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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

in thinking ''NO DSS'' is so incredibly insulting!!!???

46 replies

juicychops · 08/02/2010 15:35

i HATE my house its cold, damp, mouldy, cracks appearing along the walls, no double glazing, shitty expensive economy 7 heating and f**k all parking anywhere near my house.

after putting up with it for so long i want to move. been trying to save for a deposit for god knows how many months but getting nowhere with it. was told about rent deposit scheme and after a long conversation with the council im NOT eligable because i work and have 'just too much money' to be eligable for help with a deposit. - i would like to see where this 'too much money' is because the only time i ever see money is when im handing it over to pay a bill!

anyway, the nice lady on the phone said try landlords directly instead of going through agencies then i wont have to pay all the fees etc.

but the majority of these people stick 'NO DSS' on their poxy ads!
im hard working, pay my rent on time always but get punished in this way because i am a single parent!!

cant extend my overdraft to help me out so stuck in this rubbish house for all eternity.

on a downer now and just eaten a whole packet of jaffa cakes to help cheer me up - which didn't work!

[ confused][ confused][ confused][ confused][ confused][ confused][ confused][ confused][ confused][ confused][ confused]

OP posts:
Kaloki · 08/02/2010 15:38

I am right there with you juicychops Have just got fed up and emailed 300 odd estate agents asking if any of them accept DSS, as all the private landlords say no DSS.

Some loony who does accept DSS though was trying to get us to go for a place £100 above our budget, and when we pointed out how far above our budget he told us we could "easily" stretch to that. How??

BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny · 08/02/2010 15:38

By no DSS it means no housing benefit, alot of landlords have had tenants who claim this, only to find out that it does not cover all the rent so arrears have accumulated.

It is unfair IMO, tarnishing everyone with the same brush.

StableButDeluded · 08/02/2010 15:38

YANBU. It is unfair. I think lots of things penalise people on lower incomes, whatever the reason. Like you said, Economy 7 heating, pre-pay electric meters, renting is more expensive per month than the average mortgage for a similar property would be, etc...

junglist1 · 08/02/2010 15:40

It's ridiculous. Benefits claimants cost more in insurance apparently. It's just blatant discrimination from the very top all the way down to the lowly but ego inflated letting agent. Keep looking though, in some cases they'll accept DSS if you have a guarantor. Don't bother with posh letting agents. Is there a Haart near you, they found my ex a place, didn't care about DSS or the dogs!

ASecretLemonadeDrinker · 08/02/2010 15:41

I think it may sometimes have something to do with the landlords mortgage rather than the landlords themselves.

Dillie · 08/02/2010 15:45

With you on this it is sooo unfair!!! Have you spoken to estate agents? Some may take you as mostly by no dss they usually mean the unemployed so have no guaranteed income.

A friend of mine was in the same position, but once she spoke to the estate agents and she said that she can get an employers ref + wage slips then she managed to get a really nice place. She gets the lha all be it a reduced amount but the landlord was ok about it as she was working iysyim.

Maybe worth a chat with the agents, after all they get commission for sales

Dillie · 08/02/2010 15:46

Oops I meant the landlords direct!!! Worth a phone call at least

MrsGubbins · 08/02/2010 15:48

sadly people on DSS seem to get labelled as more likely to default on rent, and since the rent is now not paid direct to landlords and is the tenants responsibility to ensure they pay their own rent this seems to have put private landlords off from renting to anyone on benefits.

you're being discriminated against because of some immoral sods who think paying their rent is at the bottom of the pile of priorities.

are you in council accomodation? can you advertise for a house swap? can you budget to save up a deposit in the next 12 months and then at least you can plan to move and be somewhere better by this time next year?

as for jaffa cakes not cheering you up, you obviously did not do half moon/full moon did you? works every time!

Oh and YANBU

Jackstini · 08/02/2010 15:52

May be to do with a lot of councils changing the way landlords could be paid. Originally DSS (by this I mean only housing benefit) was preferred by a lot of landlords as you were paid direct and so it was safer than a private tennant!
Recently many councils have taken this option away so the tennat pays and it has some landlords running scared.
Hopefully you will find one that is happy to take you - if you want somewhere in Notts let me know!

junglist1 · 08/02/2010 15:58

You will find someone if you don't lose hope. Just keep on and on and on and on and on. Sell yourself like it's a job interview. If our chavvy lot found somewhere you'll be OK. We even brought our 2 staffies to a viewing once and one of them pooed in the garden. We got the place!!

Original poster
juicychops · 08/02/2010 16:01

MrsGubbins, no didn't do the full moon/ half moon... was just shoving them in!!

good idea about speaking to the landlords direct about my situation. looks like i will have to saave up quite a bit of money first though.

i privately rent at the moment so cant swap houses... plus i doubt anyone would want to swap to live here anyway after the way ive advertised it!!

OP posts:
Original poster
juicychops · 08/02/2010 16:02

ha ha junglist maybe i should bring my lovely cute cats with me to win the landlords over

OP posts:
Feelingsensitive · 08/02/2010 16:07

I am a landlord and in our case its the mortgage company that specify no one on housing benefit.

cupcakefairy · 08/02/2010 16:08

Definitely worth asking the agents/landlords and saying you can prove your income and rent-paid-on-time history etc.
We're looking for a place at the moment to rent - we need another bedroom cos we're expecting and ALL the ads say 'No children' but once we've asked the estate agents they've all said it's fine...and that actually they have no legal right to say no children cos they don't have to be written into the contract

Good luck!

