Unable to pay full rent

[bratzdoll]

I'm a single parent currently on maternity leave so I receive UC monthly to help pay my rent and further bills. I'm private renting but I got the flat through the homelessness scheme (when you're homeless and in temporary accommodation but willing to take a private flat instead of waiting years in temporary accommodation until a council flat is available)

The benefit of private renting through the homelessness scheme is that the council are in contact with Landlords that are happy to rent to someone on UC and are usually happy to negotiate the monthly rent price.

I moved into the flat a few months ago and always pay my rent to the Landlord's agent one day before it's due just so the receive it without any problems or anything.

This month my UC was around £1100 less than it should have been because my employer incorrectly reported that I had earned around £2500 last month
I'm still only receiving SMP so I have no clue how they made such a drastic mistake but this means DD and I are living on near to nothing this month.

I sent an email to the Landlord's agent a few days before the rent was due to let them know the situation. I included screenshots of my UC Payment page so they could see the breakdown of what I normally get and see what was deducted. I did say I was able to contribute a small amount to the rent (less than £200 as I was given less than £400 from UC to live on for the month)
I also let them know that I spoke to my work coach about what happened as she's raised this with the investigation team so hopefully she'll hear back from them soon.

I spoke to the agent on the phone the day before the rent was due (I always speak to the manager btw) and she was very understanding and just said to update her with what happens. The next morning I get an email from her saying the Landlord was not happy at all (understandingly) and that I need to do whatever it takes to be able to pay the rent in full including taking out an overdraft!

I've never not paid my rent since I've lived here and it's not as if I got the dates mixed up or I spent the money on something else. The rent amount wasn't given to me for no fault of my own. I was a bit shocked at the Landlord's response as I'd literally given him more than half of what I received just to be able to contribute something. When in reality I could have kept it and spent that on myself and my daughter as we desperately need it!

There's often a discussion on Twitter about some Landlords and how they refuse to be understanding even in unavoidable situations. I understand I'm renting and effectively helping to pay off his mortgage, but this wasn't my fault at all.

(just in case anyone wants to bash me for being on benefits, I've been working full time since I was 17. It's more or less impossible to be a single parent living on SMP)

If I was your landlord I would serve notice

You clearly know next to nothing about tenants legal rights and landlords legal obligations. The landlord can't serve a Section 8 (essentially an eviction notice) unless there are at least two months of rent arrears and for a Section 21 one of the grounds for serving is that it needs to be the end of the tenancy (basically the landlord deciding not to continue the tenancy).

OP, contact your landlord in writing if you can (email counts) and say that you are aware you are £xx short on the rent for this month. Explain why. Tell him that you will pay £xx a week/month until the shortfall is repaid and if the error is corrected and your UC repaid then you will clear the balance immediately. Explain that you have also contacted the council for a discretionary housing payment. This shows willing, that you're aware of the issue, and that you have a plan for correcting it. Most reasonable landlords would accept this because in life, shit happens.

I guess many of the cold hearted responses on here are from landlords who depend on people like you to fund Tarquin and Annabel's school ski trips etc and can't believe you have the temerity to not be wealthy! How dare you!

😂😂 someone earlier said that my failure to pay my rent might delay the Landlord from expanding his property portfolio or means he can't afford a trip to the Caribbean this winter!!!
Meanwhile I'm thinking how the hell am I gonna pay for gas, electric and baby food!

[quote julieca]@Magicalwoodlands Yep, you can see them all on this thread. Oh, it's winter and you have very little money for food and nappies. No matter give it all to the landlord. Who cares if you cant eat and will freeze to death. I am sure there is some charity somewhere that can help you.[/quote]
It's the bloody benefit-bashing culture we have these days, @julieca. Papers like the Mail and the Express, along with "Benefit Street" type programmes, has made it acceptable to vilify the poor.

I hoped UC would change that a little, as it blurs the distinction people used to make between working and non-working claimants, but it seems my hope was misplaced.

@HoardingSamphireSaurus I suggest she doesn't give the landlord every last bit of money she has and continues to try and sort it as she has been doing.
The landlord has zero chance of evicting her for this.
And why shouldn't she vent? People vent on MN all the time for much less than this.

Could i just ask OP why a single mother is having a baby she cant afford and all of us are expected to pay for?

You can but first you need to share the ins and outs of your life so that we can check you're an exemplary citizen and therefore worthy of passing judgement.

