Any estate agents here? So upset I don't know what to do.

[Nixpix1]

I'm so upset I can't tell you guys how I feel. I have 3 children and I live in a mice infested place. We see them quite often. Since being here my children and I have been ill time after time and suffering for a lot of itching and rashes stomach aches.

We gave notice and need to leave in a few weeks but we have been unable to find a landlord who will rent to us as we have housing allowance coming it. We don't need to admit we have received it according to the council but we can't hide it as it's on the bank statements.

I understand that there are some awful dss tenants but I'm not one of them. I've even offered guarantors references from estate agents and landlord from previous properties but to no avail. I pay my rent on time and keep my house tidy.

I don't know what to do. I have 2 weeks before I have to move out and I'm scared I'll be homeless.
Does anyone know what to do?

Thanks for reading

OP, is it just the mice that is the problem as they inhabit a lot of homes without causing itching and rashes? Mice infestation can be dealt with and your landlord should deal with it.

You need to revoke your notice and deal with the mice.

If they are attracted by the food premises you need to contact environmental health, they will inspect the premises and instruct action. Then your landlord needs to repair damage to the property to prevent them getting in and out then get rentokil or something similar to come and deal with them in your home.

If you become homeless due to this the council will see it as you made yourself voluntarily homeless and won't be obligated to house you so don't do it.

The itching and rashes is probably entirely unrelated to the mice, it could be from scabies, fleas, dust mites, bed bugs.

Again, you need to get onto your landlord/property management company to arrange for fumigation.

I have tried to rent a property temporarily for 6 months. I have been asked for Bank Statements and Tax Returns. They have been told about my financial status. I do not receive any Housing Benefit and I own properties. I also have Independent Means which is a category on their forms. They want to do a credit check, read letters about my various incomes. They also want to know who is my next of kin, and their name, address, email, mobile and their occupation. They have asked for any previous names.
I get that they want to protect the owner of the property but the reasons for my wish to rent for 6 months which I have said was that I wanted to try the area before I buy. The other reasons I want to move are complex but it is to get away from a type domestic abuse and to leave such a paper trail would not serve my purposes or my safety.
Estate Agents do not just make life difficult for people who are in receipt of Housing Benefit.

I am sorry that your home is like this, I think your landlord has a duty to deal with the problem.
I Know this may be a bit of a long shot, because there are few people likely to Be able to,afford it, could you offer six months rent in advance? This takes away a lot of the doubt in a landlords mind about taking someone on who receives housing benefit.
I used to work,on the sales side of an Estate Agents and we used to suggest it to vendors who were selling up and moving to rented ,but wouldn’t pass the credit check.

Tackle the mice. They are a hazard of urban living, so you might find them in your next place at some point. If you can push a pencil through a hole, a mouse can get through. Block any holes with wire wool (wear thick gloves!). We have airbricks with big holes outside, so we got a handyman to make grilles with a small mesh to cover them. Put poison down where the children can't access it, eg behind the kickboards under the cupboards in the kitchen. The council pest control man recommended Sorexa brand. And make sure there are no crumbs of anything, anywhere.

Do you know anyone that you could ask to be a guarantor? We were in a similar position to you a few years ago (we wouldn't have passed a credit check) so asked a family member to be a guarantor for us. IIRC it needs to be someone who is a home owner, works full time and (in our case - maybe different estate agents have different rules) needed to be earning twice the amount of the rent per month. Obviously needed to have an excellent credit score too.

council are lying and those on here telling you to lie are fools. any decent landlord will check you. some mortgages and insurances wont allow benefits, the campaigners and politicians are too thick to notice.

environmental heallth to enforce action, although london councils rarely bother. you need a long term plan to get out.

I'm a landlord and have never asked to see someone's bank statements! I do ask for employer references to check for permanent contract and proof of income etc but not the statements.

Our landlord insurance and or mortgages companies permission to let agreement doesn't permit us to let to anyone claiming housing support so sometimes the landlord decision is more about that than making a judgement. Not sure how that would stand with people not disclosing they were receiving support, might be why agents are doing more thorough checks so landlords aren't inadvertently breaching their policies

Hope you get something sorted soon

I'd have a go at the environmental health people the mere fact there is a food shop below you ought to get their attention

We live in what might be described a naice area etc but we've had the little sods once or twice in the past they are far more widespread than you might think our cat, a first class mouser, finds them with no trouble! In fact the daft' hapwoth brings them in the play with them when its wet but joking aside have you considered getting a cat they do keep them at bay else you can try some of these;

www.toolstation.com/shop/p26996

They are far better then most any other they kill them instantly and bait them with a dab of peanut butter.

