Renting and housing benefit

[napkin]

I am new to renting privately. I have been told I am entitled to housing benefit.
I have no idea where I start with finding a property and claiming housing benefit for part of my rent. Once I have found a place I'm interested in do I need to ask if the landlord accepts housing benefit first? How do I make a claim before moving in?

I'd start with speaking to your local benefits office and finding out how much you are entitled to and any conditions eg you have to pay any finders fee, provide deposit etc

Then that should give you an idea of how much Rent you can afford.

At the same time call up some letting agents and ask them what their process is as some charge finders fee (scandalous ) you can also look on gumtree, rightmove, local ads in paper etc for places to rent.

Be clear if you're looking f

Be warned many private landlords are deceptively of HB so you may find decent places are hard to come by.

Try and Be clear if you need furnished/partfurnished/unfurnished,bills imcluded, pets allowed kids allowed etc. Good luck it's not an easy process

I thought Landlords would be ok with housing benefit if you are also working, that makes things harder then! What is a finders fee?

I thought finders fees were illegal?

many ads will say 'no benefits' as standard. BUT if the landlord's insurers can allow it, then the landlord will be able to take you. Sell yourself as a good tenant: have run a home before, don't smoke, stable income etc. A guarantor may be needed, find out.

bills included is a bad idea, the rent would have to be huge as the landlord would assume that the tenant will waste loads of fuel and water. The only fixed bill that can be included is council tax.

oh, and despite the bile on here, do protect yourself by being an informed tenant. If the property has gas you need to see the gas safe certificate before signing up, you need to know the deposit protection arrangements and you need to check the state of repair of the place. If the landlord isn't fixing things before you sign up, it won't change once you do.

a filthy dump in a bad area isn't going to improve.

Speak to yor council and find out the LHA rate for your area and circumstances, then try to stick to a rent price close to this figure. You can then do an online calc/ speak to council to find out how much your entitled to. Id make the agents aware you are on benefits as some landlords will have a problem with this.
Once you have got a tenancy agreement you can then fill in a claim form and provide supporting documents and if you are entitled as you are renting privately they are likely to pay you directly fortnightly.

I was told by my local citizens advice that housing benefit is not treated the same as other benefits, I don't claim anything else, is this not the case?
I thought I would have to find a property that accepts dss but he said it shouldn't be a problem, has he got it wrong then?

I think I will speak to housing benefit to see what they say first and then should I go to different estate agents to see what they have to offer?

yes. You need to know how much income you will have, then you know what property you can afford.

There are many decent and honest would-be tenants out there... The problem is the housing benefit "process"...,for example if the tenant had been been given notice to leave by the landlord (eg If a tenant defaults on the rent or if the landlord wants to sell up) it can be very difficult to get the tenant to leave as they have no where to go. The council advise tenants to stay where they are - due to lack of council housing stock there isn't anywhere to house anyone. So of course landlords are reluctant to rent to decent normal tenants. This is a real problem in London where there is a shortage of good housing stock - private or council. It maybe to is less so in other parts of the country. Personally I wouldn't pay a finders fee, trust your instincts and don't move in anywhere sub standard. Any decent landlord wants to keep their properties in good repair.

and so say all of us!