Rant about being dss!

[Meganc559]

So yes I am a dss, the reason I am is because I was a student when I became pregnant with my son (now 5 months old) by the time I finished my course I was too far gone and no one would hire me. So there’s no way I could afford a suitable house for my son and keep him clothed and fed.

I have been trying to find a house/flat for 3 months, I must have emailed about 100 and no one will take dss and all I ask is why?!

Just because I claim this money does not make me a bad person or someone of lower stature.
I think it should be illegal for landlords to say no just because of this! It’s set up as a direct debit you still get your money!!
I don’t think people know how heart breaking it is trying to be shot down this many times just because I m poorer than other people!
It’s discrimination at the end of the day!
My partner also works full time so a lot of the rent would be paid by us anyway!

I am beyond pissed off, it’s hard enough raising a baby I don’t need this extra shit!

Sorry rant over 😂

I think it's because the Landlord's mortgage company don't allow them to let to people on benefits. Also it's my understanding that insurance providers will not offer 'rent guarantee insurance' to Landlord's who let to tenants on benefits. Possibly that Universal Credit is now paid to the tenants and no longer directly to the Landlords.

We accept tenants who receive benefits.

Currently have a 2 bed cottage available.

West Yorkshire

You get an options to send it to a direct debit,

Sorry I m in Perth Scotland

I always accept tenants on housing benefit.

In 16 years of being a landlord, it's the ones not on benefits who have caused me the most issues!!!

It’s honestly like we come with a warning sign!

It's a statistics and experience game sadly.

Mortgage lenders go with statistics on how many landlords struggle to make payments when their clients have DSS tenants.

Landlords only need to have one bad experience with any noticeable demographic to decide they won't consider having that demographic as a tenant.

The result is discriminatory profiling however you cut it. But no different to how all financial institutions operate, everyone assess the risk according to their limits and rarely exceeds them without notable exception.

I personally think private lets should be overhauled entirely. Allow landlords to have one profit making property as a long term investment but mandate that all multiple properties owners are required to run them to a social housing type standard not exactly the same but similar with caps on how much rent/fees can be charged as set by local authority with more emphasis on the right of the tenant with long term secure tenancies.

That would make secure housing far less of an issue in the country but still allow those who wish to have a property to let out as an investment generate some profit. It would certainly stop the stranglehold that some private companies/individuals have over areas.

Best of luck with the home hunting, hope you find something suitable.

I work for a mortgage company and we allow DSS on buy to let properties but not residential mortgages where consent to let has been granted (so you bought the house to live in but due to circumstances are currently renting it out).

The theory is that consent to let a residential property is supposed to be temporary- a secondment to a new area, temporarily caring for someone in their own home or to allow the owner to remortgage as a BTL or sell the property. DSS statistically means a long term let so they aren’t allowed (nor are adding locks to inside doors, students, HMOs, family members or religious groups).

We need a copy of a tenancy agreement so breaking these means you’ve breached the terms of your mortgage agreement and technically we can repossess the property so I imagine thats per of the reason a lot of LLs don’t accept DSS.

As someone who was on looking for somewhere to live though it’s really frustrating.

Itsallgone has hit the nail on the head

You might find applying in just your partners name more effective if you can exist not on the tenancy, alternatively you could offer to pay a larger deposit, or a longer period of rent upfront.

We particularly wanted the place we rent now as there was very little available so we offered double deposit and twelve months rent up front (not dss but refuse to play the whole guarantor con). The landlord took the place off the market and accepted the double deposit but was happy to have the rent monthly, the offer however plus our earnings vs the rent seemed to sway him.

I don’t have that kind of money, places are really expensive here!

Have you put yourself on the waiting list for council/social housing?? I'm in Fife and it took about 6m for us to get a house, we were living with my mum in 1 bedroom (2adults 1child) so got points for over crowding! Obviously I don't know your situation though!

I'm in the South East OP, and I'm afraid to say it took 18 months of pretty much constant phone calls and emails to agencies till I found a lovely landlord who'd rent to me. Thanks christ my parents were supportive, although it meant sharing a boxroom with my son till he was 18 months old!!
I wish you all the luck in the world, its so bloody stressful to be in that situation.

Can you try openrent? It's private landlords who might be more open to making a decision when they meet you?

I think in England it’s soon going to be mandatory for all LLs to accept DSS tenants and rent will be paid directly to the LL. Not sure about Scotland but it is an awful situation for you and others I’ve always seen lone parents with a baby more secure as benefits will not be stopped unless the parent starts work or gains extra income. If it was a single male on JSA fair enough saying no but it’s unfair when there’s children involved

Well we currently live in a one bedroom flat owned by my parents but it’s tiny and has mould, the cot can’t fit in the bedroom so we have to sleep on a materess on the floor in the living room

I went to the council but the houses here aren’t in great areas so she said it might be better to try and find a private let, only one place got back to me and said that we could view it but they didn’t take us,,
I understand there are some people on benefits that will take the piss and maybe more likely to damage things but I think it’s cruel to assume everyone’s like that especially a young family.

We re gunna keep trying and if not then we ll go to the council xx

@MaroonFlame that's incorrect. A lot of homes are leaseholds and most freeholders and / or mortgage providers specifically do not allow DSS tenants. That's been the case for me anyways. Some DSS tenants would make great tenants but I'm not going to beach lease and mortgage to house them.

OP it's not always the landlord! I would love to be able to take DSS but unfortunately neither mortgage provider nor freeholder allow it.

Is there any chance of your parents selling the flat and buying a bigger one jointly eg you and your partner getting a mortgage for the difference? Then you could pay them rent on the percentage they own?

because you have a roof over your head (albeit unsatisfactory obviously) you will not be a priority for your local authority. A nuclear option would be for your parents to evict you (properly, in writing etc) so that you can present yourselves as homeless to your local council. The desirability of this will depend on what is offered to homeless families locally to you (near me in the SE it is appalling and usually far away so not an attractive option) - it may be that you have a better option in social housing near you. But you will not qualify if you make yourselves intentionally homeless - you do need to be evicted.

My partner also works full time so a lot of the rent would be paid by us anyway!

This pisses me right off! Why shouldn't 1 person working full time not earn enough to pay rent? Why do we allow places to pay so poorly (not a dig at the OP on DSS, its a dig at needing it when someone works the hours but isn't paid enough!)

My mil rented a property to tenants on HB, they weren’t when they moved in ( well they probably were but lied). After lots of not paying their rent it was arranged that the Housing benefit people would pay it Direct to mil and they would top it up themselves. Not only did they never pay the top up but after mil finally got them out and had to spend a load of money to rectify the damage they did and ended up seriously out of pocket BUT it turned out they were claiming HB fraudulently and the HB people came after Mil to pay it back! She got her MP involved and she didn’t have to pay it luckily
I’m not saying people on HB are any more likely to not pay their rent or cause damage, no idea if that’s the case or not BUT having someone trying to claw back the rent actually paid is not going to happen in the case of rentals paid solely by the Tenant