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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be pissed off at ''no dss, working people only'' when finding a house...

178 replies

juicychops · 17/03/2009 13:10

i do f-ing work for gods sake!! just cos im a single parent and cant possibly work full time due to my situation and so need housing benefit to help me out with PART of the rent, why am i being turned away for anything decent?
it really pisses me off

OP posts:
Sorrento · 17/03/2009 15:21

Just don't tell them would be my advice, you work therefore you can be credit checked they do not need to know about your housing benefit or any tax credits.
Keep your DC's off your credit record if possible they cause you nothing but trouble and are nobody's business

mm22bys · 17/03/2009 15:31

Our tenant recently moved out, and ten days later she still hasn't returned the keys. I think she's under the impression we'll get our keys back once she's got her deposit.

No chance....

I don't know, maybe they think that people who can completely fund the rent for themselves are more concerned about implications on their credit rating if they don't pay their rent so are more reliable?

We did have some tenants who were on HB and they are the only ones who have ever been more than a few days late with their rent...even though we were assured it wouldn't be a problem precisely because they are on HB....

Original poster
juicychops · 17/03/2009 15:31

in reality though, can you really not tell someone your on housing benefit?

OP posts:
Sorrento · 17/03/2009 16:14

Of course you can not mention HB it's paid to the tennant and if she's working then where she gets her money from is nobody's business but her own.

Sorrento · 17/03/2009 16:16

Lenders discriminate all the time, in fact had they discriminated a bit more we might be in such an mess.

Sorrento · 17/03/2009 16:17

NOT be in such a mess.

Seriously though, it's up to a landlord who he wants to hand his house over to.

londonone · 17/03/2009 16:58

YABU - As a landlord I cannot rent out to DSS tenants due to mortgage conditions and TBH I wouldn't want to for all the reasons listed in this thread. TBH the fact that anyone gets benefit to live in privately rentaed accomodation gets on my nerves, considering the rest of us have to pay full whck.

Sorrento · 17/03/2009 17:07

If there was enough social housing available then tax payers money wouldn't be spent on topping up private landlords pensions and pricing first time buyers out of the market and therefore reducing the need for private landlords at all.

BeehiveBaby · 17/03/2009 17:16

Seriously Londonone? What do you think should happen to families unable to afford to keep a roof over their heads?

londonone · 17/03/2009 17:23

Social housing as a temporary measure. Long term I would have a far more radical overhaul of the welfare state. However I do believe that you should not be able to claim from the state, that which others work hard to afford.

FAQinglovely · 17/03/2009 17:30

oh well I'm so sorry that I irritate you, and that I saved blood hard to find the deposit for this house (which incidentally wasn't bought as a buy-to-let - it was a family home which they couldn't sell when they relocated to another part of the country for better jobs. They're since bought another home gave up trying to sell it and decided to rent it out instead) therefore leaving an extremely indemand social house available to a family that couldn't afford to save a deposit. (I would have been housed as priority had I ended up in social housing as I would have been officially homeless with 3 young children).

Once I start working when DS3 starts school then I shall be paying my rent just like the rest of "you" do.

wotulookinat · 17/03/2009 17:52

Londonone, we live in privately rented and we have just claimed for housing benefit. We used to be able to afford the rent ourselves, when I worked as a teacher, but ill-health means that I can no longer work and we rely on my partner's wage. We're waiting for a council place to come up, as that will give us the opportunity to pay the whole rent ourselves, as a result of their lower rents.
What would your alternative be for us?

londonone · 17/03/2009 17:56

wotu - You need to move somewhere cheaper by the sounds of things.

wotulookinat · 17/03/2009 17:57

We have! We moved from London to West Yorkshire.

LoubyLoubyLouLa · 17/03/2009 17:57

My husband and I rent lots of houses and although we don't have a blanket ban on HB there are certain councils in the country that take so long to process the claims, in some case over 6 months, by which time the tennant could have left and the council turn down the claim and we out of pocket for 6 months rent.

