I honestly get it! We had been looking for months and were confident that with two months notice we‘d definitely find something. Reality gave us a huge gobsmack! The amount of breakdowns and meltdowns this has caused me (i have Aspergers Syndrome) and landlords will never know how gut wrenching and life destroying this is for us. I sincerely hope that some christmas magic will get you your dream home! 
Odd question but have you looked into rent to buy? I don‘t know too much about it but you would pay £1200 or less for up to five years to save up for a mortgage lets say you save £300 a month and have £18000 by the end of it. You can put down a deposit on a mortgage because that is the whole point of it and then with that amount you would own lets say 40% of the property and you pay rent on the rest. We had seriously considered that option until the property we are getting the keys for today came along. Definitely worth looking into 
Hope you and your family have an amazing Christmas 
Yeah, same with us more than 2 months notice and now it’s so close and I’ve not found anything… the mental anguish is just so much.
Crying myself to sleep most nights and just stuck at every turn. Trying to stay strong for the kids.
Spoke to Shelter and they’ve given me some options, and been told about Peabody which I think offers the scheme you’re talking about.
I’m taking a break over the next few days, just need to clear my head before I tackle these options.
Hopefully I’ll get somewhere next week 
Thanks so much 
I’m praying we get our miracle 
All the best to you and your family 
Hi I feel sorry for your situation. However for the current market, demand exceeds supply greatly and rentals are difficult to find why would a landlord go through all the trouble and risk with a UC tenant just so that he could be morally right and ‘look at individual UC situation to decide’ while there are plenty much better choices out there? We landlords needs to treat our rentals as business and stay away from risks & troubles.
Your best option is, as mentioned by other landlords here, offer a valid guarantor or offer to pay several month’s rent in advance. Good luck!
Hi
Have you found out what is the cause of the damp and mould? What colour is the damp patches?
As landlords we have lost around £30,000 to benefit tenants and now look to insure rents.
DWP needs to change how it operates UC and there should be some protection for landlords from rouge tenants. I am often asked to conspire to fraud by prospective tenants wanting to claim benefits falsely.
Chris
Fraud bit >I once had the same problem so I refused to house the tenant
Sorry for most landlords UC is a red flag, and it all depends on the demand v supply for the properties, if there are people who aren’t on UC then most landlords would naturally want to go with them. There are too many horror stories about tenants on UC and you only need one such tenant to make your life a complete misery. I know this sounds weird but perhaps you could move into a more expensive area because you could get more UC, for example in inner London the upper limit on UC is £1,200 / month, if you can engineer your finances to meet the conditions to get that then it could help with affordability but maybe not availability.
Hi @Jingyi
Seasons greetings and thank you 
I absolutely agree that it’s a business and should be treated as such, think I actually mentioned that in one of these comments…
Maybe I’m not coming across clearly about what I’m saying… if someone/a family is rejected purely on the word UC how do they get a chance to show that they can provide a guarantor (as helpfully suggested on this thread) or even offer rent in advance?
Would it be so awful to look at the situation before branding them a risk or trouble?
Again, ultimately the decision might still be a no but at least it was considered.
I also agreed that there are people that have exploited the benefits system and also there are landlords that have just collected rent and refuse to fix major issues that affect their tenants yet properties still need to be rented and tenants still need to find homes… even people that are not on UC have wrecked houses and caused landlords more anguish.
It’s a catch 22 situation but sometimes just sometimes there could be a great match…
I’m not on a mission to convince the world that UC is wonderful and that all people on it are great… its just been horrible for us and probably many families like us that need a home and can’t even get a viewing because everyone sees us as being a risk or trouble just because we have UC, which in all fairness works for us as I can raise our kids while their dad works 60+ hours a week.
I might not convince many landlords to give this consideration but if I do convince one it makes a difference.
Have a wonderful 2022!
Hi @Ian39
The bungalow is very old and the water is seeping through the walls in the front bedroom, the radiators are all in the wrong places. There is black mould in 2 out of 3 rooms and the lounge.
In these 2 years there have been major leaks through the roof and windows .there is a vent in the hallway that should be circulating the air but has never worked.
We’ve spent most nights sleeping in the lounge floor as we need to clean the mould and air out rooms every 2 weeks.
We currently have windows open everywhere with heating on 24/7.
