves? What happens when they can't?

With gross yields around 5% in many places, they certainly have

You could look at return on cash invested which would be a better metric. And factor in capital appreciation which does play a part in investment decisions (otherwise no one would ever do a BTL in london which has low yield but high capital appreciation).

I don't actually think that property is a great investment, it's certainly far more involved than a lot of people would like. Nothing worse than an absent BTL landlord wanting to spend the minimum possible.

But I do think it's a bit unfair to say its BTL landlords who are responsible for all the UKs property woes.