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.

hi hully!

Well if it's true where you are it isn't here, Hully, becuase it didn't happen with us. And guess what we didn't nick teh money: since when did savvy equal bloody theif? or HB equal thief? nasty stereotypes that hurt the innocent.

Don't be silly, Sancti. I have no interest in perpetuating any stereotypes. The law is straightforward as follows: when you take on a tenant who claims hb, it cannot be paid direct to the landlord unless there is a reason as covered by one of the statutory provisions: ie the tenant can't manage (this needs to be supported by a doctor/mental health professional) or the tenant has a history of non-payment. This was not the case until a year or so ago so perhaps your case was before the change?

The landlord can apply to have the rent paid direct to them after the tenant is 8 weeks in arrears. The landlord can only claim arrears back from the tenant, who can't pay them because they have spent the money and that is why they are in arrears. Ergo, a tenant can, if they wish, get away with 8 weeks arrears. Not all tenants do this, and some private tenants don't pay either (as I said several posts ago it is down to the individual, not whether or not they are on hb).

HB does not pay a deposit either, which equally disadvantages the tenant as opposed to a private one.

It is a system that does nobody any good. Landlords or tenants.

The real crime was the sell off and continuing dearth of social and/or affordable housing.

It was compared to race and sex discrimination specifically
(and wrongly).

In fact it is specificially NOT discrimination in two very important senses.

Firstly, there is a reason for it: it's not baseless

Secondly, as has been stressed on this thread, HB recipients can be educated, responsible, feckless, lazy, black, Asian, disabled, well, working, unemployed, families, single people and so on and so forth. To ally it to discrimination against black people or disabled people is a false analogy.

YABU we all know the benefits system is an arse I've been without JSA in the past due to computer errors and the like and I've heard of landlords waiting months for the system to pay em, so IMO it is up to them who they want in and that extends to gay couples, people are particular religion etc, the landlord owns the property so it should be up to them, if you don't like what they want go elsewhere.

its probably less to do with HB tenants being seen as "worse" than working tenants..but more to do with the fact that HB is notorious for being fucked up once its up and running and difficult to sort out, can take months while rent arrears are stacking up. it also takes ages to sort out initially.

when i split with my ex a few years ago i had to claim it and it took 2 months of to ing and fro ing to the HB offices and countless phone calls to sort out. and then it never gt back dated. luckily my landlord at the time was understanding and also my mum and dad helped me out paying some of my rent.

but you can see why it puts landlords off.

i dont think it should be illegal to refuse HB tenants but i do think that claiming HB and sorting out problems etc needs to be made more quick and efficient.

What really annoys me is that housing association homes are given as homes for life.

So you get one when you desperately need one, and rightly so. However, if you win the lottery you are still entitled to remain in the house.

Obviously you would never consider remaining in some social housing (standards in this country are appaling)however, in my village the housing association homes are highly desirable I would never move from one if I was lucky enough to get one in the first place!

jacqueline - thats probably the best thing about HA homes.

why shouldn't they be houses for life? why should a "house for life" be restricted to those who are fortunate and wealthy enough to own their own home?

because unfortunately, these days, because of how over inflated the housing market has become no one on a moderate income can afford to buy.

"HB can only be paid afte rrent is 8 weeks in arrears" - it can be paid directly to the landlord straight from the start provided that the tenant requests it. I have had 3 HB tenants, all seems lovely and responsible yet ended up wrecking the house one way or another and owing me money. The last one requested the Council to pay the rent directly to me yet when the Council accidentally paid it to her, she kept it all and kept telling me that she hadn't received a decision yet. Eventually I found out from the Council that the monies had been going to her and then had to evict her for unpaid rent. I am sure there are plenty of decent HB tenants out there but I am not going to take the risk again.

The tenant has to have grounds to request it. For the last bloody time.

Nothing wrong with a "house for life" but surely if you no longer need one (can afford your won house/rent privately) the house should go to someone in need?

