Income plus universal credit

[Fenella]

Hi. I have a semi to rent and a couple are looking to rent it. They are on £20 000 income and topped with universal credit to £34 000. The rent is £950.

I have not rented to anyone on universal credit before, what do I need to know? What do I look out for ?

Many thanks.

[mod_harry]

Hi @Fenella,

We’ve got a section in our help centre about this, let us know if you think anything is missing.

There’s also a couple of existing threads on this which may be of interest:

Tenant on Universal Cr

Hi, I am about to rent my flat to someone on Universal Credit, the tenant has a job but the UC is to top up. The credit check went well as says PASS. My questions are ? 1 - Can I get the UC amount into my account direct and the tenant pay the balance to me ? 2 - Do I get in touch with the UC office and advise them of the rent amount or the tenant? 3 - Does the UC gets paid with enough time so the monthly rents gets paid on the due date as per tenancy agreement? I remember before UC the Hous…

Tenant on Universal Credit

I’m a relatively new landlord and have only had tenants paying their own rent through their salary in the past. I now have an applicant who would like to rent my flat and is claiming Universal Credit. She is already in a flat and using the system to pay that rent but has to move. Can anyone give me advice as to whether it works to go with tenants on UC or if it becomes extremely complicated? Thanks very much.

[David122]

Fanella, I would strongly urge some landlord training. Your opted to enter a very highly regulated industry where the Courts and the Council are not very forgiving of mistakes. Admin errors can cost you thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds.

[tatemono]

If you take 3 x rent as the guideline for affordability, then they simply can’t afford rent that high.

[Priory-lodge]

Try and avoid. Its a black hole for your time dealing with UC. if a tenant leaves owing money the benefits people close their books, they wont pay you another penny and wont discuss it. You normally end up being screwed as a LL. with the new RRB upcoming i think you can only take applicants in a strong financial position

[Leslie1]

This RRB is already backfiring, many LL sold up pushing up prices of whats available. Thank you labour. !

[Antony10]

There’s no way I’d expose myself to the benefit system with so much uncertainty right now.

[David240]

From how to rent guide

“What can you afford? Think about how
much rent you can afford to pay. 35% of your
take-home pay is the most that many people
can afford, but this depends on what your
other outgoings are (for example, whether you
have children).”

By your figures they are 33.5% so close to 35%. You and they need to consider if they can really afford it as it isn’t in your or their interest to have them fall behind.

Check what rent they are paying at moment.

Get references done including credit checks affordability checks employment checks history of paying rent on time previously, landlord references

Consider what size deposit you want and what level of risk you are prepared to accept

Consider rent guarantee insurance.

Good luck