I don’t know if anyone can help I’m looking for rooms view them and this is where I keep going around and around because as soon as I say council will be doing the deposit scheme they say no I’m on benefits I’ve expl rent would be going straight to them so I don’t have to panic I’m quiet keep myself to myself I just need a home like why is it so hard 
When a tenant pays the security deposit, they can loose these funds to cover damage if they do not look after the property. This means they have ‘something to loose’ so will be motivated to look after the property.
If the Council or someone else are paying the deposit, the tenant has ‘nothing to loose’, and hence the incentive to look after the property and not cause damage is reduced.
Hence, many Landlords prefer tenants to pay their own deposit.
In addition, stats would suggest that benefit tenants are more of a risk that working tenants. Hence, many Landlord will pick their new tenants to minimise the risk.
The government has made the risk of being a Landlord greater, and it is especially harder to evict a poor tenant, so many Landlords are being more picky.
Good luck.
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Maybe it’s hard because there is a shortage of housing with not enough built for many decades? Maybe because Thatcher and then Labour allowed councils to sell places without building replacements. Or maybe because you are relying on benefits instead of working? (which may or may not be by choice).
You may be able to help yourself by not depending on benefits, earning enough, and saving enough for a deposit.
Saying the council will pay is not attractive, councils are bureaucratic and slow and anyway you can tell them to pay it to you instead at any time.
You can make yourself more attractive if you can offer a guarantor
As @Karl11 says, you are a worse risk than those not on benefits, both for getting into arrears and for having higher arrears and since the recent legislation has made it harder to evict (3months arrears needed not two)
Good luck
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Housing associations are still allowed to sell off their properties !!!
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