Helping my sister-in-law (LHA claimant) obtain tenancy

[steve01]

Now I know a lot of landlords won’t accept dss/hb tenants, and in most cases for good reason,
But I’m trying to help my sister-in-law and her 12 yr old daughter who is on the above, to find a 2 bed min private house to rent in a decent part of Kent,
(At the moment she’s in a two bed flat in Catford, in a gang/chav & mugger infested area and needs to move for the sake of hers and her daughter’s safety and peace of mind)

She’s an ideal tenant who keeps herself to herself, and although I would say that anyway it’s genuinely true,

The tenancy period is not an issue, because being in a better and different area would qualify her to be accepted by the local authority and be re-housed in that area,

Therefore I need some advice on a letter I’ve compiled to send to letting agencies et-al, and would be grateful for all points of view positive or negative regarding this,


This is what I plan to email to letting agencies et-al…………………

Dear sir or madam

Re; property renting

I am helping/corresponding on behalf of my sister in-law ****** who is looking to privately rent a two bed house with garden (Swanley/Dartford/Sevenoaks area) of who I have to add is in receipt of housing benefit /dss.

I am fully aware that many landlords are reluctant to let to hb/dss tenants for various and valid reasons, hence the offer of higher deposits/bonds etc of between £3000-£5000, also a direct debit account can be set up for the rental repayments
A home owner surety is available, as is a reference from a business/company owner.

I/we can assure that no landlord will incur any financial loss due to either under or over payment via hb payments or through damages et-al.


I would appreciate if you could take this into account and forward this info to any of your clients if you decide this is could be an exception to the rule while meeting the criteria based on working tenants

I look forward to your help and response on this matter

Thank you
Yours
Steven *********

Contact info personal email-********* work email**********
Mobile (**************

Thanks in advance for reading and any advice given

ATB
Steve

[Kaya]

Hi Steve

I am a landlord and I have a housing benefit tenant in my house. In a lot of cases it can be better for the LL to have a HB tenant, as the council pay the rent direct to the LL, and therefore the cashflow is more secure. - There is no fear that the tenant will be made redundant (more important in this economic climate) and be unable to pay the rent.

I would advise your family member to have their own deposit in place (this is important as the council won't provide this) and also a written reference from their previous LL (and a number to call them on) saying that they have been a good tenent etc!

Also I would advise your family member to check through private ads in the loot or similar papers in your area, as dealing privately with the LL and negotiating directly with them will yield better results than dealing with a letting agent who at the first mention of DSS will have them hanging up the phone.

There are many positives and negatives for LL in accepting DSS tenants. One of the main negatives for LL (as in my case) is if you want them to leave (in order to sell the property etc. ) is that you are left at the mercy of the courts when trying to get them out. The LHA and the courts are often in 'Contact' with each other - to "delay and prevent" homelessness, so as a LL it is more difficult to evict such tenants! But saying that, I have a HB tenant who has kept the property well - and the council pay the rent so no problems there, just if you want to sell it is's a problem!

Kaya

[Emma1973]

In a lot of cases it can be better for the LL to have a HB tenant, as the council pay the rent direct to the LL,


Not any more, and have not done so for new claims for quite a while! I suggest you take a look at the Housing Benefit/LHA section to see the new rules.

BTW
I'd be quite happy to have your S-I-L as a tenant, but wrong end of the country!

[Kaya]

Not any more, and have not done so for new claims for quite a while! I suggest you take a look at the Housing Benefit/LHA section to see the new rules.
!

Thanks for that Emma! Was not aware this was the case for new HB tenants! If this is the case, then I would certainly not take on another HB tenant. Wouldn't anyway for other reasons now knowing what I know, like the fact that it's difficult to exercise the 'Shorthold' part of the AST and get back posession of your property! Enough said.

To the OP, I do sympathise with your family member's difficulty in obtaining a privately rented property, but the LHA now impose so many rules on private LL that it makes it an invaible proposition. Still the best bet is to deal directly with a LL and not through a letting agent as it will be thumbs down and no-no all the time.