No Hully where my property is they do not. The tenant can make the request when s/he completes her HB application. The landlord however can only request it after the rent is 8 weeks in arrears. Maybe this differs from Council to Council?

The one time we let out our family home, we weren't professional landlords or anything just moved down south for 12 months, one person was on HB and lied and didn't pay their rent, thank god they moved out of their own acord after 8 weeks. And the other tenant trashed the place too so it strikes me that it's complete luck of the draw who you get and HB has nothing to do with it.
But I do think if it was made illegal to discriminate then a condition should be that payments are made directly to the landlord, the council doesn't trust people to pay their rent by letting them have the benefit in their hand so why should private landlords be expected to.

I have had to claim housing benefit since I became a single parent 5 years ago, although I have always worked PT too. A few years ago I was in a position where I had to move, and could not find anyone who would rent their house to me, as soon as the words 'housing benefit' were mentioned they didn't want to know. Then I discovered that actually if you are in receipt of housing benefit you do not have to disclose this to the landlord, you can tick a box on the HB form which says you do not want them to communicate with the landlord. So I have been able to find privately let properties (not through agencies, just out of classified ads etc) to live in, and been accepted just on my good references.

And for the record I have always paid my rent on time, left the property in a good state and received my full deposit back, leaving on good terms with the landlord.

Apologies Mingg, I suspect you're right (though I was told otherwise by a govt person).

'The real crime was the sell off and continuing dearth of social and/or affordable housing.'

Well, yes, but now that is water under the bridge.

They were sold. They were not replaced. They will not be replaced because it is too expensive for councils to maintain them and no one wants council housing around them.

Money made from the sale of council housing was not allowed by central govt to be used to build more homes, nor was the rent from council properties that continued to exist. This was blatant political manipulation. In some areas this has been slightly relaxed, but if councils were allowed to use their income to increase their housing stock, as they used to be, we might see a few more affordable homes. People have to live somewhee.

Yes Hully, you are right.

I will repeat what I said below: I think landlords should have the right to choose 8but I think mortgage providers etc should be amde to stop nbeing prejudiced (or insurers required to provide cover on receipt opf a set fee)

It's one thing if a landlord wants their home to do as they please with- another IMO if they would happily rent to someone on HB 9and after all it coulod be their mate) but are prevented

It's done now, though, Hully.

Things can be undone at the change of a government. Look, all the new primary curriculum and diplomas done away with at a stroke! Poof! Stop ringfencing council receipts and require a certain amount of social housing to be provide per borough. Shazam!

Listen to a cautionary tale. Dear old Shirley Porter sold off all the housing in Westminster figuring owner occupiers would be more likely to vote tory. They were sold off dirt cheap and quickly sold on (on the quiet, never mind the three years wait) for a large profit. Now they are rented back to westminster for social housing at huge rents because no one will let to refugees etc otherwise. Stark raving bonkers mad.

Sancti: who would pay the extra insurance? the tenant? out of their own money I would hope? Would this be your plan. A security deposit scheme would also help.

HB tenants aren't like other tenants. The security deposit is a big deal too.

Why does HB now get paid to the tenant instead of the landlord? It seems that this has resulted in HB claimants getting a bad name as some of them take the HB and don't pay the rent.

They say it's to encourage autonomy and responibility - but really it's because they don't want the hassle of trying to get money back from landlords if they are overpaid. Plus it's another arms reach step. (Apols for appalling mixed metaphor)

I let two houses and I sympathise with you. However it is not that straightforward. I have had tenants on housing benefit if they are a new claimant it can take up to 12 weeks for the landlord to receive any rental payments. I personally cannot afford that. The biggest setback has been that if housing benefit is paid directly to the landlord and it is discovered that the claimant was not entitled, the most common reason being they move a partner in and don't declare it, the benefits agency can claim back those payments for upto 9 years. That would completely devastate my financial security and it is a risk I can't take. I know that everyone is not like this but sadly too many to make that a low enought risk.