Eviction is not the only option for landlords facing rising financial pressures

Landlords are increasingly worried about rising financial pressures as mortgage costs continue to skyrocket.

Many face the dilemma of long-term tenants who have occupied their properties for years who cannot afford to pay higher rents, leaving landlords uncertain about how to proceed.

However, eviction is not the only option. In an exclusive video interview with Property118, the chief executive of Social Housing Options, Denzel Matsaudza tells how his team can help landlords work collaboratively with councils and keep good tenants in their homes.

Watch the video below

How Social Housing Options first started

Denzel first set up Social Housing Options back in 2022 after Liz Truss’s mini-Budget.

He tells Property118: “In the space of a few weeks in 2022, mortgage rates skyrocketed from 0.5% to 5% and landlords were telling me there’s no way I can take on all these costs on myself without passing them onto the tenant.

“At that time, I already had a portfolio myself, and it was made up of previously homeless families. When the tenancies were coming up for renewal for my own tenants, landlords rang me up, saying, “I’m under so much financial pressure, there’s no way I cannot increase the rent.”

He adds: “For a tenant on Universal Credit, a rent increase could be a really hard situation. I was thinking to myself that unless I do something then these families are going to end up on the street.”

Denzel started to work with the local council to help provide a solution to families.

He explains: “I went to the council saying we need to do something otherwise all the good work will be reversed. I started to work with the council and make these one-time shortfall payments to cover the top-up the tenants couldn’t afford. I was then able to renew all my tenancies and prevent homelessness.

“I thought to myself, if I needed this help then there must be a lot of landlords who also need a similar type of help. That’s where Social Housing Options was born and that’s when we started saying eviction is not the only option!”

How Social Housing Options can help landlords?

Denzel tells Property118 that his team get cases every day of landlords contacting Social Housing Options because a tenant has faced a rent increase.

Denzel explains: “One example is we had a family whose landlord put the rent up by £700 per month and the family could not afford it.

“What we did is we spoke to that local council and got a one-time shortfall payment of £7,000 that was paid directly to the landlord’s bank account, and this then enabled us to sustain that tenancy and prevent eviction and avoid homelessness.

“What we can do for other landlords and letting agents is they can tell us what the shortfall is we will then work with that family to make sure we can get that shortfall payment by the council to sustain the tenancy. “

He added: “It goes beyond shortfall payments as well. We can also assist families struggling with rental arrears. Recently, we supported a family that owed over £3,000 in back rent.”

Denzel says it’s important to remember that no council wants to see a family evicted because of the temporary accommodation crisis.

He said: “The aim of the game is this there is no council that wants to see a family evicted because once a family is evicted, they end up in temporary accommodation which can cost the council thousands of pounds.

“Some families also end up living in temporary accommodation for years and we are seeing the temporary accommodation bill rising.

“Our goal is to bring stakeholders and councils together – those who can take action on the challenges families are facing. By working collaboratively, we aim to keep families in their homes, prevent homelessness, and help sustain tenancies.”

Helping tenants claim benefits

According to a study by Policy in Practice, £23 billion of support including benefits such as Universal Credit and council tax support goes unclaimed every year.

Denzel says many families don’t realise they are entitled to benefit support.

He said: “The first thing we do is a benefit assessment, and we see what the tenant is claiming now and what could the tenant be claiming in extra support.

“It’s very interesting to see because a lot of the time when families move into a property their lifestyle changes so much. For example, a family may have been unemployed initially but now they’ve picked up a job and are working part-time.

“That family will now be entitled to more benefits because there is no longer a benefit cap. It’s just about connecting these dots so families can see what they are entitled to.”

Denzel explains how his team was able to help one family avoid eviction and stay in the property.

He told us: “My team recently sat down with one family, a mother of two in Hackney and she was on housing benefits and getting £100 a month and her rent was £1,700.

“She was also working locally as well but there wasn’t much money at the end of the month, but we realised just simply switching her from housing benefit to Universal Credit and keeping everything the same we could unlock an extra £1,000 in income.

