Can I really house the Ukrainian People? I want to, however…..

Can I really house the Ukrainian People? I want to, however…..

9:19 AM, 14th March 2022, About 3 years ago 60

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Can we trust the Govt & Councils to then not penalise us in 2 3 4 5 years? This needs to be discussed, as I seriously would love to house some of these people.

I’ve even been thinking at night, if I only help one family, I could pay for a driver to drive them round as we have a Ukrainian centre here in Nottingham, to get them into the right people for help. This £300pw or so for a driver wouldn’t hurt me, but would really help them.

I could pay for driving lessons for them to get them on their feet. I could buy their food & clothes to start with till their income starts coming in-Gees they gonna’ need some help with Universal Credit. I could advertise on Social Media for jobs for them in their skillset, so some qualified accountant don’t have to take some job picking strawberries etc.

Here are my notes on it:

I’m the biggest Benefit Landlord in Nottingham & have taken hundreds of homeless off the Council over the years. However, the SAME Council (not the same department) has now shafted us with Selective Licensing.

I promise u now if u can get insider information (which I have), the Council homeless section when ringing Landlords begging for houses, will tell u for 99 calls out of 100, all Landlords reply is No I’m not taking your tenants or helping u cause of Selective Licensing.

So the Council are stuffed & I feel for the tenants, as there are some very good tenants out there that are now homeless cause of Govt & Council interference & Retrospective Regs.

It’s the same Council that rings us up to house the Ukrainian families. It’s the same Govt that brings another change in after we’ve housed the Ukrainian families.

We just don’t know what retrospective change the Govt will do on us next, which is why the Govt ain’t shouting & disgustingly got the low numbers of Ukrainian families coming in we know about. They know the Councils have nowhere to put them.

We are the bottom end people that actually do the housing, not the Govt, not the Councils-Cause they han’t got ote.

This sounds strong, but it needs to be put out in the open.

Can the Council & Govt guarantee us that for the next 20 years (I’ve had many same tenants 25 years) that they won’t bring another change in that will hurt that tenant even more? They can’t. They can’t leave things alone that work. They’re constantly thinking of another Anti Landlord measure, cause this Landlord 10 miles away didn’t fix his tenant’s door so we all suffer.

We all know what happened when the Govt really tightened up Right to Rent (cause immigration too high-Ooh that will be the Landlords fault then) that put all the onus & blame on the Landlord (was it £2000 fine) if he made a mistake when accepting a non-UK person. Consequently, lots of Landlords stopped taking non-UK people as we ain’t qualified ID checking people. The authorities noticed that legal immigrants were not being able to get houses, so did they relax the rules later?

Another retrospective change was the Benefit Cap. No matter what u think of it, I took many families with 7 8 10 kids that were safe in their homes, already lived there 5 years & then the Govt said We’re not paying your rent any more, the public voters don’t like u getting all these Benefits for 10 kids. Too late now, Cameron, they’ve already moved in. Shocking the evictions that caused throughout the UK. In 2017 the Benefits now say If u have more than 2 kids, we ain’t paying, so be forewarned. However, the Benefit cap was AFTER the horse had bolted.

My colleagues and I are the people that could house them, but @LindaWoodings Selective Licensing has scuppered that plan. We have no houses for them. Benefit tenants can’t move anymore, therefore not freeing any houses up.

I’d love to take these people.

However, I’ve taken many homeless from the Council (mainly Nottingham Council). They’ve said this person not great with money, Mick. This person doesn’t maintain the garden, Mick. But don’t worry, we will make sure we support them & make sure everything goes ok.

Then a few years later, the Council withdraw the support, treat us like crap & then impose conditions that we’d struggle to comply with because it’s a condition against the certain type of tenant that the Council gave u in the first place.

I’ve spent money on the house for the actual tenant who is wrecking the house cause the Council Support worker is there & saying I am here now Mick, I am not leaving your two’s side. 2 months later, no more Council Support worker. House gets wrecked again. Council introduces Licensing, say I’m now responsible cause that tenant hasn’t cut the grass. The same tenant they gave us 3 years ago WHO THEY KNEW wun’t cut the grass.

It’s a shame we can’t help any more cause the Council have no joined-up thinking & too many turnovers of staff to another dept. New staff has no passion or morals or understanding of how renting houses works.