Also mentioned above some councils will pay directly to the landlord but if an error has been made (intentially or accidently) the council will get the money back from the landlord through the courts. We always have the money paid to the tennant for them to pass to us for this reason.

We also like renting to single parents. We find that they usually keep the houses very clean and tidy and pay the rent as they don't want to disrupt the children - renting to young single men is the problem!

FAQinglovely · 17/03/2009 17:57

londonne - you assume that wot is in an expensive rented house - perhaps she's already paying "bottom end" of the rental market rates for her area???

londonone · 17/03/2009 18:00

FAQ - I am not assuming that at all. However if they started renting when wotu was a teacher it is unlikely they were renting right at the bottom of the market. Unless they are in a studio or a bedsit or a shared house then they can move down.

FAQinglovely · 17/03/2009 18:03

so a family with children should lived in cramped conditions just to appease those who think that private renters shouldn't be entitled to HB???

LHA (as it's now called) decides how many bedrooms you are "entitled" to/need based on the number of people living there.

You mean you'd rather see a family of 3 children and an adult (my family set-up) squashed into a bedsit or studio flat???

wotulookinat · 17/03/2009 18:07

We are in middle-range. We could move to a less-nice (IYKWIM) area that is cheaper, and we are looking into it, but we need to have a private landlord (as we don't pass the credit checks that agencies do) who will be happy to take HB (when it comes) and is ok with us having a toddler - some places to stipulate no young children. There's also the problem of raising a deposit and the costs associated with moving house.

wotulookinat · 17/03/2009 18:08

FAQ is right. We will get LHA for a two bed property, as we are a couple with one child.

londonone · 17/03/2009 18:11

You asked me about wotu and I responded based on her posts which didn't mention children. TBH I think it is ridiculous that people in state funded accomodation are provided with extra bedrooms for children etc when plenty of people who are paying there own way have children who share rooms etc. So I haven't at any point said that an adult and 3 kids should share a studio but I do think kids can share rooms. I also think state funded accomodation should be seen as a temporary safety net in most cases rather than simply an alternative and if that means it is less spacious that private accomodation, then so be it.

Peachy · 17/03/2009 18:11

Hmm, not sure you're being fair london: we've never had HB and we may need to in a year or so but the only reason is I cannot work because of disabled children..... should I not be able to keep a roof then? Social housing is in far too short supply, sadly so is respite / childcare for autistic kids (oops sorry I mean there isn't any) so unless I am lucky enough to find a hob that I can got to at 9.15 after the bus collects ds and return to for drop off at 2.45, I am stuck. DH works but is in a shaky industry.

Claimants are so much more complex that simple not willin to work types: some of us wuld dearly love the chance, heck I didn't just gradute and run up massive student loans to watch GMTV!

I do accept the mortgage / insurance thing of course, that's just reality, though I think someone up high should be looking at that. Fortunately our rented house is wholly owned (inherited property) and we have lovely landlords.

Our old house was trashed by tenants: working ones. Thought they were going to but it off us, ripped out kitchen in (? enthusiasm to start?) then their mortgage fell through. Luckily we found them one with our then provider.

nametaken · 17/03/2009 18:12

Good god alive londonone

"TBH the fact that anyone gets benefit to live in privately rentaed accomodation gets on my nerves, considering the rest of us have to pay full whck."

Your not fucking paying full wack. Some other poor bastard is paying for your house.

I am fucking seething at your nasty comments. Buy-to-let parasites such as you caused all this housing shortage in the first place.

muggglewump · 17/03/2009 18:14

I can understand why you feel like this.
I'm very lucky to have my house. I've lived in it for 8 years now but my landlord won't rent to DSS tenants.
I lived here when he bought it which is why I'm OK.
The rent is also more for new tenants-£425 PCM as opposed to the £375 I pay.
I'd never get anything decent if I were to move now as I still get HB, although I do work part time.

FAQinglovely · 17/03/2009 18:15

well I have 3 children - and I'm entitled to a 3 bedroom house - so I have 2 children sharing.

Infact if I had 4 boys (as opposed to the 3 I have) under 10yrs old I would still only be entitled to a 3 bedroom house.