The screening question could benefit both tenant and landlords who don’t know. The implementation needs work though, IE to allow for other aspects of affordability to be specified if LHA rate does not suffice.
The reality is though, no landlord is ever going to take on a tenant from a group they just dont want, whatever the law says.
The idea that the tenants circumstance can’t affect LL decision is not feasible. Imagine a scenario where tenant one has 7 years of stable professional employment and tenant two has been unemployed on benefits for 7 years, i can’t imagine many LL preferencing tenant two. (All other things being equal).
I would argue that a landlord knowing in advance that LHA rate meets rent requirement could encourage them to now consider tenants from this group where they hadnt done so before.
You price rent, as you always should, by knowing what the market can sustain based on your property and its particular location. LHA rates are (ostensibly) set to allow Ts to rent where LHA rates will allow them to, not to give them infinite choice.
The only scenario I can see where a LL would need to know the LHA rate is if they are specifically catering to Ts who are entirely dependent on benefits. Regrettably, I don’t think that’s a market that many LLs are keen to break into.
Well, I guess it depends on where you live but here in London our monthly rates are £1,700 for a 2-bed, £2,154 for a 3-bed, this is basic information that if you don’t have as a benchmark and take into account in the pricing and marketing strategy then you might end up with the wrong tenants or a costly legal discrimination case…
There are no discrimination laws that pertain to LLs choosing to set their prices at whatever they want. If you want to accept people who rely on LHA income then that’s fine then you can set your pricing accordingly, but you have no obligation to at all. If you want to let your property as a business venture, your best benchmark is looking at what the market can bear rather than what LHA rates are, surely.
LHA rates are (ostensibly) set to allow Ts to rent where LHA rates will allow them to, not to give them infinite choice.
Hi, all.
Just wanted to ask if anybody knows how it is that there’re so many council TT placed in modern luxury flat complexes, right in the centre or other expensive locations, if LHA is below these rates? Just wondering. Never thought of it, thanks, tatemono, for bringing it to my attention.
Not sure if that’s the situation all over the country or just in Bristol.
Thanks, again ))
No “luxury flat complexes” anywhere on Teesside so hard for me to judge, but I do know that many such developments are only granted planning permission if they allocate a certain percentage of units to affordable housing. This is because they are often built where typically inner class low-income housing was found and this is to mitigate for it being lost to such developments and low-income families being unable to remain where they’ve lived for generations.
Do you know what the rents are for specific flats vs the LHA rates? If you can cite particular cases then this might be of interest, but if you’re making assumptions then…
Sorry, making things up? Uncalled for. For rates anyone can google the rates for Bristol. There’re significantly under the rents asked. Rents are £1300-1400 for 1 bed, depending on a season.
Maybe, anybody else can reply. I’m not looking for an argument. I’m genuinely curious. Somebody must cover the difference. I wonder who it is and how it generally works.
No def not looking for an argument. I’m also genuinely curious. You seem to be saying (and I may have misunderstood) that you know of council tenants being housed by LAs in “modern luxury flat complexes”. I think you assume (as I have no evidence yet that you know) that the rents that these council tenants are being charged by their LLs is £1,300+ and that LHA rates don’t match this, hence your curiosity as to how the shortfall is managed.
If you have an actual person you know who is an example of this, it would help. I say that because, as I explained, under planning rules, these complexes are required to have a certain percentage of social housing included. I assume that the kinds of Ts you describe are being housed in those flats and that rents for them are therefore a) not advertised because they go directly to those on housing lists and that b) the rents paid are not the same as for non-social housing but match LHA rates because that’s the whole point of social housing.
Like I said, I’m assuming you’re assuming otherwise. My assumption may be wrong and if you can provide an example of a T you know of then that’ll prove I’m wrong.
