I have a brother with a learning disability, I am trying to support him to find a Flat which is vertially impossible to meet Estate Agent fees & requirements, & Private Landlords are equally as bad, they are not interested in people on benefits. The Council are not supporting him & have simply advised him to go Privately. He is receiving universal credit & will eventually receive inheritance from sale of the family house but Landlords aren’t interested! The whole System is ridiculous. All he wants is a 1- bed ground floor flat in Oxford/ Oxfordshire. Why is it so difficult! I have told the council we will have to make him homeless!
I think that is probably your best option actually.
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Not all landlords don’t take people in benefits. I do and have done with mixed results. It shouldn’t be an issue if affordability achieved and referenced.
Must admit i get fed up with sweeping statements, often stupid, saying landlords always being the criminals. Majority are not.
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He lives in Oxfordshire, do you have any rental accommodation to offer him then?
In alot of places, demand outstrips supply for rental properties, so landlords might have numerous people interested in a property.
They must consider who is the greater risk as a tenant. If someone is working, and default on their rental, then the landlord has a ‘chance’ to re-coup some of their debt via legal action. If the tenant are only receiving benefits, then there is less chance of them enforcing repayment of any money owed.
That together with increased property insurance premiums for landlords housing tenants and the fact that housing benefits might not keep pace with increasing rents, leaving an affordability gap, all combine to make tenants on benefits potentially more risky, and less profitable.
I do however sympathise with your brothers situation, and understand that those on benefits find it difficult to secure both social & private rental property. This is not of course landlords fault, but the system that is broken. Was it Margaret Thatcher who sold off all the council housing at cut price?
Are you or a family member able to sign as guarantor, as that might help, but is a major commitment not to be taken lightly.
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Hello,
Thank you for your kind & valuable advice, unfortunately I myself am a council tenant, so I could not be a guarantor, but as you said it is a huge commitment and so both my brothers were not willing. Unfortunately as you say the private market is vertially impossible for anyone let alone someone on disability allowance ,any mention of benefits & they don’t want to know regardless of the persons “genuine & reliable character” it is the county council who have left us in this situation , they have no regard whatsoever for my brothers situation. As the previous mans harsh comments, who clearly doesn’t understand the sensitivity of the matter, it is the council’s responsibility to find suitable housing for my brother not the family. Unless we had huge properties then we would support him but of course we don’t.
Once again thanks for your advice.
Hello,
I appreciate your insight & comments, I know it’s not All down to the landlords. But you can understand my Frustration that the Council have just shrugged us off knowing full well how difficult it would be Privately.
that is because they sold off all their housing stock years ago at discounts… then they decided to pay tenants rent benefit to the tenants straight, not the landlord. i then decided i would never take people on benefits. I want no middle "passer on"of rent. i would rather keep a place empty, and i do
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