The kids have not been able to sleep through the nights due to congestion and constant colds, and having to move them around all the time.
Yet we have paid full rent and all utilities throughout.
Yes there should absolutely be protection for landlords from rogue tenants and horrible that you’ve been asked to even consider that! Some really despicable people out there…
All the best and have a wonderful New year!
Hi @Graham
Yes totally get that, it makes absolute sense.
I’ve just seen properties empty for months and can’t even get a viewing 
Funnily enough if I can get a viewing and actually present our finances, it’s pretty good lol
So my partner works full time and his salary changes as there are bonuses paid out randomly. Our UC gives us an award as a family taking into account his salary.
Recently his company changed their payroll to weekly so sometimes in our assessment period he has multiple payments so our UC award drops based on that.
On average we get £1200 UC plus his salary which puts us into plus 40k income.
We pay 1350 rent, council tax 190, gas and electric 160, water 67 and have enough left over for food and other essentials.
We have no arrears.
Unfortunately we cannot take the situation in this house and have to move as I want to settle my younger kids in nursery/day care and start working again next year. a
Hi
If you got into work now you would be able to afford a new property.
Does the mould clean off and are the walls then clear or is there staining to the walls?
If there is staining what colour is it please?
Regards
Chris
Hi Chris,
I can afford a property… our rent alone is 1350pm.
And should I start work now, my 3 kids - 5yrs, 22months and a 8month BF baby would require full time childcare, which any salary I get would not cover.
I enjoy my work and am keen to get back but having sick kids and sleepless nights because of our current rental makes it impossible, it’s not been an easy decision to stay home but it’s what is required for my family.
As easy as it is to say I should work now to rent a property, the childcare costs would put us into severe debt and I’d rather not have to do that when I can provide rent in advance or even use a company as guarantor… only if I get the chance to do that.
The mould discolours the walls, a darkish patch where we cleaned or the plaster bubbles and falls off. The wiped areas take about 2 weeks to dry or just stays wet. It worsens when there’s rain.
All the best.
£1,200 is the limit for the housing element of UC alone in inner London, how much do you get for the housing part? Maybe you can increase your total UC by moving.
Hi @Graham
We get £1300 for housing benefit, it’s the max in this Borough.
We’ve moved here from Croydon and now looking further into Kent.
Our UC payment is actually fine, we’re just not given viewings because we have a UC payment even though my partner works full time. Even on properties for less than what we currently pay…
We can verify all our finances if given the opportunity.
I’m hoping something will happen for us next week, we don’t have much time left.
Feel very sorry and frustrated for you and anyone else who are on UC as a top up to a living wage or ill-health or raising young children. It’s a crazy situation whereby a family cannot get housing because of genuine reasons.
Thank you @Mr_T
The system really is broken… and the pandemic has made things worse.
So many deserving families/people out there not given the opportunity to rent due to UC but also not qualifying for housing as they earn too much 
We can only have faith and pray that we will find our next home and get back the quality of life that we lost by living here for 2years
Ending the year on a positive, I’ve gotten to raise my kids this time… went back to work when my firstborn was 3 months old! Looking at them today, it’s made me appreciate the UC award we receive as I’ve been with them through these early years and that’s priceless
Hi
Dark patches usually indicate condensation due to lack of heating and ventilation but it should not cause the plaster to bubble. You should perhaps report it to the Council if your landlord is not doing anything.
You can get help with childcare costs if you go back to work.
Regards
Chris
Hi Chris,
Yes we have had this all through the summer as well. They finally sent a surveyor over last month who confirmed the issue with the vents, radiators and poor insulation in the bedroom where the damp is coming through. I appreciate it would be a long and costly fix for the landlords so they don’t want to get it done. As we can’t continue living like this we are leaving next month and I’ve followed the process in reporting so the landlord at least does something before sticking another family in here immediately. Thank you.
Yes I’m aware of the help in childcare costs, and need to settle my kids so they are not constantly sick and up through the night before I can get them placed and start working. This has taken a major toll on the entire family, getting a job while we’re all sleep deprived and sick won’t keep me in employment for long. We have taken steps to ensure my partner sleeps and keeps his job as he is a driver and leaves for work at 3am.
I appreciate the advice on working/childcare and have considered all the options before making the decision to do this, my family’s health and wellbeing is my top priority and once we are settled it will ensure a productive work and home life for us all.