To think this estate agent is a smug cock

[sevenkeystomysoul]

and to want his company to go under. Have just been informed by an up-himself agent that his company has an 'across the board' policy of no HB, even though I am working and have a guarantor (surely more security to a landlord than a salary that could disappear tomorrow in today's climate?). Gah, I f*cking HATE agents and landlords, and wouldn't even be moving again if my current landlord wasn't refusing to replace a boiler that is so ancient its parts are now obsolete and rewire the place (after being told by British Gas that it isn't earthed properly).

I once went into an estate agent, when looking to buy my first place. He looked me up and down and then said 'I don't think we have anything suitable for you here'

How rude is that? I didn't know his poxy business only dealt with people who early gazillions a year. Sadly, I didn't and still don't, but manage to survive without being horribly rude to people on a daily basis !!

My mortgage company specifies no HB tenants, so I can't let to them. So your argument is with the banks, not estate agents, or even letting agents, or the landlord.

www.allagents.co.uk is a good site for looking up reviews of letting agents - or posting them!

BigBadMummy - if you are not a 25 year old bloke in a shiney suit with gel in your hair I 'll let you off.

Our current letting agent is lovely by the way, as were the previous two.

My mortgage company also specifies no HB tenants. I wouldn't have got permission to let my house if I had let it to HB tenants; and if I had done it on the sly and they found out about it, it is tantamount to defaulting on the mortgage agreement and they can demand full payment of any outstanding debt, which of course I couldn't manage.

Lots of letting agents are also estate agents, so it's not that much of a confusion.

Ah, if it's a stipulation in a landlord's mortgage, then that's understandable. It must simply be a very big co-incidence indeed that every single property to let on this particular twat agent's books has a landlord with a mortgage that stipulates no HB .

bigbadmummy You definitely don't come under that banner, as you are lovely and helped me and DP loads when we had an awful letting agent.

TheBossofMe Despite HB being paid directly to you they still have to know that you are getting HB as you can't provide work references. So the idea that HB being paid directly to the tenant helps more people find accommodation doesn't work at all.

There really should be more help for those on HB, seeing as there are such giant waiting lists for council houses.

oh don't worry, I wasn't suggesting that your particular smug cock was anything other than a smug cock - some of the shiny-suited, hair-slicked, over-aftershaved gits are dreadful! (Had one who nearly screwed me up completely by getting me to fill in 4 mortgage application forms at once - apparently that could have seriously damaged my credit rating and jeopardised my chances of getting any mortgage at all, some 15y ago - he matched the above description to a T)

I don't know how many mortgage companies do make that stipulation but given the other issues with HB being paid to some people who then fail to pay the rent, causing landlords to default on their mortgage payments, I would imagine it's probably most of them?

BBM but you'd have to earn a good 6 figure salary for that, wouldn't you?

YANBU

StealthPolarBear - the rent is £750 and our original person was my MIL who didnt earn enough we then tried my dad who earned enough but isnt a home owner - we believe we may have hit the right person with my BIL who is both a homeowner and earns enough but time will tell!

IANBU to confuse estate/letting agents, the acency is question is an estate agent, with a lettings side! Anyway, have just got back from viewing a place, and the agent showing me around didn't know whether the landlord would accept a tenant on HB! (He was about 25, non-shiny suit, non-gelled hair, not unpleasant and sneering, but clueless just the same...) The thing is that more and more people, who wouldn't have been in this position a couple of years ago - myself included - are now forced to rent in the private sector with some help from HB. Three years ago, I was renting out my own flat! Being on HB does not automatically mean you are the sort of person who will spend the money on cheap cider and fags and default on your rent. Grrr, it's so upsetting to lose your home and be forced to rent anyway, took me ages to stop buying Elle Deco after that , and now that I'm fine with it and understand that home ownership is actually a load of bollocks unless you own said home outright, it's highly upsetting not to be able to rent a decent place for DD and myself because some of that rent money will be coming from benefits rather than a salary.

Whilst I understand your anger about HB it really is not the fault of the letting agent.

