No DSS, No Smokers, No Pets

[JustAnotherPoster00]

Sick of seeing those 3 on every single house I look at, I'm disabled (mainly MH related) and I need to move but can't simply because of those

But surely thats why you have a deposit taken off you? To pay for expenses? If they undertake annual inspections they can get an idea if damage is occuring doing the lease and then decide whether or not to offer a tenancy renewal based on if the deposit will cover any damage or if the tenant is in a position to put good the damage themselves. I think to blindly refuse based on the premise someone has children is unfair.

In my area 25% of HB claimants are working, not work shy or feckless at all, they just don't earn enough to pay their rent and live above the poverty line. Even then, HB will only pay up to a certain amount, the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) which is set at the lowest possible level and usually far below the rents of the available properties. This difference, the top-up, is paid by the HB recipient (working, non-working) out of the already limited income they have. Of course, sensible LLs would check the LHA and set their rent at that and not only increase their 'pool' of possible tenants, but would be more likely to ensure they got a reliable, long-term tenant too. If LLs go for the highest rent they can get in this area (SW) they will mostly get short-term tenants who are renting while they look for somewhere to buy or low-paid workers who will desperately be seeking something cheaper. Lots of void periods is more costly than a rent set at a lower level.

We rent our house and the mortgage company specified no DSS/HB.

However, our house has just been trashed by a working non-smoker with no children or pets fucker.

We're currently trying to find a rental for ourselves, DS and two house cats which is difficult!

celeste I don't think the deposit is enough to pay for damages, replace carpets etc.

I also thought that when I looked at the adverts didgeridoo but this house was crazy. Everywhere was white or grey. I wouldn't have been able to relax. The house we ended up moving into we paid an extra deposit for the cat, we have loads of rugs down and a scratch post and I Hoover daily which I would do if it was my own house but I do respect other people's houses. It was frustrating though that the smarter, larger houses mostly said no pets and some letting agencies said they wouldn't consider us at all with the cat.

Celeste in my experience a deposit of 1/1.5 months' rent won't touch the sides of damage repair and eviction costs. LL want the lowest risk tenants they can find.

I can understand all three. No DSS is often due to landlords insurance. No pets is understandable- house could get flea infested in carpets etc or constant peeing on the lawn can cause damage etc. Smokers= fire risk and damage to ceilings etc as other have said.

I mean everywhere was freshly painted white all carpets were brand new and everything had been 'done'. I would've constantly been worrying!

Wow gardening that's terrible. I didn't know that at all about the hb.

A recent outrageously-priced local rural rental stipulated "agricultural-tie, no pets"

I think more places should at least allow you to pay a bigger deposit if you have a pet. There are many irresponsible owners out there but there are also many good ones.

I have 1 of those rules on the property I rent

DSS, I was bitten twice by housing benefit tenants and am still owed thousands in rent after one spent the housing benefit, and the others housing benefit was stopped and cost me loads getting them out of my house and I wouldn't risk it again

I don't have the no smoking rule as when they move out I always redecorate the yellow wallpaper the leave behind

I don't have the no pets rule

That is my reasons for Not taking housing benefit , I did try taking housing benefit tenants and I got screwed over each time some other landlords can't take them due to mortgage rules.

Is there actually a need for pets? I have them but they'd be gone tomorrow if they were causing me problems tbh.

Pissed - do you mean generally or just for tenants?

I don't rent any of my properties to dss/smokers/ or somebody with pets

DSS- when I first inherited the properties I tried taking housing benefit tenants and the housing benefit was stopped, I got no rent. It cost me hell of a lot of money in court fees to evict them and they trashed the placed so that cost me hundreds to sort before I could re let. Would never risk it again

Smoker- fire risk, yellow wallpaper, whole property stinks of smoke

Pets- flea ridden carpets, or thanks to my first tenants the flooring has to be relaid as the cat has weed all over it and it smells.

I want the easiest, smoothest let with minimal risk of it going wrong and me having no rent or a huge repair bill.

All my properties are mortgage free but it is a known fact some mortgage companies won't allow housing benefit tenants

I'm so pleased I no longer rent. Tenants are really treated as some sort of underclass it seems.

I'm a LL and will make an exception for DSS if the individuals are recommended by the estate agent. The reason I have a no DSS policy in the first place, is that I've had bad experiences in past of people not paying rent despite getting HB, then running into arrears etc etc.

Sorry but you can't just re home a pet just like that. Dd would've been devastated if we had to lose our cat. We did discuss letting my friend look after her (cat) if we really couldn't get anywhere but she is as much a part of our family as we are. I think it depends on the owner too. We are meticulous about cleaning out her litter, flea treatments and not letting her scratch anywhere.

We rent out the flat DH had before we met.

No dss- Once, well three times bitten and we gave up. I wanted to take housing benefit tenants as In my younger days I use to work with people and housing issues so I do understand the troubles but we tried and each time they caused us stress and lack of rent

We don't have no smoking rule

We do have the pets rule as we had to re lay wooden flooring after some lovely tenants let the cat piss all over it for months & months, we tried everything to get rid of the smell but nothing re doing the floor was the only way

Kirinm thank you! And I'd love to buy but unfortunately our money goes on paying others' mortgages! Not all pet owning tenant is a scumbag! Who would actually let a pet wee all over the floor (although if they're ill or distressed you can't really help that but you clean it up).

It's a shame so many people need to rent and that so many get paid such low wages that they need to claim housing benefit. The housing situation in this country is shocking. There also needs to be more help for the disabled to find suitable accomodation.

Do I recall correctly that Housing Benefit used to be paid direct to the landlord ? And arrears were almost unknown (obviously) because tenants simply couldn't spend their rent elsewhere ?

And then some genius said "hang on, this system seems to work. It's actually embarrassing us and showing the rest of the benefits system up as incompetent and not-fit-for-purpose*. What can we do to fuck it up ? I know - let's give the housing benefit not to the landlord but to the tenant. It has to be worse than what we have now !" ?

Or that's how it seems.

*I can recall the days of the Department of Stealth and Total Obscurity ...

Serious point. If housing benefit went directly to the landlord, then the excuse of arrears would lose it's weight in "No DSS".

Definitely. And we've also been on the other side of the coin where our landlord took all our deposit to fix something which was his own fault. He made out it was our fault. So there are rogue landlords out there too. I do sympathise with landlords who lose money etc though.

Unicorn - exactly! I've only just moved out of rental - last month - having paid LL thousands and thousands of pounds for 20 years. I was paying £1700 per month for the last 3 years. My LL was laughing all the way to the bank because his mortgage was certainly no where near that much.

We didn't smoke inside, had 2 cats (one died sadly) and didn't break anything. That was also the case when I was in receipt of HB about 15 years ago.

I've had some fucking shit LL too except as a tenant you don't have the option of never dealing with LLs again.

Pets wee can be cleaned up - but often the smell stays. Yes your child may be upset having to give up the cat, but sometimes, needs must.

Having pets just makes it harder for you to rent, not impossible, but lowers the options.