Or am I fucked?

[pabstblueribbon]

Single sahm to 2 year old dd. Looking to move house to a nicer area (where dd's nursery is) but no one seems to accept housing benefit. I also have 2 cats which also seem undesirable to every landlord I've come across so far.

Looking for part-time work but even then it still won't be enough and will be topped up by housing benefit. What on earth do I do?

no pets is a clause in some flat owners lease from freeholder so they cant let to pet owner tenants

Working part time is also a luxury. You're choosing that luxury so you have to compromise on your living area. You're not 'fucked' you're just living your own choices.

The deposit is no problem, but what concerns me is that I'll have to lie when they ask whether I'm employed which they have with every house I've enquired about.

And working part time isn't a luxury for me. I have no other person whatsoever to help me take care of dd so I can't work full time in order to struggle to pay someone else to look after her. If I had a partner or family then I would work every hour I could to provide for her but I'm doing this on my own and I need to do what is best for dd.

I'm a private landlord and I'm amazed no estate agent has advised you if why we can't take people on Housing benefit. It's because almost every landlord now takes out insurance to make sure the rent is covered if the tenants fail to pay. These insurance companies won't insure any tenant who is on housing benefit I'm sorry to say. (The cats are a very very minor issue in comparison).

Because of this insurance issue, it is extreeeeemly difficult to find a private landlord who is willing/able to take those on housing benefit.

Sorry it's not better news.

Working part time is a luxury when somebody else has to cover the financial shortfall.

Preschool childcare was the same % of my daily wage whether I worked one day or five. It made sense to work more as I could have more take home pay and provide what was needed.

There's a lot of people who wouldn't consider going back to work even part time as a single parent so good for you, and good luck for your interview. It's no mean feat to get through to interview these days with so much competition. Take no notice of the negative nelly's.

As a single parent you get 70% of your childcare costs paid through tax credits whilst you work. If you earned too much to qualify then paying wouldn't be a struggle. You can arrange a childminder to fit round your working hours or find a job to fit in with nursery. You wouldn't need a partner or family to do this. I'm not saying it will be easy but if you're not happy with your current situation you have options.

Have you looked in the local papers as well as going through estate agents? We rent our houses directly, which means we can speak directly with prospective tenants and discuss all these sorts of things. We advertise for 'no DSS' but don't exclude HB. We don't insure against non-payment (have had problems once but overall cheaper than insurance for years and years, we felt). We're not keen on crazy puppies but older dogs and cats are fine. A lot depends on meeting people and talking things through - if you haven't looked it's worth a try. (Although maybe there are dodgy geezers on there too, so be aware that agents do give you a level of security). Good luck - it would be a same to lose your pets if it could be avoided.

my friend moved her cat in discreetly - she couldn't face the thought of them sitting behind bars in a shelter hoping they'd get a nice family next. We are compromising now because we have a dog and two cats, it's not fair on the pets to re-home them because they are no longer convenient was how I felt, especially when they're older as they might not get a new home. I moved to a nicer area and now moved back, friendlier here. Grass was green but more like astro turf I found ;-)

I didn't tell them about the hb, I also didn't have a guarantor so had to pay a non guarantors deposit. Seems if you through money at people they don't ask too many questions. I'd never have got anywhere with cats though, seems even worse than being on hb. I asked if I could get one after I had lived here a year and proved to be a reliable tenant and the answer was still no.

At least one of your problems has to change to make you a desirable tenant.

Could you not put your name down for social housing in a nice area? Lower rent as well

Lol. Waits for social housing in nice areas with cheap rent can be up to 10 years. Not really an option for most.

I'm afraid the only way you will become a desirable tenant is by working full time. The last letting agent I used said they need an annual income figure of 30x the rent to rent without a guarantor, since you have one that will be lower but you still need to be in full time work. You should probably wait until you have been in work for 3 months before trying too.

You have my sympathy, we rent in a nice area but the house is falling apart. We have no guarantor, currently one full time income and bad credit so have no hope of moving. Round here there are no waiting lists for social housing, you have to be evicted by the bailiffs before the council will even consider you and then you're put in emergency housing for months and it can be 30-40 miles away. It's absolutely dire.

