To be irritated at the coverage on hb spending?

[facepalming]

OK so I know this is a bit of a touchy one so I'll try and word carefully!

The coverage I've seen today is all geared towards complaining about landlords lining their pockets with housing benefit money.

Now I'm not a landlord, but I think this is a little unfair on people who are. Most landlords own only one property as an investment and are perfectly entitled to rent it out for money. They have an obligation to keep the house in good standard.

the fact that people renting those homes are claiming hb is not the problem of the landlords surely? They are just providing a service and why should they do that cheaper to tenants on hb?

Of course rents being charged now are ridiculous but so are house prices and so mortgage payments are high too.

Surely the focus should be on providing more social housing (especially of a decent standard!) and creating an economy and society where people don't need to rely on hb??

Thank you decaff I will check that out. We're not in England, but are in the UK, but hopefully they can point me in the right direction.

napmeister yes sorry I meant only one rental property

And thank you birds as well.

We need more social housing and no more Right To Buy.

However, what we also really need is for those who are currently living in subsidised social housing but are no longer low earners to pay a more market price in rent.

It shouldn't be a cliff edge (eg once you're earning 20k your rent doubles), but it should taper so that by the time you're on the average wage you're paying the full market rent for the property.

That would mean there was less money being wasted subsidising those who don't need it, and then more money to build new SH properties.

We're accidental LLs. We inherited a house and decided to rent out the house we used to live in.

We charge below the going rate because we don't use an agent. Every year we upgrade something. This year it was the patio doors and the front and back door. Last year it was the windows.

We keep it in case we need to fund our care in old age. A lot of LL are like us I think.

Just gonna add a positive landlord story becuase they often get a tough time on here. My amazing landlord charges under the market value by a few hundred. He also goes to the local council and only offers his properties to those waiting in temporary accommodation. It's thanks to him we had a home to bring our second child to after he was born. The property is in an amazing state and he is so on it with repairs. If all landlords were like him it would solve a lot of the current housing issues.

There is room to reduce rents and profits here in the south west, our landlord does very well with his properties from what I can tell. But he is a professional property developer, I imagine it's very different for investment landlords.

Notsaying - HB would cover only the interest on your mortgage, nothing of the capital. Your lender may allow you to switch to an interest only mortgage, depending on the situation/your history.

treacle - your local council Housing Office can also help you with this, or CAB. I think it was previously called Section 11, where a tenant pursued improvements to their home. Hosing Offices helped people in private sector, not just those in social housing (please be aware, this was 10 years ago, and after the cuts, it may be a different situation now, sorry).

wow cuppasarah your ll is amazing! what a good person. so nice to hear such a positive story!

machi I'm in N Ireland and housing is not dealt with by councils here, there is no council officer with responsibility in that area. I think this is part of the problem I have come up against - a lot of the information on the rules that I have been able to track down online isn't relevant here. I do appreciate your help though.

Sorry treacle, I hadn't seen NI. It's ridiculous that so many things operate differently in different parts of GB, isn't it?

Well, I'm pleased it's in the news.

The greedy scumbags are leeching the South-East (and many other places) dry- and they don't give a shiny shite where the money comes from as long as they get their house bought for them.

There's something deeply rotten in the state of the U.K., and if it hasn't come for you- then it'll come for your kids.

MrsDV- how much does it cost to buy one of those 3bed homes, please?
Surely mortgage payments wouldn't be much shy of £2k?

Mrsdevere the area I live in has a lot of 'bedsinsheds' type rentals that are despicable and they should be stopped - same as those unregulated rooms you mention I think.

2k a month for a 3 bed ex council is crazy! I assume that's London?

I do wonder though If people shouldn't be encouraged to move somewhere more affordable rather than penalise landlords for trying to make a living / pension / leave something for their kids.

I moved out of London because I couldn't afford it!

Well said MrsDV, you have articulated the issue very clearly. And this is down to government - they need to treat the cause not the symptoms.

I'm a landlord. I charge under the market rate and last year was also the first increase for three years because I have lovely tenants who by and large look after the property well and pay on time. Issues are sorted in 24 hours, longer term projects like new fencing go in as and when I can afford it, but overall standard of the house is always kept high.
Someone commented further up that people shouldn't be allowed to make profit from housing benefit. What about buying food and clothes with benefits money - the people who sell those things make a profit.
The rent I charge does cover the mortgage but doesn't cover all the upkeep costs, nor the significant amount of tax I pay on the income.

I should clarify a few things though -

rents are ridiculous

so are house prices and therefore mortgages for landlords

of course there should be enough social housing for everyone that needs it - in the area they live

I'm just saying that the situation at the moment is what it is. Landlords with mortgages have to cover their mortgage payments with rents and not all of us can afford to live where we would like too - which is a real shame

I suspect it could be more in London. I'm in Herts and its that price here. how can that be a realistic affordable market rate? You would need to earn more than £60k a year to afford to pay that.

I'm not all that keen on the idea of people being encouraged to move elsewhere. I think that often people have good reasons for wanting to stay in an area that they grew up in, there is a lot to be said for having the support of extended family, or providing support to extended family. It's hard to explain what I mean - it's not that I think that if someone grew up in a nice leafy middle class street that they have some sort of right to live in the same street, just because. I just mean that it is not inherently a bad, or a selfish, thing to want to stay in an area that is 'home' to you.

My DH and I are on LHA, which is a form of HB. It's so difficult to find a place that will even rent to us. We have been living in a flat for 6 years and have wanted to move for years, but can't find a place that will rent to us. My DH is disabled and I am his carer as well as a stay at home Mom. My DH tried working and it made him so ill. There are council estates, but they state of them is so horrendous. We are living in an old council house now, and it has a serious damp problem. The only reason we ended up in this privately rented flat is because it's owned by my DH's brother.

jonty, I think that landlords like you are to be applauded, but there are lots who are less moral. Also, there is a difference between making a profit, and profiteering iemaking an unreasonable amount because there is not enough regulation. It's the same as for example allowing private companies to I'm pose an 0870 number when we need to ring up to complain about a service. The govt has regulated against this, and rightly so. I think that governments should not allow profiteering from public money and therefore private landlords should have rent caps imposed.

I should also mention that we have looked at moving out of our area and have looked at moving up to an hour away and the situations are no better. I don't understand how landlords are even lining their pockets with housing benefit, when it's so difficult to find a landlord that will accept HB.

facepalming he really is! Lovely guy too, inspections are only once a year and he's so relaxed, we can put up pictures, decorate, obviously within reason. But he's very much 'well it's your home you make it how you want'

The current issues with housing are awful though. The ridiculous rents locally are why we were in temporary housing. Around here you can't rent if you get housing benefit, the demand is so high you just wont be accepted anywhere as there's plenty of potential tenants that don't. So if you don't earn 30k you just don't get a look in.

itsonlysubterfuge I think it's dreadful thay people can be refused a tenancy just because they are on hb.

to be it seems discrimination and it should not be permitted.

I don't really understand why lls turn hb tenants down though - maybe someone can shed some insight?

But if everybody who couldn't afford to pay market rents in one area moved 100 miles away to where they could afford to live, who'd then do all the low paid jobs needed to prop everybody else up?

Who'd look after your kids for £13k a year so that you could earn the £50k a year needed to support your own family and pay your own housing costs?

Or who'd look after your elderly parent for less that minimum wage so that you were free to work all day?

Nobody.