LOL 
We have a lot of discrimination claims nowdays. I wonder how many of them make it into courts. My suspicion is only those who can do it for free.
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Many years ago a Muslim couple viewed my house and the last words were let me have your references and payslips etc.
Anyway 1month later another fine tenant moved in and I had a letter from the EO people saying I discriminated against them , so I said go to court and they did courtesy of legal aid and my neighbour was listening and told the judge exactly what I said and he was a Muslim and hated the way people tried it on and I won damages!
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Good for you! Some people really are the scum of the earth.
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Sandra, Unfortunately any tenant, regardless of whether or not they receive DSS, has the potential to be disruptive and cost you a lot of time, effort, energy and money. There really are no guarantees as it ultimately comes down to an individuals character.
The fact that people receive DSS does not mean that they all share the same character traits. The same applies for people not receiving DSS. Not all of those people are trustworthy, organised, reliable or kind, regardless of how they earn their money, or what kind of reference they are able to obtain. Every case is individual.
Someone in employment could lose their job or unfortunately have to leave work due to ill health, life does not come with a full guarantee.
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No offence taken Sandra.
Thank you for this! Iām a disabled lady who, through no fault of my own, is in receipt of disability benefits. Iāve rented in the private sector for the last 10 years and have never once defaulted on paying my rent, never had arrears and I am very respectful of the properties Iāve lived in and currently living in now. Iām eternally thankful to my lovely landlord and lady (and previous ones) for putting their trust in me. If only there were more like them. Iām so fed up with people tarring everyone who is out of work with the same brush. There are actually responsible people on benefits out there.
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Hi Dewi
I couldnāt agree with you more. The fact that people receive DSS does not mean that they all share the same character traits. The same applies for people not receiving DSS. Not all of those people are trustworthy, organised, reliable or kind, regardless of how they earn their money, or what kind of reference they are able to obtain. Every case is individual. have said this so many times on here.
I worked right up until I was diagnosed with a tumour which caused a stroke and epilepsy. I have fully recovered the stroke and the epilepsy is under control. I have been seeking a property for a while now, and have had so much negative feed back on here, even as low as a landlord responded he was looking for a long term tenant and he would be concerned the tenancy would out live me when I answered his question concerning why I was on Universal Credit. I laughed to myself as I am a young 56 year old what more can you do when he didnāt give me the chance to respond due to hitting the landlord declined button. Something will come up when the times right.
All the best
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Hi Donna
Thatās truly shocking! Iām in my 50ās too, so not about to have loud parties or to trash a place. Iām the complete opposite and wouldnāt want to put myself at risk of losing the roof over my head. Itād just be too stressful.
Thereās good and bad in tenants, whether working or in receipt of benefits, itās all down to character, but unless a landlord gives you a chance theyāre never going to know what type of person you are.
I understand that landlords have to be very careful with whom they let their properties to, but I kind of wish more of them would at least give us a chance. Like letting us at least view, proving we can be financially viable (Like having some savings etc), an ability to provide good references and have good, proven, track record in renting within the private sector.
It is what it is though, thereās a lot of competition over rentals now with the general housing crisis, and most landlords, I believe, will unfortunately for us, pick a tenant whoās working over someone whoās in receipt of benefits. Which doesnāt bode well for the likes of you or I, supposing we get evicted from our current rentals in the future.
Take care 
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A friend of mine put up a 2 bed to rent . Had 101 applicants in two weeks.
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Wow! Thatās mad! 
Just illustrates how bad things have gotten!
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interviewed about 10 of them. She felt overwhelmed with the response. About a third of them wanted to move because the landlord was putting the rent up or selling up Another third were chancers who came nowhere near the affordability level . About 10% on disability. It was a real eye openerā¦
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I normally get 80-100 for 2-beds. I never get more as that is when openrent shut down the advert! this is the reality that people donāt understand when they say landlords discriminate against singles, disabled, pet owners, whatever, we are flooded with responses so just have to take the easiest option, there is simply no way to go into in-depth reviews of 100 applicants. This is also why openrent cut it off at 100 because they want to avoid applicants feeling constantly disappointed, they wonāt use openrent if it doesnāt deliver for them.
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Imagine, then, how people like myself, who are on disability benefits through no fault of our own, are even more ādisappointedā, than the average working applicant, when we know that we wonāt even get a look in because of our circumstances.
Seems like the second you say youāre in receipt of benefits, thatās it, game over, landlords wonāt touch you. No matter how you look at it, or whatever your reasons are, it still looks discriminatory.
I count myself very lucky to have found a very nice flat (not some hard to let property, that seem to be mainly the only ones available to folk on benefits), with a really lovely landlord and landlady. They let me view, even though they knew I was on benefits, met me, liked me and put their trust in meā¦and guess what? Iāve never let them down in the two years Iāve been renting from them.
All Iām saying is that landlords shouldnāt just write benefit claimants off, we deserve as much of a chance as everyone else.
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Many landlords will consider tenants on disability benefits, part of problem is that systems donāt cater for the separation of different types of benefit, so those who are on long term unemployment benefits get lumped with those on disability allowance.
If you were a landlord, how would you decide who to rent to if you had a hundred applicants? Itās clearly not feasible to meet everyone of them.
Many landlords hate the benefits system, the big one being benefit typically gets paid direct to tenant, not direct to LL like it once was, itās paid in arrears, the LHA rates are low, and LL have to refund any rent paid if itās a fraudulent claim.
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Does it? Letās read onā¦
Erā¦ they donāt. You just proved it.
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Iāve been renting to people on benefits continually since 2001. Iāve never once suffered from any of those issues. As Iāve said elsewhere, the only people Iāve ever had issues with for non-payment of rent were ones who were fully employed and not on any benefits at all.
As with all applicants, it comes down to the character of the individual, not the source of their income.
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Iām not saying itās feasible to meet every applicant who applies, all Iām saying is that people shouldnāt be discounted just because theyāre in receipt of benefits. In my own experience, thereās actually not that many landlords who are willing to take on someone on benefits, you only have to look at the listings on here and elsewhere, like Zoopla.
And surely someone stating theyāre disabled (and able to prove via benefit letters etc) should be proof enough to a prospective landlord, without having to be separated off from other mainstream benefits. Also, there are many people who claim benefits, that are not disabled, who are honest and willing to pay their rent. I imagine the majority of people wouldnāt want to risk losing the roofs over their heads.
And I completely agree with you that the government should never have stopped direct landlord rent payments, because that has put up yet another barrier on people claiming benefits finding a home within the private sector.
And, I can tell you this, if landlords hate the benefit systemā¦ Then people actually dependent on it hate it 100 times more!
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Thank you for this! And for putting your faith in people who have a hard enough time already.
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Sadly, I think Iām in the minority. I had to search for a long time before finding my current landlord and lady. And I did say I felt āvery luckyā and I was.
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Thatās not where I put my faith 
but I appreciate the sentiment. Youāre welcome.
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