@A8mint how is that helpful

I have 4 babies now older
When I had them I could afford them, 2 parents and both in decent jobs. However my ex left me and my youngest has asd which means working full time is impossible. I paid taxes for 25 years full time however.
Op works, and is having a tough time ans that’s the comment you make. Anyone can fall on hard times let’s hope you never do and need people to help you or understand your situation.

Thank you for you kind message op, hope both of us are in a better place soon, I’m thankful for all the helpful understanding people as I don’t know where I’d be without them x

@LakieLady I have come to the conclusion a significant proportion of the population are cunts.

But I am not asking anyone else to pay for my kids!

Unless you're a net contributer and your children are net contributers then everyone else is paying for your kids.

@A8mint

Message deleted by MNHQ.

No. You haven't even read her posts passed what you can snark at.

She works. Is on materity leave. Is entitled to whatever the benfits system allows. And, in case you couldn't join the dots - was housed through a homeless scheme whilst pregnant. Even the smallest imagination would anticipate the story behind that being the reason OP hasn't mentioned the father.

May your life never descend into the crap that is Universal Credit and living on the edge of penury.

@bratzdoll don't rise to it. Don't rise to most of the clueless comments on here.
The amount in "benefit bashing" and stigma is still completely ridiculous. Where do people get off I don't know.
Be thankful you haven't been left holding the baby alone and that life has been fortunate.
The most vulnerable in society have the least luck, the least support and the worst outcomes so stop acting like OP should be back in the workhouse and grovelling to her landlord for a roof over her head

*It is November and rather cold. The OP needs heat. She needs to eat. She needs nappies for her baby. She may need transport costs.

She can’t just hand over every penny to her landlord and nor should he expect her to.*

...maybe the landlord needs to pay for heat, and her baby needs nappies?

@bratzdoll you mean you have no sympathy for a landlord who may not be able to go on a Caribbean holiday this winter? You monster.

Ignore the troll.

Oh and poor people are allowed to vent. They don’t have to be engaged in practical activities every time something shit happens

bratzdoll it's a ridiculous system that penalises before sense checking. I'm sorry you're caught up in it all.

I agree that whilst the blame is firmly with your employer (keep being that squeaky wheel with them) your Landlord's response is unhelpful at best. You've kept them in the loop and the fact that you relied on UC to make up the wage shortfall wasn't a secret.

As things stand you are merely late paying the rent rather than building up arrears. Make sure you mention this each time you provide an update, and update every time you speak to your employer/DWP so they have no doubt that this is not a situation of your making or acceptance.

Just one added suggestion, the next time you speak to the company make it clear that as the error is theirs any penalty charges applied to you for their mistake you will be submitting an expense claim for, the longer it takes for them to rectify the issue the more like it is that penalty charges will be applied e.g. unauthorised use of overdraft.

You don’t know the LL circumstances- just assuming they have enough money themselves. Maybe they don’t. Yes, it’s unfortunate but they are also well with if their rights to say they want you to do everything to pay them. Can you pay both month’s rent next time or are you expecting f to fall short again?

@A8mint

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

House!

I've got the full set of benefit bashing cliches on my card now.

@bratzdoll MN is full of well off people who have zero ideas what it is like to have little money. They would just sell some shares or borrow money from rich relatives if they were a bit financially short one month.
They also think there is loads of support out there for poor people when there is not.
Yes, there are schemes like discretionary housing payment and foodbank that may help or may not help. Hopefully, you will get help. My local council refused every application to the discretionary housing payment budget and by the end of the year had spent zero. Other councils run out of budget before the end of the year. It is a postcode lottery.
But in the minds of some well off people there is lots of help for those who need it. They only think that because they know fuck all about it.
I hope your employer and work coach sort it very soon. And that you soon get over this stressful blip.

• [Post redacted - quotes a deleted post]

Ignore this poster - apparently they have the perfect life. Never had benefits myself, but nor do I begrudge the people who need them. That’s what they’re for - to help people when they need it.
We’re one of the richest countries in the world, so yeah, we should help a single parent keep a roof over their child’s head.

Sorry if someone already said this, but I wonder if the agent has signed the landlord up on a "guaranteed rent" scheme? The agent could be going to the LL saying "the tenant is going to get the money tomorrow" and back to you saying "the LL says they need their money tomorrow"...

If possible, can you contact the LL directly? A phone call (during working hours) might be best, followed by an email to confirm what was discussed.