housing benefit question.....

[americantrish]

i was thinking this earlier today and thought i'd ask here as someone is probably bound to know...

if a private landlord does not directly accept DSS, am i still able to apply for it and have it paid directly to my account to use for my rent?

TIA

looks like it is up to the local authority link

ahh thanks for that...

We have done this for my brother, rented the house then once he was in it applied for housing benefit and got it paid to him instead of the landlord. Don't think many people know you can do this, means the range of rental houses is so much bigger. The only problem is that half of the reason the landlords don't accept it is that the payments are regularly cocked up so you just need to make sure you are not too reliant if you know what I mean.

nods anchovies..i know what you mean. i work part time so i would have other means of income and am looking for fulltime work...
lots to think about...

(me and dh are splitting up and i'm seeing what my options are at this point in time, as our lease ends on oct. 10.)

I am an estate agent.......on sales side, but we do however have a lettings department which i know a fair bit about.

we used to take housing benefit tenants but no longer do as landlords got fed up of them not paying......nothing personal to you americantrish as im sure you would pay.

If you are planning to do what anchovies suggested you will have to find a property to rent that isnt through an estate agent as they will do checks on you and will find out your situation so you will have then paid out money for nothing if that makes sense.

Its a shame really as we have a lot of genuine lovely people on benefits come in but cant help them as we have had so much hassle in the past. Its not the dss that dont pay, its the tenants themselves as the dss pay to the tentants bank account and then the tenant doesnt pay

Good luck americantrish

littleminx> thank you for your reply i know i wont be able to go thru an agent. i dont have a guarentor (sp). i know going privately is my only hope (or waiting for a council place)

i totally understand why landlords and agents dont take dss.

thank you so much for your good luck wishes

americantrish.....maybe try the local papers or gumtree website? or maybe even ads in local shop windows? Hope you find something soon

thanks littleminx, have been looking a lot, local papers are okay... and checking the newsgents windows too...

I thought of you today americantrish....

A lady and her little boy came in to see if we took housing benefit (which we dont)
I really felt for her as she said every agency she tried said the same and she will have nowhere to live soon My heart goes out to the genuine people out there who need rental properties and rely on council to pay it

it is sad
the council will have to step in and help her though..it isnt ideal, but its the route i have to go down now.... (the being made homeless route..)

If you are planning to do what anchovies suggested you will have to find a property to rent that isnt through an estate agent as they will do checks on you and will find out your situation so you will have then paid out money for nothing if that makes sense.

My sister has gone through an estate agent no problem. She works part time but is still entitled to housing benefit. It goes directly to herand has nothing to do with the landlord or estate agent. They are a huge estate agents but were happy to rent to her