would you now rent to a housing benefit applicant?

[WhyMeWhyNot]

So all you Mumsnetter landlords --- in all honesty will you still or would you in future rent your property to a housing benefit claimant? Either one who works and has their rent topped up or a family on 100% benefit?

I am a private tenant on HB. Luckily I had a guarantor. It really made me feel like scum when most landlords wouldn't take HB. Good to read the thread and see the other side to it. Won't take it so personally now! How come some landlords won't accept HB if there is a guarantor though?

yesnoyes - Dreaming is just stating a simple fact. My DP works in the hospital kitchen and gets £16K pa. The average 3-bed house in our area sells for £230K. Which is 14 times his annual income. Of course there's no way a lot of private tenants can buy! Dreaming is in no way being derogatory, just stating facts.

I think Yesnoyes was maybe referring to the fact that Dreaming had said used the term regarding her tenants as 'never afford to buy', as I mentioned earlier (but it not such an OTT manner). People's live change dramatically in all directions at any time, I think that assuming you know about someone's bank balance (presently or in the future) is somewhat an assumption, and a little rude. Indeed, most people renting are paying much more than many people could afford on a mortgage.

Pastyeater - why should the landlord go through the rigamrole of having to sue the guarantor if the tenannt does not pay? It is VERY stressful and expensive, and not worth it, if there are tenants available with steady incomes - eg teachers. After being stung badly, we now only let to local teachers at 80% of the market rent, win-win, and we do not have any more sleepless nights over it.

jenski - i'm not assuming anything. she's just told me she's struggling and i've agreed to 2 weeks rent being paid late. perhaps i should have said 'if her current situation doesn't change financially she will never afford to buy'?

the only reason rents are less than mortgages at the moment is because interest rates are at a 50 year low. when they rise again it will be more equal - as it was 5 years ago.

I'm really not trying to be pedantic, but what you actually said was 'out tennants in the main could never afford to buy'.

Anyway, I am in no way trying to cause trouble .

I'm not sure I understand what you mean about rents being less than mortgages - I have never found this?

'our' not 'out'

I have a question for the landlords on here. If a tenant was working and paying rent themselves but then got made redundant and had to claim hb would you then evict them?!

jenski - don't think you could legally - would depend on the contract. though i wonder if the lls on here who cannot rent to hb tennants for insurance/mortgage reasons have this clause in their contracts - not seen it in standard ones you buy off the counter.

if it was a tennant who looked after the property and could still pay their rent that would be fine for us - as i think it would be for most LLs, mortgage/insurance permitting. contrary to some of the messages here - lls aren't judgemental - its just a financial risk thing. we've had a tennant who's personal circumstances changed and had part of their rent paid by council - they've been great.

i wouldn't take someone on full HS without a guarantor at the outset because if they damaged the property or didn't pay rent i would have no comeback. a know tennant is hopefully less risk

WHat about if the tenant didn't state that they would be in receipt of HB? Most HB claimants get the HB paid directly to them, and in my situation (DP working, our rent is part wages, part HB due to low wage). How would the LL know? I mean, we declare it to our LL, in fact as my HB has always been paid direct to LL, it still is, and we pay the top-up by Standing order. BUt what if someone with less scruples than us didn't declare that part of their rent would be paid by HB? Especially if NO LL's locally are willing to accept even part HB, and they have been given notice at their previous Private rental property, and would be homeless if they declared?

We will be faced with this if our current LL decide to sell and gave us notice, as NO local LL will now accept part HB, and we have NO-ONE to act as a guarantor for us. If we declare, no-one will rent to us, and we will end up in B&B accomodation 40 miles away in another town, in one room with 4 dc and no way for DP to get to work. But if we don't declare, surely it's fraud?! So glad our LL doesn't mind and (at the moment) has no plans to sell!

Loudlass, surely a new ll would ask for a referance from your old ll, and would ask the question. And if they asked you the question and you lied you would be in breach of you agreement and then they might be able to keep your deposit or something. I don't know much about how it all works but I wouldn't risk it!

Loudlass Re: Not informing landlord of HB claim.

We currently receive HB for some of our rent - DH working but on low income. We didn't tell our landlord.

When you first claim HB there is a section to sign or tick asking whether the council have permission to discuss your claim with your landlord. A friend of mine who worked for the Rent Service advised me to not give permission. Perfectly legal not to. There is no way a landlord can find out unless you tell them.

The only problem has been when we had to start claiming a couple of years into a tenancy. The council asked for an up to date letter to confirm the amount of rent. We were lucky that we weren't asked to leave but we did have a guarantor in place already and had never been late with a payment.

It was only recently that I discovered that landlords often aren't allowed to let to HB tenants. Does anyone know if I could cause my current landlord problems?

I just thank my stars that it's not an issue AT THE MOMENT.

UT, if you were going to cause problems he would probably have asked you to leave.

It might cause problems if a ll didn't know, and then defaulted on a mortgage payment because a tennant didn't pay. If the mortgage lender doesn't allow HB tennants for their buy to let mortgages, they would probably come down hard on a ll that defaulted.

I have the no HB clause in both the agreement that allows me to rent out my home and in the insurance.

My letting agent does financial checks on tenants as well so has a good feel along with previous references as to who will be a reliable tenant.

