To not tell the landlord that I am on housing benefit?

[Rosiegregory]

I have just found the perfect maisonette for myself and my daughter after months of searching. I have found a few other properties prior to this and went through the entire application process before being rejected at the last moment once they discovered that part of my rent would be paid by HB. I am a well educated woman but due to my cheating husband leaving us last year, my income just doesn’t cover the full rent.

Am I being unreasonable to just not mention the fact that part of the rent will be topped up by HB?

Also if I do go down the route of not telling the landlord, is there anyway that they can find out that I am on HB? I will be specifying that HB does not contact my landlord on my behalf.

My landlord insurance allows workers with HB top ups.

I don't have a mortgage on it so not an issue.

You would have to serve a section 21 at the end of the tenancy so that would be at least another 2 months at the end of the 6 months if the tenant fail the second referencing

Yep. Whether I agreed with the clause or not, I needed the product and was happy to abide by it

Landlords don't re- reference people after contract ends, you'll just get asked if you want to revert to rolling contract.

Personally, I couldn't. Mainly if you lost the HB for whatever reason, you'd be fucked. You'd have to declare your income and unless you're prepared to lie about how you receive the money, you're unlikely to be considered if your income doesn't meet the threshold. Landlords often pay mortgages too on these properties and non-payment of rent for whatever reason can create defaults etc for them, which is why oftentimes landlords are particular about ensuring their tenants meet a threshold.

If I remember rightly, they may not even take into account maintenance as an 'income'.

Oh additionally - some landlords/estate agencies use bank statements as proof of address - and that would, of course, highlight your HB payment.

Butt Our EA didn't include maintenance as an income as it was dependent on someone else.

some landlords/estate agencies use bank statements as proof of address - and that would, of course, highlight your HB payment.

As I said upthread, I had to provide my 3 latest bank statements for scrutiny so hiding benefits would have been impossible. I was going through an agency though. There will be landlords who aren't bothered about paperwork but that's not likely to be someone you'd want to rent from.

Actually re safari's comment and refusing tenancies to some people in receipt of housing benefit; if they are have a protected characteristic eg disability, may well be direct or indirect discrimination and therefore is illegal - there just hasn't been much (if any) case law yet (because many affected can't afford to go to court and have more pressing housing/ homelessness issues to deal with) but many people are very keen to see these situations tested in court.

Same applies to clauses in some insurance policies and mortgages and it is more common nowadays to see exceptions made for the disabled for example so we need to be checking the terms and conditions.

These situations need to be brought to court for a ruling. Doesn't help people in the mean time though. And doesn't help the OP who doesn't state that she has a disability.

I had to prove I could afford the place I wanted to rent so I had to confirm I get HB. Many rejected me for that but thankfully my luck changed eventually and someone accepted me.

I do have sympathy though it's so hard finding somewhere that not only ticks the boxes but also accepts HB. Good luck OP.

Please do not lie. Life as a LL can be stressful enough without finding out that your insurance is nul and void because a tenant has lied on the application. My mortgages also specify.

Just a query if anyone knows. Why and when did a govt stop paying assisted rent direct to a landlord? Was it because landlords were scarpering with cash? The unfortunate unforeseen consequence seems to be that many landlords won't rent to people on benefits because they can't depend on the rent in some cases. So it gets worse and worse for people like OP.

They didn't stop, unless you're referring to Universal Credit.

LA's can pay HB direct to landlords. However, many prefer not to as it means setting up landlords as the payee on a claim and it's more hassle for them. I used to work across 2 council areas, and one council would and the other would only do it in "special circumstances" while the other was happy to do it at the tenant's request, and still does.

The credit check isn't what You're thinking. They just look at your income and look for it to be 2 to 3 or even 4 times the monthly costs depending on utilities for the propertty and your number of dependents. They then ask about the shortfall

How are you going to prove the shortfall in your income needed to pay the rent?

LA did stop paying rent direct to the Landlord quite a while ago (5-6 years?) and we got caught by it. The tenant in question split from her partner and lost her job and started to claim HB. She then had a baby and started to pay £50 per month rent not the £450 rent due . Someone had obviously told her to pay something as we had no end of problem to get the Council to pay the rent directly to us. Best bit was she went to the Council to ask for help with being rehoused ( 2nd floor flat, no lift) and they helped her move to a ground floor flat and acted as her referee apparently. Bet the new landlord did not know she left owing about £3K rent.
I wrote to my MP and got a long letter from which ever Minister deals with housing and was assured that the rent was paid to the claimant to help them learn to manage their money (!) and that the Council could pay if there were sufficient grounds- eg someone with alcohol or drug problems.
I have been reluctant to take HB tenants since, but currently have a couple who are on HB.

Don't lie. I wouldn't have an issue with a tenant with HB, but I wouldn't rent to someone who lied about it. You won't be able to hide it - it'll flag up in the finance checks.

Rent can still be paid direct to LL's at the request of the tenant or after the tenant falls a certain rate behind the rent.

Has the landlord said he/she will not rent the property to you if you receive housing benefit?

I private rent and I was on full housing benefit when I first moved in. I was lucky to find a landlord that would accept me as long as I had a guarantor, and I only had to pay first months rent and deposit in advance. There are some out there!

Don't lie, there's a chance you could get found out.

I am currently in receipt of HB and part of the application process was to include my landlords details and contact info. That might just be my local councils policy.

I am really disgusted by some of the landlords on here. This whole situation is wrong, and I am not impressed by people blaming their insurance. As a part of society at large it is landlords who should be putting pressure on their mortgage providers or insurance providers to explain exactly why they are including these clauses, and doing their utmost to avoid using providers who insist on them.

Someone on HB is actually in a more stable financial position then many in insecure jobs. This is a simple case of discrimination. It should be illegal.

I know a young couple, both working, here in London who were simply unable to rent at all because they could only afford do so with a HB top up. No-one would rent to them. In the end they had to lie.

Sorry Haffiana - its not an excuse- there is an issue with cover for HB tenants with some insurers. I had to change my insurers as my previous one refused to renew our insurance when I told them the tenants were on HB. The companies that i asked for quotes all asked and a couple would not quote so it is not unusual. I did ask why and didn't get a straight answer.
OP I would not lie, like PP lying about it would give me more concern than the HB.