do i stay in my damp cold expensive house or lie through my teeth so my kids can have a nice home??

[bellarose2011]

just looking for some advice really, i am a single mother to 2 DD, 10 months and 2yrs.
we currently live in a 3 bed semi detatched house, it has an old back boiler which makes the gas bills huge yet we are still always freezing. the garden is a vertical hill (literally!) there is mold growing on the kids bedroom wall. the double glazing doesn't work and there is puddles of water on all the windowsills every morning. i hate it!!
in the area i live there is a shortage of social housing and my name is on all council/housing association lists. my only hope is a house from an estate agents. but of course they won't accept DSS.
now i get my housing benefit paid to me so there is no reason i need to disclose this other than it being dishonest. but i know i would be a great tenant, i have never not paid my rent, i'm a clean freak and have no pets.
i have found a perfect house that i can afford and have the application form in front of me, i know i won't get it if i tell the truth. i have a friend who runs her own business and would say i worked for her. i just don't know what to do??
the eatate agents use MARAS, will my bank tell them where my funds come from?

i have been looking for about 8 months and this is the first one to come up in the area i need, in my price range and that i would feel safe in. there are a lot of houses here on there own and i would be to scared to live in one!
yes if i don't get this i will be devastated.

and i just want to be warm and to be able to put my kids to bed without 3 layers and blankets on!

I don't want to be bossy but I think you really need to do something about your current property. Your landlord has responsibilities to you and I think you should seek legal advice about having the property repaired and maintained

Bella people will be nicer to you if you have the decency to be honest to them. If you lie to them, well they probably will play by the book. One of my tenants lost his job, but he came to me and told me, so we talked about it and I gave him a rent reduction and whilst he sorted himself out. Another couple were moving abroad and were unable to get a fixed moving date so I allowed them to stay on a monthly basis rather than tying them to another 6 month let. I was 'nice' because they were 'nice', i.e. honest. Lie if you must - it won't do you any favours in the long term. LL are businesses - they look after tenants who look after them. If they feel you are taking advantage they will find someone else.

As I said before, I would probably let to you if you were honest and we came to an agreement. I wouldn't if you lied. I'll get off your thread now. Your attitude is winding me up.

well you have been given lots of fantastic advice, including some from a landlord, so you know what risks you are taking. it's you who is taking the risk so only you can decide whether to do it or not.

i'm going to bow out now because i dont think you are going to change your mind. good luck OP. i really hope we dont see you back here asking how to pack up your belongings in the space of a week with 2 dcs hanging round your feet.

op if I were in your position i would consider lying, i really would. But if it is just the work side of things that is letting you down have you thought about doing something like avon/bodyshop/ann summers just to be able to say that you are self employed? Even if it were just to get into the house, and then revert back to being unemployed once you got the house. Even if technically you make next to nothing, you would still get all the tax credits and full hb. (Im assuming that dss just mean people that are not working, not people who are working but in receipt of housing benefit or is this wrong?).

in my neck of the woods "no DHSS" means no applications from people who get HB. not sure what that means elsewhere.

ok i'm really away now. loads to do!

Don't do it.

thanks for advice dude and worcs, your points are valid i just feel i have no choice.
titty' that is a very interesting idea. i will look into asap. how much a year is ti possible to earn with avon ect?
they want you to be earning 2.5 times the rent.

I'm not sure about your dilemma but just thought I'd say I've been renting for 13 years now in loads of houses as a perpetual student, and never once have I been asked for a wage slip

Perhaps because my dad is my guarantor?

ye im not 100% sure what they mean by no DHSS but i know tax credits is ok because i asked the estate agents.

You are not giving the landlord a choice either.

Hum. Just seen your comment about dumping a 10mo with strangers and I take back my comment, seeing as I dumped my six mo with a CM so I could pay my rent

As you were

Dude, no one can be given a week to 'pack up their belongings' whether they are on housing benefit or deciding not to disclose this information or not.

I'm sure you know this though, you seem so knowledgeable about the whole thing...

bigkids, really didn't mean to offend anyone. that is just how i feel, i just wouldn't trust anyone to look after my baby.
i have lots of freind who's babies have been in nursery from 3 month, i don't judge. it's a personel choice.

In my neck of the woods "no DSS" means people on unemployed benefits such as income support or JSA.

sorry if the above post sound a bit angry but it just winds me up when people make out that anyone on benefits is bound to be scamming in some way - Says the woman who is about to lie and commit fraud to get what she wants!

It's not just a case of the ll being pissed off that you lied about receiving hb, if it invalidates their insurance or contradicts their mortgage terms then do you really think they would let you stay??!!!!

I think we need to clarify whether OP means no DSS or no HB, they are different. DSS is issued by the Department of Social Security, HB is issued by local councils. A ad saying no DSS does not necessarily mean no HB, nor does it mean no Tax Credit claiments.

baabaa it generally does mean no Housing Benefit/Local Housing Allowance and no unemployed people, it's just that a lot of landlords don't know the different.

Ignore me, didn't realise the OP claims benefits.

also i have stated that i am going to say that i claim a small amount of HB si if it is an insurance problem they will know.
i am only lying about having a part time job.
im telling them about tax credits, child benefit and HB

i am only lying about having a part time job.'

And that you are not getting a 'small amount' of HB, but full whack because you are not working.

Oh well, if that's all you are lying about..........

Seriously get a grip on reality. You do not work. But you are going to pretend that you do in order to rent a house.

That's it. You can't dress it up to make it sound ok.

It's fraud.

'it's a personel choice.'

No, it isn't for people who have to pay their rent on their own.