I just want to understand why it’s so hard to get a property to rent I am a single mum I do currently work part time as I have small children (2) I have rented since I was 18 I’m 29 now I have never missed a payment never been behind on my bills/rent. I’m currently renting a flat where I have been for four years and struggle to get the landlord to do things took him 3 years to put my radiators on the wall properly two of which are still off. Front door there’s a draft but he says there’s nothing he can do about that.
I don’t keep on as I don’t like to be a burden.
But I’m looking for a house to rent and when I find one that I think that’s lovely perfect area lovely garden for my boys. I get rejected as I receive housing benefit or they want you to be earning 22,000 (for example) a year or today’s reason because they don’t accept children
All I want is a nice house for my son’s so they have a decent garden and size bedroom to share.
Why is it so difficult! And why do we get judged for receiving help. Surely you are guaranteed your rent if we are. I understand there are some crappy people that mess about with payments or ruin homes but surely from landlord references or something you can just give us a chance instead of tarnishing us all with the same brush!
I’m a landlord and allow benefits and children. I have a couple of tenants in similar position to you and both have been great so agree we should treat each prospective tenant as individuals.
Unfortunately the rules on low deposits and the extremely long time it takes to evict tenants that don’t pay or mistreat the property does deter most landlords from taking a chance on people that don’t meet the perfect tenant profile. Only thing I can suggest is to offer to provide a guarantor if you have anyone who is willing to do that for you.
Lucy . the problem can be its difficult to judge people.the goverment has put in so many rules and regulations we are all looking for the perfect tenant… I dont trust landlord references as a bad landlord will lie to get rid of a bad tenant
I take on benefit tenants all the time and have some very good ones and some horrible ones. It is very easy to loose rent when tenants wish to keep the money and now with Covid-19, any tenant not paying could easily cause a small landlord to go bankrupt if they are not aware of procedures. Universal Credit has been the main problem with rent arrears.
At the moment, due to Covid-19 and the ban on evictions since March 2020, there is a huge backlog of tenants in the process of being evicted which would take at least a year so you can imagine a landlord could lose over a year’s rent in just waiting for the tenant to be evicted. The procedure for eviction has also been made very difficult and with the draconian laws, landlords have to get each and every detail on the eviction forms right otherwise the judge will throw the case out and the landlord has to start all over again. So you can imagine, if a landlord has waited a year for a court hearing and finds that the case is void and has to start all over again, it is in the interest of the landlord to try and avoid evictions and to look for a near perfect tenant. I hope this explains it all.
I like Colin3 never rely on landlords reference as, I don’t know of any landlord that would give a good reference for a tenant they wish to get rid off.
Which area are you in Lucy20? If in my area, I may be able to help.
these draconian laws are loved by local councils as they can keep individuals out of their system and housing responsibility for as long as possible, as long as private landlords pick up the tab.
Hi Lucy I understand what you are saying and sympathise. Unfortunately mist of us got into this because we have no pensions and left it too late to get one. We rely on that income which is why we pay for rent guarantee insurance. For that the applicant needs to pass professional referencing and a fail means the insurance is unavailable. The government in its wisdom decided to not pay rent direct to the landlord and in most instances housing benefit is about 2/3 of the actual rental amount. We are all trying to get through life the best we can and have worked scrimped and gone without to to enable this. I have been bitten when I first started this and ended up £4000 out of pocket. We are not heartless just extremely wary and cautious.
Thank you for replying
Sorry to hear you’ve experienced that
I understand and sympathise with landlords just wish there was a way to help us genuine tenants and am simply disappointed and disheartened each time I get turned down before even getting to view or apply a property
Its even worse now because due to Covid Rent Guarantee insurance isn’t available even for tenants that pass referencing. The ban on evictions means that most private landlords can’t take the risk of tenants racking up months of arrears and having no recourse to get them out.
Landlords would rather take the cost of a a couple of months void than take on a tenant where the lack of income could lead to months and months of arrears, and the court costs.
Yes that was my understanding. Having said that I got an email off Rentguard to renew as it runs out shortly. Unfortunately for me but brilliant for them my lovely tenants are buying a flat so moving out in a couple of days. I doubt Rentguard will be happy for me to renew with a new tenant in.
What tenants in your situation don’t realise is that most Landlords have interest only mortgages which they have to pay monthly premiums on and as such the lender has a charge on the property. To mitigate their risk even further they do not allow their borrowers (Landlords) to accept tenants on Universal Credit and ask to see a copy of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement. Any vacant periods (including rent arrears) fall on the Landlord to support with their own funds on top of repairs and maintenance costs such as electrical wiring, gas safety and fire safety measures. The govt has also chipped away at what Landlords are entitled to claim in tax relief and so they are soon to reach a tipping point where Landlords will sell up and exit the PRS (private rental sector) particularly if they are good landlords but have a lot of hassle from tenants with unfair expectations. Stand fast some issues in your case where those are the Landlords responsibility. However a draft under a door is something simple the tenant can sort out with a draft excluder for example and would just indicate to a Landlord that you had unreasonable expectations of them to check and sort out drafts under doors !! In my experience a lot of tenants also don’t adhere to their rental contracts and don’t really care about looking after a Landlords property or keep it clean and tidy and its too late to find out once they have moved in. So its the old saying: Choose a tenant in haste and repent at leisure. A final point is that it is not such a praiseworthy point that you make that you pay your rent on time…it is a responsibility and legal requirement that you do so and the worst thing a tenant can do is not pay their rent as Section 8 proceedings for eviction have to start very quickly. It will also lead to poor credit history and credit referencing, making it difficult to get a mortgage or loan in the future and poor landlord references which can impact on your future ability to rent. So its a two way perspective. All my tenants have been with me for a minimum of 4 years plus, we have a great relationship and I chose them very carefully which has worked well all round.
It isn’t true to say mortgages don’t allow it as virtually all lenders have changed their policies as they were deemed discriminatory…
While a tenant could fix a draft issue it certainly isn’t their responsibility to and if I’d received 4 years worth if rent as a landlord I’d think it is the least I could do to fix it.
Ultimately we are in the business of providing homes to people, that involves risk and a lot of LL dont seem prepared to take risks but someone who has paid rent for 10 years and has a guarantor isn’t particularly risky and to my mind lower risk than someone who is used to living on a higher income which is likely to reduce substantially. I have rented to similar and had no issues at all. Some landlords would benefit from looking at it from a tenants perspective of just trying to have a suitable home. Of course there are some on benefits that you can’t make a rational case for renting to them but where they can demonstrate reliability I’d certainly give them a chance.
You know what I would do Lucy, I would invite a prospective landlord around to your current abode so he can see how well you look after the place, that and your current landlord’s reference should help. Good Luck I do hope you find a sympathetic landlord.