However I'd be far more concerned with whats making your children ill have you damp or mould anywhere?

But as said the environmental health will be your best bet hope it works out for you anyway!

Sorry Op, it took me so long to type that out that I missed your update. Sounds horrible, and as failing said, it could well be more than mice.

OP I entirely agree with fallingat40.

please let enivronmental hgealth come round they'll issue him with a warning to sort it out

I live in the north so i dont know if its different down south but every house to rent round here says no benefits (in big huge capitals). Im a single mum, i work two days a week but obviously get benefits as well, i also had no previous rental history to prove i was a good tenant either and i rented no problem, just had to show bank statements and payslips to prove i earnt what i said I did, all the estate agents told me was if you are working they tend not to mind? Maybe its the same.

I have 2 guarantors lined up, one is a Dr and the other is a home owner and on good pay. But estate agents won't listen. One refused to call me back after we made an offer and ignored my calls after I filled out a refernacing form.

The flat is quite cold, it has minimal if any, insulation according to the report. We can feel the cold come through the walls as soon as the heating goes off. We asked the landlord to install few extra radiators and he refused saying to make use of convection heaters. I feel like he's had this problem or problems many a Times before as the flat seems to have had many different tenants by the looks of the amount of different named letter coming through the letter box. No one seems to have stuck it out and I can see why.

Try small, independent estate agents. Lots of chains in London have (completely unjust) blanket bans on benefits claimants. Smaller ones, especially if they’re well established, often have good relationships with landlords which make renting on HB more likely.

Also - register with them, don’t just enquire about places you see online. The best/cheapest properties can get snapped up before they’re even marketed properly.

OP if the mice are coming from the chip shop below report to Environmental Health. If they find evidence of mouse droppings in an area where food is prepared they may shut the place down until the infestation is properly dealt with.

Try to find a private landlord via gumtree, local paper etc than using an agency

get informed of your rights and what a landlord should do.

a landlord that doesnt do all the right checks is either a naive one or one that is unlikely to bother with all the other rules.

As PretABoire suggests see if you can find a smaller agent or even a private one I'm one of they and i wouldn't turn down anyone in your situatiuon.

Thank you for your advise ladies, it's been invaluable. I will be visiting I dependant agents and see what they say.

This is outright discrimination by estate agents and landlords in my opinion. Ok I understand that some are bound by mortgages terms and conditions but not all of them. The goverement needs to make laws which prevents this sort of discrimination, a deposit is there to use for damages to the property if need be and they can ask for guarantors. There are lots of honest and good housing allowance.

My parents own 4 properties in Surrey that they let out, none are suitable for me as they are one and 2 beds, but they have never discriminated against housing allowance tenants.

some mortgages and insurances wont allow benefits, the campaigners and politicians are too thick to notice.

One of the housing charities brought a discrimination case on this very point. The case was against a letting agents that had a blanket ban on taking tenants on benefits, and they settled out of court, so the discrimination angle was never fully tested.

I'm hoping that another one might be pursued, and perhaps this time against a BTL mortgage company or one of the companies that provides landlords' insurance.

OP, when we had a mouse problem we trapped loads and then got some of these ultrasonic mouse repellers that you plug in. That seemed to work, there's been no evidence of mice for years now.

Thank you lakielady. I will look into it. The mice are just one of a few problems in this place I rent. As its summer this is the main problem but once winter comes, the cold will make my asthma worse. I'm a seasonal asthmatic and have one or 2 bouts in winter but since moving here I suffer almost daily. Morning and evenings. Landlord unwilling to add extra heaters upon request and told us to get convection heaters. Then there are drainage problems with the kitchen sink and although he did help to rectify it, it didn't do much. I think you get the gist of this place. I'm actually thinking of calling officials on the matter.

The problem I think is there is more supply than demand in your area and therefore you don’t stand a chance against people on higher salaries. It’s a no brainer unfortunately for the la to ignore someone like you if another person on 40k wants the property. The ll won’t even have been told about you iyswim.

I agree with getting environmental health out and withdrawing your notice for now. If push comes to shove, will your parents help you out? It sounds as if they are able.

Unfortunately parents will not help out. A few issues there so they r not Interesed in helping out. I ask my brother to be a guarantor and he refused saying that y should he help me. Yeah I know, not much of a brother or family when it comes to money. Not like I was asking him to pay my rent.