Kaya

[steve01]

Thanks for the replies,

We’ve been through all the classifieds but can’t seem to find any DSS accepted in a suitable area, and trying to find a landlord to deal with directly is a task in itself,

The deposits won’t be a problem, nor will paying the rent, as that can be paid well up in advance to cover the waiting time with H-B, short of buying her a house we can help her out no end regarding good deposits, references and sureties,

The poor girls been in council property most of her life with her 3 kids (two have now moved on) and always been in high rise or 2nd/3rd floor blocks, and of course never had a garden,

We went to visit her the other day and we had to squeeze past some arrogant hoodies smoking drugs on the entrance to her block, it was gutting to see and we’ve decided it’s not a nice or safe area to be in, her daughter (my niece) is 12 and has never been out on her own, it’s that bad, and she’s a good kid who wouldn’t survive around the filth that inhabit the area,

To be honest I don’t blame landlords for not wanting council tenants, especially how society behaves nowadays, I just feel sad for the good ones that want to make a decent life for themselves but are penalised by other peoples actions

Cheers

Steve
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[Kaya]

Thanks for the replies,


We went to visit her the other day and we had to squeeze past some arrogant hoodies smoking drugs on the entrance to her block, it was gutting to see and we’ve decided it’s not a nice or safe area to be in, her daughter (my niece) is 12 and has never been out on her own, it’s that bad, and she’s a good kid who wouldn’t survive around the filth that inhabit the area,.

It's truly sickening what this country has come to. But in many ways I believe the HB culture has made all this possible. The idea that you can get something for nothing, that the council and the government will provide free housing, free healthcare, free schooling, even free money to people who do not work. (note I'm not lumping your family member in this category, but just the general point the something-for-nothing culture has been allowed to develop too far in this country). If you are a begger (by begger I mean someone who is dependent on the state for free housing and free money) then sadly you cannot be a chooser You have to accept what is given to you. If that falls way below the quality of life the claimant wants, then it is upto the individual to do something about their situation. If that means the individual getting a job, retraining, starting their own business, then this can only be good. Benefits will only take you so far (and so they should). Benefits will only cover the bare necessities of life (food, clothing, shelter). If someone wants to be able to choose where they live and choose not to live in a rat-infested, drug addict haven, then they really do need to work for themselves and find the energy and willpower to improve their own situation. The taxpayer should not be expected to provide it.




To be honest I don’t blame landlords for not wanting council tenants, especially how society behaves nowadays, I just feel sad for the good ones that want to make a decent life for themselves but are penalised by other peoples actions

Not all council tenants are bad tenants as I said there are many great council tenants out there - I'm sure your family member is amongst them. I have an amazing council tenant (single mother), she is studying for a degree and making an effort to improve her circumstances and her finances off her own back. I hopefully eventually want to sell the property to her (If she does want to buy I will give her a discount equivalent to the amount of rent she (the council) has paid me in the duration of the tenancy. She is currently working towards that and saving for a mortgage deposit as well as attending uni.

Talking to my tenant (she is only 3 years younger than me) she has been inspired about how I became a LL (I was first renting the property she is in, bought it from MY LL, lived in it, and then didn't sell when I moved, but rented it out) and has been encouraged, and wants to to the same. I will do everything I can to give her a hand up (note: not hand out). It's just hand-outs with no strings attached which are the problem with this society. I totally object to the something-for-nothing culture of expectation (It's my Right!) when all this is being financed by taxpayers who get off their backsides and work.

Rant over!

Kaya

[tom999]

Change: "A home owner surety is available, " to
"A guarantor who is a working, home owner is available, " if this is what you mean.

Also, it may be useful to provide more than one reference for both tenant and guarantor.

[Moderator1]

steve01: you wrongly created two identical threads. They have been merged here.

[steve01]

Hi Kaya

Your right , and I’ve seen it first hand when I lived on a council estate as a teenager, but it was so easy to get caught in the trap of despair, and I saw many of my friends going to hell in a hand cart in many ways,

(I was lucky because I had a good job waiting for me when I left school, which I’m still in now)

I also believe it’s an inbred state of mind where you either believe in yourself or you don’t, and I believe everyone strives for a better life, but when they can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel they automatically give up whether they mean to or not, if your of the low esteem disposition or not naturally intelligent then it’s easy to succumb or drop down (as some perceive) to the lower end of society and all its ills, everyone’s different and we all have a different mindset or outlook on life,

But saying that, if that’s their destiny or they’re happy in that position then it’s down to them how they live there life and should make the best of the situation, but it’s the ones that feel they are owed something by society or jealous of those in a better position and then become angry and bitter with everyone around them leading to an anti-social attitude where they don’t have any respect for anyone, let alone themselves, and I believe these are the ones that can bring a less fortunate (albeit content) neighbourhood into disrepute by their careless attitudes and actions,

My SIL was mildly happy where she was, and now her youngest is at secondary school she’s been able to take a teaching assistants course (which she passed) and take driving lessons (which has had a heavy financial burden on her) but it’s the people that have been thrown into a once half decent area that have brought the small estate down to gutter level, you would have thought the council would realise this and keep them out, but it’s probably a case of not wanting a whole area elsewhere filled with anti-social misfits and chav’s, so spread them out evenly to address the imbalance, not realising or caring that that it’s the misfits that bring good people down as opposed to the other way around!

