To be fed up with my renting situation.

[FedUp1850]

I rent a 2 bed flat and can't for the life of me get out and get a house.

I earn £42000pa and claim a bit of UC to help with my childcare costs. But because of the way UC is worked out it automatically puts an amount for rent in when working out my overall entitlement before earnings, this then makes me look like a housing benefit tenant. On the old system I wouldn't have been it would have been tax credits for childcare assistance. I wouldn't have been entitled to HB.

Seriously hoping the market catches up soon and realises not everyone on UC is what you call a 'housing benefit tenant'.

Your problem is with a rental system that discriminates against people on benefits. I trust you don't think that's acceptable for any claimant?

So your problem is that you are a benefit claimant but you aren't one of those benefit claimants?

You can get benefits on 42k a year?😮

The problem is not that your case is special, its that so many landlords discriminate against what you call actual housing benefit claimants.

HTH.

Just to pipe in, because these threads happen often. It's often insurance and /or mortgage who stipulates no housing benefit tenants. Landlords often don't get a say in this.

Why do you even need to tell them you claim UC? Surely you can prove from your income that you can afford the rent without bringing up you get a top up?

This might sound silly but do you have to tell landlords or could you not get a house on just your 42k salary? Obviously depends on the cost of the rental.

@00OurChristmasMiracle and @user1493413286 They ask to see bank statements and can see my UC coming in.

@IAmALazyArse yes. £310pm.

@49MrsMaiselsMuff of course it's not acceptable. It's discriminatory.

@53Hont1986 erm no. My problem is I wouldn't normally claim HB, but the way it is now calculated makes it look like I do.

Wow op I can’t believe judgey people are on here, how dare you ask this question

Why not just say it’s child benefits you don’t have to say “Oh I get UC, x housing allowance, Y is the child benefits.”
I claim some UC as well (though I earn much less than you) and it doesn’t state the nature of the payment at all.
It’s not like it says “£200 housing allowance” or whatever. Not unless you go for the full breakdown on the website (which they’ve no business seeing, a bank statement should suffice) I’m honestly confused as to why you’re having issues tbh. Unless you live somewhere with a super competitive rental market then it shouldn’t be an issue for most landlords since you’ve got £3k+ a month coming in from wages alone I’d guess?

@YDraig UC is on my bank statement as UC. Child benefit is seperate on my bank statement.

I called an estate agent about a property today and because I claim UC, no matter what for I was considered a HB tenant.

Run two separate bank accounts. One for wages and one for UC?

YANBU.

You can get benefits on 42k a year?

yes

but on MN, apparently people on higher salaries, with NO HELP whatsoever and highest tax rates are "rich".

@41missbattenburg thank you I'd never thought of that 🤦🏽‍♀️

missbattenburg has it! On £42K alone you should have enough proof of income hopefully for a house (unless it's central London!).

@FedUp1850 that is literally what everyone I know who earns and receives benefit does. Set it up

@50Lightsabre not central London but SE. Rent is £900-£1200. I do earn enough.

Yet another unintended consequence of UC.

When your UCaccount shows a breakdown of how each monthly payment is worked out, does it make it clear that this is for childcare? I wonder if it would make a difference if you showed the agent/landlord a screenshot so they can see that it's not for living expenses or housing costs?

Also, some landlords are willing to take on tenants on benefits if the tenant is prepared to pay the premium for specialist insurance that guarantees the rent. If you're in a position to save enough to pay 3 or 6 months rent up front, that often incentivises LLs to accept tenants "on benefits" too.

There's a housing association called Places 4 People that specialise in renting directly to people who are in work. You can apply direct, rather than be referred by a local authority. It may be worth registering with them in case they have properties in an area that might suit you.

Can't you redact it? All they need to see is what you have going in to you account, do they really need to know where from?

@LakieLady My UC breakdown shows all elements as that's how they work out.

But once they have deducted for earnings and other things I have £310. Which is actually less than any element on my award. I'm award £646 for child care alone, my total award is £1920 bit after income deduction I am left with £310 so that's actually less than my childcare element. If I didn't have childcare costs my award will be nil.

@ElizaDee agencies and landlords keeps asking for full bank statements and wage slips.