MrsGubbins · 08/02/2010 16:12

are there any new developments being built near you? developers now have to aportion a % of new builds to "social housing" my sister rented a brand new house off a housing association and then managed to get a mortgage to buy 50%, she'd previously lived in a damp, crumbling place with rattly windows!

Hullygully · 08/02/2010 16:15

What Jackstini said. It was an insane rule change and will possibly be changed back. If a tenant is living on 50p a week and gets a rent cheque through for £500.00, often they just can't resist and don't hand it on, particularly as there are no sanctions against them. And when tenants don't pay rent, landlords can't pay mortgages.

A tenant has to be two months in arrears before you can start proceedings (so even if you have a deposit you are already one month down) and then it takes a minimum of two months to get eviction through the courts.

Hullygully · 08/02/2010 16:17

Most landlords are not big fat cats chortling over a cigar, but people with large mortgages managing on very small margins who can't afford arrears.

sungirltan · 08/02/2010 16:23

hi - firstly i really sympathise but (don't bite me) i will put across a landlord's point of view....

dh and i own house which we let to a relative. for about 8 years (the tennant receives hb) its was a hassle free as anything - rent came directly to us like clockwork. about 18 months ago it all changed when the tennant's partner moved in and they had to register a chance of circumstances. since then it has been a huge headache. firstly we are no longer entitled to insist on 'landlord direct' payment of hb because the tennant does not have learning difficulties or any reason why they cannot be assumed to be trustworthy to pay the rent themselves. - ok not the end of the owlr initially. secondly the partner's employment status changes all the time so they have to declre work/reclaim hb on and off all the time - so they are always waiting for a decision on hb. thirdly our LA has a huge HUGE hb backlog of claims which go back to way before xmas - it takes about 8 weeks to get a decision on hb atm and about a million more to get the money. what this means for us is that we panic for weeks worrying about whtehr this is a sustainable income any more, then get a check for a random amount of the arrers (never the total) then it starts all over again. some i=of it is the tennants fault, alot of it is the shite administration at my LA housing office. we have come close to defaulting on the mortgage for this property many times over the last year and the whole issue is a big millstone for dh and i.
i am going on too much i know - the point i am trying to make is that imagine this has been the case for many a landlord who like all of us are trying to struggle through the recession without going under.

dss has gone from being a guaranteed income for landlords to a really high risk option - but its not really much to do with them being snobby about who they take on as tennnants.

meanwhile are there any social housing agencies where you live? i know plymouth has one - would you be eligable for a swap scheme? - don't know if you are living in council accomodation from your op

HappyMummyOfOne · 08/02/2010 16:25

Many mortgages and insurance policies exclude DSS tenants so its not always the landlords choice although some may choose to exclude them due to problems in the past.

Statistically, DSS tenants are a higher risk - not just on arrears but damage as well hence the insurers having an issue.

I dont think the new rules re payments have changed landlords minds as before, if they were paid direct there was always the chance they would be liable for any overpayment or clawback so many didnt accept direct payments anyway.

NellyNaggBagg · 08/02/2010 16:26

Another 'definitely worth asking' vote. I let a house out through an agency, and have 'no DSS' in the particulars. However, my tenant is a single parent on HB, and she is perfect in every way. She works part time; when she asked to look round the house, we asked if we could meet her (we also got references/credit checks via the agency). She was - is - obviously an ideal tenant, and we were happy to let to her. She's been in the house for three years now.

As Feelingsensitive suggests, though, it might be different with mortgages? I haven't got a mortgage on the house I let out.

Fluffyone · 08/02/2010 18:38

Can I explain from the landlord's point of view? The problem is that some people who claim housing benefit spoil it for the honest ones. An example:
One of my rented properties was let out at the start of last year to a lady on housing benefit. The agent actually asked me to give her a chance because she was "really nice" and had good references. She claimed HB (which takes 3 - 6 weeks to come through at first) and needed to pay a weekly top-up. For the first 12 weeks HB has to be paid direct to the tenant. Only when they are 12 weeks in arrears (in the case of this council) can the landlord get the benefit stopped and paid to them direct. So she kept the 12 weeks HB, and never paid me a penny of the top-up. I gave her notice to move out (2 months), she just hung in there, and by the time I got the eviction process started she just walked out. No point pursuing her for nearly £2k owed, as she is on HB. So - next tenants had to be employed. One month in, he lost his job, claimed HB... I think you can guess the rest!
I suggest that you find yourself an employed guarantor, and tell the agents and landlords that you speak to that you have this backup.

Fluffyone · 08/02/2010 18:40

Oh, I should add. I can take HB tenants as far as my buy-to-let mortgage is concerned, but not landlords insurance. That's pretty critical as well, as landlord's insurance guarantees rent if a tenant stops paying during a tenancy, and funds the eviction process if needed.

sungirltan · 08/02/2010 18:48

fluffyone - great fun isn't it

Kaloki · 08/02/2010 18:54

fluffyone That's awful. Me and DP have an employed, home owning guarantor but still are struggling to find anyone to give us a chance.

violethill · 08/02/2010 19:16

What hullygully said. Many landlords aren't raking it in; they have big mortgages and if they don't get the rent, they can't pay their mortgage.

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