Steve
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[steve01]

steve01: you wrongly created two identical threads. They have been merged here.

Sorry about that, I put the first post in a thread, but I didn’t think it was the right place so I moved it, and forgot to remove the original

Steve

[steve01]

Change: "A home owner surety is available, " to
"A guarantor who is a working, home owner is available, " if this is what you mean.

Also, it may be useful to provide more than one reference for both tenant and guarantor.

Cheers Tom999

I’ll do that if that’s if that’s the correct or a better term, basically I’m trying to stress to any landlord that we will do everything necessary to ensure they don’t lose out, as I’ve read about the problems they can face if and when dealing with DSS/HB tenants.

Steve

[claireannejames]

Hi Steve, we are partial HB tenants, my husband works but we claim housing benefit to top us up. We moved into our current rented property in July 2007 and I went to the council for help to find it and they were able to provide us with a list of agents who were prepared to let to HB tenants. Try the housing department in the area your sister is moving to and see if they can provide such a list.
However the rules on Local Housing Allowance which replaced Housing Benefit seem to be even more unfair on Landlords than the old HB rules so I don't know if councils are finding they are no longer able to provide such lists due to the lack of agents/landlords prepared to consider HB!!!! But you could try.
Also, I wanted to add that we did eventually find this place through a High Street Letting Agency (Haart) but again, things may well have changed in the intervening 2 years, also, they may have been prepared to consider us because we only need partial HB and not total. Plus, we did have to provide an additional Guarantor, but then you are doing that for her as well, which has got to help.
Good luck, I'd love to know how she gets on.

[steve01]

Hi Steve, we are partial HB tenants, my husband works but we claim housing benefit to top us up. We moved into our current rented property in July 2007 and I went to the council for help to find it and they were able to provide us with a list of agents who were prepared to let to HB tenants. Try the housing department in the area your sister is moving to and see if they can provide such a list.
However the rules on Local Housing Allowance which replaced Housing Benefit seem to be even more unfair on Landlords than the old HB rules so I don't know if councils are finding they are no longer able to provide such lists due to the lack of agents/landlords prepared to consider HB!!!! But you could try.
Also, I wanted to add that we did eventually find this place through a High Street Letting Agency (Haart) but again, things may well have changed in the intervening 2 years, also, they may have been prepared to consider us because we only need partial HB and not total. Plus, we did have to provide an additional Guarantor, but then you are doing that for her as well, which has got to help.
Good luck, I'd love to know how she gets on.

This sounds a bit more promising, as it’s something I never knew about, but I’ll definitely be going down that route,

I can’t understand why the councils have made it so hard to rent via H/B, after all it’s not like that have that many available properties themselves, and to alienate landlords seems a very stupid thing to do, although there’s probably some ulterior motive behind it, who knows?

I did get a reply from one agent with a property that he thought the landlord might let to her, but it wasn’t too clever, it would have been out of the frying pan and into the fire,
But I will be checking out the councils lists and I’ll have a look on the Haart site,

And I’ll let you know if she has any luck,

Thanks for that

Steve

[LouiseErdrich]

Just like to add that as a working tenant claiming HB, and also previously when not working, I had good luck in going via reputable letting agents.

I found individual landlords, & smaller scale letting agents to be the least likely to let to a DSS / partial DSS tenant (whether through nervousness, prejudice or unfamilarity with what it would entail, or sheer ignorance). Have even had a letting agent say - "we never accept guarantors - its far too much trouble".

I was quite surprised to find that the bigger & more reputable the letting agents, the more likely they were to take me on (or persuade / reassure a landlord) - not sure if its because the way they are set up means they have less to lose, if they are more confident about their background checks, or just more likely to have dealt with it before.

They have always required a guarantor though, that doesn't sound like a problem in your case.