I work for an Estate Agent (day by flame me, I'm the Directors PA - I'm not nasty honest!)

The cats can be got round by a bigger deposit.

The p/t v f/t working can be got round by a guarantor.

The HB is the big issue. Unless the landlord owns the house outright then they will be on a buy to let mortgage - most of which have a clause prohibiting them letting to HB tenants. Even if they didn't, most landlord insurance policies also have a similar clause.

They're not being unkind or unreasonable excluding HB tenants, they're doing it for a valid reason.

Have you looked into buying OP if you can cobble together £3,000 it's not as out of reach as you might think with the various schemes

Hi OP, I am also a single mum with no family support around and I work full time. Tax credits will pay up to 70% of your childcare costs up to a cost of £175 per week. However, my childcare is £350 per week but is helps a bit. I'm lucky in the rented flat my ex partner left so haven't had to live while on housing benefit. I'm in a one bed and would like to move though.

I am a landlord and I also have a no animals no smoking clause for the same reasons other people have said, the cost of making good any potential damage is higher that the average deposit people pay.
HB would not be a huge problem for us if there was a guarantor.
What would really irk me is to find out I have been lied to regarding pets or income or any other relevant issues, and it wouldn't take long. The tenant would be out as soon as legally possible.

Why don't you consider working full time? I understand it's difficult, as have been there, but must do is a great master. It's very possible to work fulltime and parent one child, many people do it with more kids. However it's your choice to make

Look I'm a proper landlord with multiple properties. I've never taken insurance to cover lost rent. Quite frankly if the home isn't making money to cover the costs of capital, wear & tear etc it's not a deal to go into. Insurance on the building doesn't exclude tenants on HB. If they ever tried to that I'd raise this to the authorities as an equalities issue.

I don't discriminate and your trifecta of issues would not be an issue for me. You need to find a LL like me. I never use an agent. Normally it's word of mouth at this stage but I used to list on gumtree.

for you Supermum! Thank you for telling it like it is, there are a lot of myths out there and there are good landlords who don't discriminate.

That said, OP, as supportive as I am of your plight, working part time is a luxury. I split up from XDP with a 3 year old and I switched to full time work as soon as I could (I already worked part time). Like others have said, you get 70% of your childcare covered and as long as you work 30 hours a week or more you get the full time work supplement from tax credits too.

I am disabled and it is tough juggling all this, but it can work. DS is now yr5 at school and he is at a school with wraparound care 8am-6pm. I work my backside off at a job where I make the national average wage and get a small top up of housing benefit simply because I live in a very expensive part of the commuter belt. If I was further away I'd not need the housing benefit (which really only offsets my council tax payment).

My family are close by, but I don't rely on them for childcare. They offered to have DS 2 afternoons per week from earlier on this year now they are retired, before that I had no one else, it was childcare or nothing. They are preparing to move to the coast, I don't know whether I'll join them as once DS is in secondary school it will be easier again.

My point is that it might be scary and you think it not possible, but there is childcare out there that you will get money for. And if you are working then morally I found it easier to accept other benefits, which I am slowly reducing and coming off as my career progresses. But you have to make a choice here. If you choose not to work full time then you really can't complain when you are turned down on housing applications for that. Likewise, if you want to keep the cats then you have to accept not everyone will want you. Go on sites like Gumtree, they're often good for landlords who are less discriminatory.

Supermum I hope I can find a landlord like you. Thank you for giving me hope!

I have a house viewing on Tuesday and if by some miracle the landlord accepts me then it will be a case of rehoming the cats. I can't afford a bigger deposit

If not then I'm going to find a full time job.

Something has to work out.

The last letting agent I used said they need an annual income figure of 30x the rent to rent without a guarantor

can't be right?

Can't be bothered to do the maths but my flat which was £650 pm when I moved in wanted the guarantor to earn £36 k pa or more so imagine the non guarantor requirement was the same amount.

That's about 4.5 times annual rent