This text is what I’m sending my tenants ready for Selective Licensing renewal:

Most of u r very good. But are u perfect? Read Licensing conditions and tell yourself first could u comply with all them, second, would u take any tenant on that wasn’t the most prim proper person ever?
Third, if u was a landlord getting older, would u want to be dealing with that for EVERY house EVERY tenant? And giving out 200 pages to each tenant each house.
4th, would u take a Benefit tenant on after being told u had to comply with them conditions?
Selective Licensing conditions Feb 2022
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sD_HRl57ANNw4PBAb-FGRU7h-0Qby9Vm5xLioH_nA7c/edit?usp=sharing

Thank u Mr Govt & Nottingham Council & Shelter & Universal Credit & Nottingham Council Selective Licensing, u may make our life awful for a short period, but the person u really hurt is the tenant, & then the Landlord ends up being much better off financially which is an unintended part of your consequences.

U hurt the Landlord, u end up hurting the Ukrainian people. U hurt the Landlords, u end up hurting the tenant.


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Chris Bradley

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7:21 AM, 20th March 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Mick Roberts at 20/03/2022 - 05:45
The sponsorship conditions are that you do not charge rent while the person lives with you. You can accept the £350 as a thankyou or opt not to take it, but you cannot charge any rent. It does look like it's much cheaper asking for sponsors than giving them the full refugees payments. They won't get any housing element while living with a sponsor, and as there won't be houses built within the next 6 mths they could we with the hosts for the full three years of the visa, unless they are made homeless by the host

Jessie Jones

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7:49 AM, 20th March 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 19/03/2022 - 17:04
Just as one example, it will be interesting what standards are applied to Gas Safe inspections.
We (all) have annual inspections in our rented properties, but how many owner / occupiers have an annual Gas Safe inspection in their own home? I certainly don't.
So would I be able to lawfully house a Ukranian family in my own home? Same goes for Smoke detectors on every floor, EICR certificates, EPC rating. Too many unanswered questions for my liking.
Another question is whether I will be leaving myself open to a law suit for discrimination if I let Ukranians take an empty property of mine for £350 per month? If a Syrian, for example, was to offer £351 per month for my empty property, but I let the Ukranian take it for £350, notwithstanding that I am 'allowed' to take the Ukranian, surely I am not 'allowed' to discriminate against other ethnic groups, including homeless British people.

Seething Landlord

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8:10 AM, 20th March 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Chris Bradley at 20/03/2022 - 07:18
Chris, the government website and in particular the FAQs specify that the local authority will have to inspect the property and carry out all the CRB checks on each member of the household before the offer of sponsorship is accepted.

Chris Bradley

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8:26 AM, 20th March 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 20/03/2022 - 08:10
That is correct, but the government has since announced that physical checks on host properties are unlikely to be able to be done in time and that many won't be done ever

Seething Landlord

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8:37 AM, 20th March 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Jessie Jones at 20/03/2022 - 07:49
You forgot to mention fire doors!

These are all genuine concerns for landlords who have some understanding of the issues but will not occur to members of the public who have no experience of letting. I have not seen any specific guidance about the standards that will be applied so it's a question of wait and see.

Seething Landlord

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8:44 AM, 20th March 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Chris Bradley at 20/03/2022 - 08:26
What a surprise to learn that government are not following their own rules!

Luke P

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8:55 AM, 20th March 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Chris Bradley at 20/03/2022 - 07:21But it’s not impossible, just completely unexpected. They cannot be immune from legal proceedings, which would include the signing of a tenancy, I’d expect? And once they have a tenancy, could likely claim UC. I’m just highlighting the Govt’s (probable) failure to ensure all avenues are covered.

Mick Roberts

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18:42 PM, 20th March 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Chris Bradley at 20/03/2022 - 07:21
We gonna' be reading about this in 1 2 3 years, many people falling out. Which brings me back to my points, Govt & Councils, stop retrospectively punishing the people that could solve your housing problem & we can quickly buy some houses for the Ukrainian people to live in. Much faster than u can build the Social houses yourself, which u not doing anyway.

Mick Roberts

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18:44 PM, 20th March 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Jessie Jones at 20/03/2022 - 07:49
Ooh yeah Jessie, another great point which Govt & Councils overlooked, they paying this £350 a month to someone who hasn't maintained their boiler like a Private Landlord would. Many cans or worms opening here.

Mick Roberts

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18:45 PM, 20th March 2022, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 20/03/2022 - 08:37
Ha Ha yes, & fire doors Seething.

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