to think that it should be illegal to refuse potential tenants because they claim housing benefit???!!

[StuckInTheMiddleWithYou]

I mean, what happens if a person loses their job, does the landlord then have the righ to evict them???

Grrrrr.

there = their English teacher too!!

Stuckinthemiddle if you are in leicester or Bristol we have properties that we would welcome HB tennants, particularly those that decorate and garden!!!

Quite ExP: tehre's nothing I can do to change my carer status barring handing teh boys over to teh state which of course I will not do.

Now, Dh is trying to up his earnings enough that we may never be at risk of falling into the HB thing agin but it takes time. And we will require a roof all that time will we not?

You can't implement a legislation that tells individuals that they have no say over who can live in their property. You would be removing freedom from one 'set' of people in order to award it to others, to their potential financial detriment. How is that fair? I understand people's upset as those on here are responsible adults, but I don't see why I should have to put myself at risk because others can't be relied on. If such a legislation were to be enforced (highly unlikely!) then I would sell up or rent privately. You just can't enforce this kind of thing in the open market, the issue appears to be more that council properties aren't available enough and that they are inefficient when it comes to paying up. So don't place the blame/solution at the feet of private landlords!

Ah louby we could have done with you a few montsh ago- we're not far from Bristol! never mind. We were lucky (lovely landlady) but if ti happened again we'd be stucko. Council would offer us a hostel.

Who wouldn't dread a hostel with 4 children 2 with autism? Can you iamgine?

Very true MrsC2010.

It would backfire totally. Landlords would just rent privately.

There should be more council properties - that's the real issue. You are never going to be able to force landlords to rent out their private homes to people they choose not to.

And there will never be more council houses because a)NIMBYism b) no council can afford to construct and run them anymore.

You can't implement a legislation that tells individuals that they have no say over who can live in their property. You would be removing freedom from one 'set' of people in order to award it to others, to their potential financial detriment. How is that fair? I understand people's upset as those on here are responsible adults, but I don't see why I should have to put myself at risk because others can't be relied on. If such a legislation were to be enforced (highly unlikely!) then I would sell up or rent privately. You just can't enforce this kind of thing in the open market, the issue appears to be more that council properties aren't available enough and that they are inefficient when it comes to paying up. So don't place the blame/solution at the feet of private landlords!

If hb is claimed fraudulently, then surely it should be claimed back off the tenant.

Weird double post! Sorry!

Trapped - the tenant will have spent the money on something else and won't have. So the landlord gets screwed!

won't have any left, I mean

That would make sense but it doesn't work like that.

Another thing - professional employment is also a very good incentive to pay your rent and not damage a property. In some professions, you have to declare any convictions, cautions or CCJs. Iwould never be able to work again in my chosen profession if I had a CCJ against my name.

(Once again - I am not remotely suggesting that receiving HB means you don't care about these things - most right minded people do. But as an assessed risk, the more a person has to lose, the more likely they are to not breach their contract.)

A flat in my block was rented out to hb tennants. Over the time I lived there about 8 sets of tennants lived in that flat and I can honestly say there were problems with everyone of them - noise, police raids, runners, threatening partners etc. I applaud the owners decision to rent to people in need but it got stupid.

If you work and claim HB, the landlord need never know, assuming you are able to cover the deposit etc.

Beehive - The landlord will probably need to know because their may well be restrictions on his/her mortgage and insurance policy which prevent letting to a tenant on HB!

A tenant who doesn't disclose accurate information would be breaching the Tenancy Agreement from the off!

their = there. It's been a long day!

I had no problem having tenants on benefits - until I had to deal with the council.

I am sorry if it means you're having difficulties. As a landlord though, I really don't want to have to deal with the council any more than I have to. They are the rudest, most unhelpful people I have ever had to deal with.

I am not a slum landlord trying to screw as much money out of my tenants while they live in conditions you wouldn't put a rat in. The flat is spacious, well-maintained, and properly fitted out, with all certificates etc. I don't appreciate some little shit from the council talking to me as if I were the lowest of the low. Ooh, I still get a bit worked up about it.

As it is, we are thousands down with no redress. We will never see it again and it will take us years of belt tightening to get our 'house' account back into the black. Meanwhile, we pay bank charges. And our ex-tenant is now claiming fraudulently from another council; is still getting loans fraudulently and we are still getting bailiffs at our door looking for him.

If I could get out of landlordship completely, I'd be happy and never look back, but it would mean selling our entire home (the flat we rent out is our basement).

We are very lucky with our current tenant, and she is 'working poor' on HB. In the ways that matter, she is perfect.

it's not baseless discrimination comparable race or sex

there are reasons for it, and good ones

you are part of a high risk group

I'm sure you wouldn't say the same about black people or women

Actyually it can certainly be allied to discrimination

disability means youa re far mroe likely to claim HB: a blanket ban on HB claimants means you are not accepting disabled people

it's not intentional, I would never claim that, but it ultimately has the same effect as other forms of discrimination- massively narrowing the ops available to disabled people, and their life chances.

I don't think people should be forced to take HB claimants, I think mortgage and insurers should be forced not to discriminate (or at least forced to accept HB if HB person pays a sum for extra cover) but I hugely resent all the negative stereotypes people trot out such as ytou can choose to get out of the situation / professionals are more reliable. Shoving 'Oh I know some are OK' doesn't change teh meaning any more thanb saying 'black people are going to cheat me (but I know some are PK); I am hjonest as anyone, not poor through any fault of my own bar the inclination not to hand my disbaled children to social services care, and hufely resent in any way being lumped in with any untrustworthy group ion people's minds. I am educated, professionally and degree qualified (Institute of fundraising managers , as affected by a fraud convictiona s anything)... just a bit unlucky.

I am lucky that I have Dh to make up for the gap right now; but as the whole trinty thing shows, who knows what tomorrow might bring? And of course becuase the boys are disabled and we cannot move away from provision, we have to stay locally and the current system would place us right at the feet of genuine slum landlords. Surely that can't be right, can it?

' HB can only be paid afte rrent is 8 weeks in arrears

It IS true. Until then hb cannot be paid directly to the landlord. So any savvy hb tenant knows they can nick 2 months rent with impunity. You can't get the money back because you can't get blood out of a stone.

It is very very simple. Change the system so that landlords aren't penalised for having hb tenants and hey, they'll have them.

its due to mortgages, so rant to them eh?

funnily enough both my houses were ex local, both were a STATE so despite people having these lovely properties they did not even look after them.....