No housing benefit but what if they need it during tenancy?

Reply to the comment left by Paul Shears at 10/03/2020 - 18:26
Why not? Just because someone is made redundant does not mean that they will not get a new job very shortly afterwards. I believe that everyone should be assessed on their affordability to pay their rent, regardless of where their income comes from. A credit check is also important-somebody with 3 CCJs would be highly risky, for example, and a landlord reference. If the tenant is in employment or in voluntary work, then you will also want a reference from the employer. You also need a guarantor or Rent Guarantee Insurance in place. If the tenant is unable to provide a personal guarantor, then they need to be prepared to pay for a company guarantor online upfront, or for a Rent Guarantee Policy, regardless of their financial circumstances. Everybody should be treated the same.
There are plenty of disabled people who can very comfortably afford to rent two and three bedroom properties by themselves, but whom are turned away because they cannot work due to their illness/disability. It is ridiculous. Just the same as there are plenty of families who are on top-ups, or who have extra money coming in because they have disabled children, and again, they are turned away. Not every benefit claimant stays up till 3am smoking weed and playing on an XBox, just the same as not every working professional buys a coffee on their way to work in the morning. This “No DSS” needs to change to “must be able to afford the rent, have a good credit record, and provide, or pay for, a suitable guarantor or Rent Guarantee Insurance”.

Reply to the comment left by Marie at 10/03/2020 - 21:06I believe that everyone should be assessed on their affordability to pay their rent, regardless of where their income comes from.
Try being a DSS landlord first before giving us the benefit of your advice.

I wouldn’t want to add a no Housing Benefit to my tenancy agreements. Firstly I’m unlikely to take a benefits tenant from the outset due to the rental element of Universal Credit not being sufficient to actually cover the rent I charge (good quality properties moderate/high rent). Also it’s paid in arrears and my rent is charged a month upfront. I won’t agree to the rent falling into arrears and UC takes around 2 months to be set up and paid. Also my lender and insurer will not allow me to take benefits tenants. So overall a benefits tenant is not going to fit my criteria at the outset.
However redundancy can strike anybody at any time and I have had employed tenants in the past who have unfortunately lost their income and had to claim benefits. The rent has always been maintained in the meantime presumably through savings or help from family members. I wouldn’t want to tell my tenants to leave with their rent up to date. Of course if arrears hit two months then that is a different matter and I would consider issuing a Section 8 but depends on the tenant’s conduct and likelihood of the arrears not getting much worse.

Yes, housing benefit can be a problem. I have overcome this by letting my properties through my local council. They find tenants, introduce them to us, give a guarantee bond so at the end of tenancy any wrongs will be put right and pay me direct rent! Easy. Has taken sooooooooooo…...much stress out of renting. We nearly sold up because of non-payment mostly HB tenants
Hope this helps some
Regards
Pru

If Shelter wants to help those on Housing Benefit why does it not offer a rent guarantee scheme?

Reply to the comment left by Chris at 14/03/2020 - 12:38
I did ask them this and it’s because they have to allocate the funds which they are given specifically in particular amounts, and if they were guaranteeing people’s rent, they would have no means of knowing if that person would default or not, and if they did, how much of their funds they would have to pay in rent arrears to that person’s landlord. Then there’s all the other things such as damage, and eviction costs. It would be too costly as well. They have looked into it.

Reply to the comment left by Monty Bodkin at 10/03/2020 - 22:22
You can’t tar everybody with the same brush. There are working people who don’t pay their rent, have lots of parties, use drugs and have pets who damage their landlord’s property which the landlord never gave them permission to have in the first place. On the other side of the coin, you have quiet and respectful people who reliably pay their rent and bills on time every month, cause no trouble to anybody, and who bring their children up to be polite, decent, hard-working members of society, but their income is so low, or the father has lost his job, so they are reliant on benefits. Universal Credit is causing a lot of problems and the government need to start listening about that, but the crucial thing is the affordability and the paying of the rent on time. Not waiting till the benefits come through!!

Reply to the comment left by Marie at 14/03/2020 - 21:03
So if Shelter won't back those in need how can they expect a small landlord to take a risk?