The legalities of HB are such that if it is found that a claimant has claimed fraudulently the landlord is deemed liable to repay it as they are "last person who handled the money". And this can be claimed back for up to six years.

It also protects you the tenant in receipt of HB. If the landlord goes into arrears on his mortgage you could find yourself out on your ear if you were a tenant not in recipt of benefits. By receiving benefits the rules on eviction change.

MOrtgage companies all stipulate no HB because they cannot evict a tenant claiming benefit when the owner defaults on the mortaga and the house has to be repossessed. SO the only way aroudn this is for an owner to own the place out right, so how many of those are there?

OP if you have issues with your landlord not replacing the boiler you should be looking at suing him. Or threatening to. He cannot leave you with a boiler that doesnt work, or wiring that needs to be done and is unsafe. You can do this through CAB or Shelter.

beenbeta Indeed I am not 25 with slicked back hair. Or indeed male. Though I may have the odd shiny suit in the wardrobe.

stealth yes you would. To rent a property of £1000 you would need to be on £30,000 a year. That is why I suggest that my buy to let landlords get two bed properties, then they can rent to two sharers who are more likely to be able to afford the rent between them.

kaloki big wave. Lost track of what happened to your situation, but I do hope you are out the other side now.

no, if it's 30x rent then you'd need to be on that a MONTH!
or am I missing something

No, that is wrong.

It is an annual salary of 30 times the monthly rental.

that's a lot more reasonable - not what was implied

BigBadMummy "MOrtgage companies all stipulate no HB because they cannot evict a tenant claiming benefit when the owner defaults on the mortaga and the house has to be repossessed." ALL mortgage companies?! So that means I won't be able to rent ANYWHERE? Doesn't having a guarantor make any difference? Oh god, now I'm getting panicky. I really don't want to stay here, even if the landlord puts in a new boiler and fixes the wiring, there's still so many minuses to this place that he won't fix. And I don't have the time, money or inclination for a legal battle. I just want to get out and find somewhere decent for me and DD.

seven some landlords will own the property outright ie. no mortgage so they will be your best bet.

I know our mortgage company would not let us rent to HB and also our buildings insurance would have been a lot more.

Don't agree with it at all though but that's the reality of the situation.

Thanks, PDR, thought I'd had it with mortgage companies ruining my life, but apparently not! Surely not all of them stipulate this?
BigBadMummy, may I ask you one more question please? Does 'employed applicants only' means no HB? I work three days a week, but do receive some HB. And what does 'no DSS' mean? What is DSS??

sevenkeystomysoul There are some properties out there, don't lose hope.

bigbadmummy It's kind of out of the frying pan into the fire here. It's a bit better here in our new flat, but still has loads of problems. We aren't having much luck tbh. Got a dodgily fitted gas meter that the national grid have to replace for us - and that the landlord had already been notified about!

But at least we got our money back from the last lot, and got out of the contract. Thanks to your advice mainly!

YANBU, just don't tell them you're on LHA or HB! You don't have to tell them and the council will not divulge to the LL if you are either under Data Protection. You can get your LHA or HB paid directly yourselves (LA's prefer this actually as there are now target set to them to get people to be more financially responsible). Hope this help

domesticdiva Most letting agents ask for work references so that they know that you aren't on HB. So you can't get away with just not telling them, we tried.

Kaloki - why would your work place tell a prospective landlord that you are in receipt of HB? The OP is working anyway. Plus a landlord should not assume that just because you are not working you will be in receipt of benefits!

The claim forms for HB ask you whether you want the claim divulging to third partie i.e. landlord. Any breach of this confidentiality is an offence.

As a landlord if you receive the HB direct from the benefits agency and then it is found that the tenant was not entitled. In circumstances such as a partner moving in. The benefits agency can claim the rent back from the landlord for upto 9 years. That means a tenant can commit fraud and a landlord can lose tens of thousands.

I as a landlord treat my tenants very fairly and maintain my properties. I would not assume all HB claimants are the same and you should not assume all landlords or letting agents are the same.

domesticdiva, my HB is paid into my bank account but I would have to tell the agent I was receiving it because my salary wouldn't cover the rent.