I would accept HB tenants if the landlord direct facility was brought back as I would have some guarantee that the rent would be paid. Mine is not a buy to let, but my home let out whilst abroad with HM Forces, so the rent I receive effectively pays my rent on the Married Quarter.

The first time I was on HB, I didn't tell the agents anything about it. I had a deposit & the first month's rent ready. Got good references from previous landlord (all true) and moved in. Sometimes it's pointless being too honest, and this thread proves that perfectly. I know I'm a good tenant. I redecorated at my own expense, and to an extremely good standard. My rent got paid on time. (And I denied the Local Authority permission to contact my landlord - it's none of their bloody business, frankly. I was a tenant, like any other, with the same rights and responsibilities. The deposit and rent were paid in full and on time, every time. That's all that's relevant.) Housing Benefit is rent money paid to or on behalf of the TENANT!!

I had a long chat with a couple of independent estate agents about this whole issue, who both said that you get good tenants and bad ones, and HB was no indicator of this. They'd seen appalling tenants from all kinds of backgrounds, working and not. It's simply an old prejudice. If your tenant isn't paying their rent, evict them! It's quite simple. You can get bad tenants who are working too, you know. And if they've got other debts - which so many have - then you'll have almost no chance of getting the money from them, either. Or you'll get it from them at a fiver a week for the next 20 years. It's the risk you take as a landlord.

To anyone reading this who has fears about finding another property to live in while on HB, try independent estate agents rather than the franchises - you get far better service, they know the area well and tend to care more about the rights and responsibilities of both landlord and tenant.

Incidentally, I have been a landlord too, completely shafted by a tenant who happened to be HB (it stopped being paid to him after he was imprisoned). I should have spotted the signs - his reference (1) was a bit dodgy, and he didn't have a full deposit ready. The first month was late... all the signs were there. I just should have been less naive. So, I've seen both sides. I'm just trying to say having tenants is a risk, full stop. If you're not prepared to take a risk, don't rent out property. Check the property regularly, get independent references, and don't take the tenants unless they've got all the money ready.

www.landlordinsurance.org.uk/landlord-insurance.html

Pretend to be a landlord and get an instant online quotation for insurance.

It is perfectly possible to get insurance for HB tenants. It just costs a little bit more. Landlords use the 'my insurance won't let me reason' reason when in truth they could get insurance easily if they wanted to.

My insurance policy precludes HB tenants,as does my mortgage terms. I am not willing to rearrange my mortgage, or my insurance when what I have works for me and our situation.

after reading all the horror HB tenent stories, id like to add my horror landlord story.

Separated from DH, was staying at my mums trying to find a landlord to accept HB in Surrey.
There was just one landlord i found who would accept HB, i signed the tenancy for a dilapidated house in south Croydon, the rent was about £100pcm above the going rate for that area, but we were homeless, my XDH was guarantor and agreed to top up the £100ish pcm.

I spent some 6 weeks and around £1000 to get the house comfortable (the cooker and hob were beyond cleaning, all flooring had to be ripped up and replaced, complete repainting interior and exterior.
As the renovation went on it became apparent the gas fire wasnt working properly.
I got a sweep to the property who informed me the chimney had not been swept for years, there was a pile of soot so high there was only cms gap for ventilation.
he lit some kind of smoke bomb which filled the house instead of dissapearing up the chimney.
he said it was a death trap.
fast forward, the property is habitable.
i woke up having spent the first night at the property to find i had been bitten all over my body.
i stayed another night, and woke in the night to see i was covered in bed bugs.

it took 3 years to get back a fraction of my deposit, the landlords lied in court, but luckily (?) the neighbouring houses were also infested and they gave evidence for me.
( i also began filming as evidence after the gas fire incident )

i was still liable for 6 months community charge-some £600.

we (DD and I) were not entitled to any help as we would be making ourselves intentionally homeless.

living with bedbugs was not an option, the horror of that stayed with me for about a year, it was utter hell, i thought i was losing my mind.

I ended up sleeping between my mums and an ex boyfriend while XDH saved for another deposit.

we had to throw away everything that couldnt be washed and tumble dried.

i still have scars on my feet from the bites.

Lowercase - that sounds absolutely terrifyingly awful. So sad to hear that you had to go through that. I have also had some awful experiences with LLs, not of the same kind, more the intimidating kind!

It really is awful to go through, and I truly believe that people are totally unable to empathise with how awful it can be for tenants at times. The LLs argument is always about money, whilst the tenants problems are about day-to-day life.

What happened to the LL in court?

Glad to hear you are out of that situation. I hope things are much better now

the LL had to pay all the court costs, and my legal representation to the tune of £14,000.

I had to pay some of my 'award' to the legal services commission, i was eventually about £500 down. and of course all the labour, paint, and goods that i had to burn.

my solicitor said it was the only case of property being unfit for habitation at commencement of tenancy he had ever known of (in 17 years)

my neighbours had been getting unexplained bites for 6 months before i moved in.
they had never seen a bed bug.
it obviously stemmed from 'my' house.

the house was part of a long terraced road...i like to think i had to move there to save my neighbours!

and things are lots better now, thank you. it has taken all this time to get on our feet again.