“For families like this, it’s massive as we can then go back to the landlord and say your rent increase was by x amount, well now we’ve put this amount in the tenant’s pocket she can afford the vast majority of the rent increase by herself.

“We’ve been able to put that tenancy on track without having to do that much.”

No landlord wants to evict a good tenant

Some tenants may believe that landlords want to evict tenants, but Denzel says no landlord wants to evict a good tenant.

He said: “No landlord I have ever met wants to evict a good tenant. I’ve seen landlords lose sleep in trying to find alternative ways to keep their good tenants in the property.

“I’ve never seen a landlord in my entire career say to me I’ve loved that tenant; they’ve paid their rent on time, but I just want them to go.

“I’ve seen the opposite with people saying thank you for helping me keep my tenant as I want them to continue living at the property.

“Even with the Renters’ Rights Bill and the concerns surrounding it, I still see landlords remaining committed to keeping their tenants. There’s a strong sense of loyalty between many landlords and tenants.

“What we need to do is guide them toward the right options available to ensure everything continues to run smoothly.”

Success stories with Property118 clients

Denzel says he’s been contacted by hundreds of landlords from Property118 who want to avoid eviction and help keep tenants in the property.

He said: “We worked with one Property118 landlord whose tenant was a mother with two children.

“She was facing a rent increase of £300 per month and what we did was meet up with the family and we did an at risk of homelessness application.

“The application highlights that this family is at risk of becoming homeless due to rent increases or rental arrears. It is submitted directly to the council, and we are now in the negotiation phase to ensure a one-time cash payment is made directly to the landlord. We expect this process to be completed in the next few weeks.”

Without the council this won’t work

Denzel says there’s no such thing as a bad council or a good council.

He explains: “It’s more about whether there’s a good or bad person working at the council. While some may seem uninspired, you also meet others who are incredibly passionate and driven in their roles.

“The key to overcoming these challenges is knowing who you’re dealing with. You might encounter someone who is cooperative and progressive, but you could also face someone who creates friction and poses challenges.”

Denzel adds it’s important to work with councils to avoid homelessness and not have another family go into temporary accommodation.

He said: “Every council is accountable to the Local Government Ombudsman. For instance, under the Homelessness Reduction Act, individuals should receive a personalised housing plan within a specific time frame when they submit a homelessness risk application.

“However, we aren’t always getting that, and we have the right to file a stage one complaint. If we’re not satisfied, we can escalate it to stage two, and if it remains unresolved, we can take it to the Ombudsman.”

Denzel explains: “There are numerous case laws where charities and individuals have successfully challenged councils and won. It’s essential to know your rights and when to challenge councils if they aren’t fulfilling their obligations.

“At the same time, it’s equally important to work with those who are knowledgeable, cooperative, and genuinely committed to having a positive impact on the community.

“It’s important to remember that without the council then this doesn’t work so we all need to work together collaboratively.”

More options than landlords realise

Denzel says he has seen a spike in landlords contacting him since the Renters’ Rights Bill was published by Labour.

He said: “Landlords are frustrated and rightly so as some parts of the Bill are very scary. It’s true we are seeing the biggest piece of legislation in the private rented sector in the last 20 years.

“We need to get ahead of the game and start making preparations now. What I say to landlords is you need to look if your tenant is entitled to housing benefits or universal credit.

“Some landlords may feel that the Renters’ Rights Bill is coming in, Section 21 is going so I’m just going to evict the tenant.

“What I continue to say is that councils will be there for you because why would a council want to see hundreds of families evicted because of the Renters’ Rights Bill?

“There’s likely to be more options than landlords realise, and councils don’t want the temporary accommodation to rise.”

Why should landlords use Social Housing Options?

Denzel says landlords have nothing to lose and are free to contact Social Housing Options to see if they can help.

He said: “I had my own portfolio of families, and I know for sure you do not want to see that tenant evicted and, on the street, or end up in temporary accommodation.

“A lot of objections we hear is that it’s too good to be true but one thing I would say is that you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Fill out the form below to contact Denzel and his team at Social Housing Options for a no-obligation chat.

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