I am having the worst time finding a place, I’m at the brink of tears! I work full time, I earn £30k, but I have a child so I’m also entitled to Universal Credit which I claim. So even though I have an income of £3k a month I cannot find a place to rent because once landlords hear ‘Universal Credit’ I become untouchable. I work, I’ve always worked, but I split from my partner and my household income went from over £75k to now £43k (13k is benefits). I have a good credit score, I’ve even joined a rent deposit scheme to ‘give landlords an incentive’ but that’s seemed to make things worse! I don’t know what to do. Can anyone give me advice? I’ve never been in this position before.
I think providing a guarantor is essential. With regulations and interest rates most landlords are risk averse and given large number of applicants will normally go with lowest risk option. Being able to pay multiple months rent upfront could also help if possible.
It’s diificult, the housing element of UC is nowhere near market rent levels so most landlords would have reasonable affordability concerns. You haven’t said where you looking, based on your numbers its presumably a reasonably expensive area so if possible consider cheaper areas, I appreciate nowhere is cheap!
I would be put off by deposit insurance schemes. The ability to budget including saving a deposit is important so dont fall for their marketing spiel.
I’m amazed that you can earn 30k and still get 13k in benefits…! How is that possible or have I missed out for the last 40 odd years!
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Apparently there are 600,000 higher rate tax payers eligible for universal credit. It’s not just for low paid and is mostly due to rents…
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I appreciate all of your replies. I have a guarantor, my aunt who has more than the required amount in savings. It doesn’t seem to have helped. I’m not sure if I’m in the scheme you mentioned, deposit insurance. The scheme I joined, the council pays the deposit and first months rent up front. So for 2 bedrooms the landlord gets 3,000 if I get a 12 month tenancy or 5,500 if I get a 24 month tenancy. It can only be paid to the landlord or estate agents and cannot come to me to pay them, this means there is a little liase between the two parties. I’m not sure if that’s what is off putting. Yes, I earn £30k but I have a child who is 5 years old so I do get UC but it’s mostly a housing element (I think I get some sort of premium being a single mother), I also get child benefit and child maintenance but that is separate and I did not include it in my income.
I am looking exclusively in London, Leyton and Walthamstow because I don’t want to uproot my son from his school since he’s been there for two years already. Even though I know I can afford rent of up to £1,800, which is the average in the area for 2 bedrooms, I just cannot get a viewing at times and beyond that my applications are never accepted. And then there are houseshares which, on salary alone, I pass the affordability for but I cannot live in because I have a child. People with one bedrooms typically don’t accept children/families and people with 2 bedrooms run when I apply. I’ve never been so metaphorically stuck between a rock and a hard place in my life.
Unfortunately this is a problem which has been unfolding over years and the likes of Shelter wanting more regulation has made LLs being more risk adverse.
You need to get all your information together and present it to LLs , I would prefer a tenant who has taken time to do the prep rather than ask for it.
Also the moment you mention a council type deposit scheme, LLs will turn in their grave and loose interest.
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Ok. Thank you for the advice. I was not initially using the deposit scheme and I was approaching landlords, I thought maybe they would feel more secure using the scheme. I emailed the council for a list of places to look for private rentals that accepted housing subsidies and they made this scheme sound like it would help me ‘get ahead’, clearly I was ill advised. I’ll bare everything I’ve been told here in mind while I continue my search, it has been 5 months and it’s clearly going to take meeting an LL who is willing to take on the ‘risk’. Thank you once again.
@Abena May I ask where you are currently residing?
I rent a flat in London, Leyton. I have been looking within the same area and for roughly the same amount. This flat is not suitable, it has a plethora of issues. I guess it’s not a matter of what I can afford anymore but rather what I ‘deserve’ due to my circumstances, even though they’re priced the same.
It’s not easy at the moment, the government have Landlords worried with Renters Reform Bill, paying income tax on money they don’t receive, Capital gains tax changes etc and many have decided to sell up and leave the sector all together ,leaving less available properties to rent. Keep looking and hopefully something will fall into place for you.
Unfortunately, this is a direct effect of government policy driving Landlords out of the market, as it is simply not profitable for many now. Shelter make this worse, with their Landlord bashing, and I fear it won’t get any easier. Labour are likely to make things worse for Landlords, so more will leave the market. It’s a very difficult time for Tenants at the moment.
Gather your information, speak to your local agents to try & get them on your side. Does your Aunt work and/or own her own home? If not maybe a Guarantor replacement service might be worth considering?
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Thanks @Karl2
My aunt does not work but has bank statements to prove her savings. I have emailed every estate agent in my area and I have gone into the offices too. I’ve done everything I could possibly do at this point and, although friends are finding competition, they are all in couples and managing to secure tenancies within 3 months. I have been searching for over 5 months and I’m getting nowhere. I’ve even seen some properties go back on the market, reapplied and did not get chosen. I’ll keep searching and, worst case scenario, we’ll move to another country.
Unfortunately a LL would rather put a property back on the market than risk a tenant as the eviction costs are enormous and various charity’s and the gov have made LL risk adverse.
I now ask for a guarantor as standard!