renting to DSS

[tamborine]

What are there any pitfalls? Are they any different to private tenants?

All experiences would be welcome, thanx

[daffy654]

There are pitfalls to renting to anyone.Just because someone is in receipt of housing benefit it doesn't mean they are a bad person.I would however insist on payment direct to the landlord's account as there have been cases of the tenants spending their rent cheque and then being unable to afford to pay their rent.

[Sandy-Wroe]

I know a landlord who rents a house to a single mother. She's been a tenant for years, likes the house, and has no intention of leaving.
It's hard to generalise. They're probably much like any tenant.

[sara3]

hi Tambo :o)

the DSS is now the DWP, and they don't rent properties. if you want to rent a property to someone on benefits you probably need to contact your Local Authority or a local Housing Association.

pros.. you'll get the rent paid by DD. cons.. the tenants may not respect your property as you would yourself, but I wouldn't tar all people on benefits with the same brush.

[daffy654]

You could always ask for references from previous landlords,make sure you follow them up though as it would be fairly easy for anyone to write out a reference pretending to be a landlord I suppose. Always vet any prospective tennants thoroughly whether HB or private (there is no such thing as DSS any longer).
I'm sure you already know all this as I am sure I have read posts from you before about your tennants tambo.

[daffy654]

*tenants* ...the double 'n' was because I was talking about David Tennant earlier.lol

[tamborine]

the tenant is on DSS benfit due to having a young son with ADS (think that's over-active) so she cant work. How do the DSS pay me directly? I guess the DSS will also pay the service charges on the tenants behalf?

[sara3]

not sure about service charges but the rent is from Housing Benefits, not DSS/DHSS/DWP! it's paid by the Local Authority, who will usually pay direct to the landlord to avoid rent arrears accruing.

[dothawkes31]

My son rents from a private landlord and has claimed housing benefit for a week or so, the council said they cannot pay provate landlords direct, only housing associayions and councils, and so if you are a private landlord, you can't rent your property through the local authority i don't think, you could advertise that you are willing to take rtenants who would claim the rent through the DWP, but the rent would be paid to them monthly in arrears.

[tamborine]

hate being l'lord daffy....but have no alternative as cant sell the property for a decent price, in these times.

[dothawkes31]

Hi sara, my son's landlord is a private one and the council benefit office say they can't pay private landlords directly, it has to go to the claimants account first.

[bushbaby_de]

sone local authorities will rent properties off landlords but this tends to be for short term accomodation for homeless familiies so there is a high turnover of tenants and not necessarily a lot of care taken with the property. The main pitfall would be always getting your rent in arrears, if at all, but then you run this risk with private tenants too.

[daffy654]

Dot,the council can pay HB direct to the private landlord,there is a form required to be filled in by both landlord and tenant. I was helping a friend fill in the form yesterday so I know for a fact it exists.

[Billy_Sugger]

I've been on benefits for years . Used to have money paid to by them DSS into landlords account , now it goes to my account but I always pay him near enough on time . The DSS are of course prone to cocking it up once in a while . Don't now if my landlord will do it again after I leave .

[dothawkes31]

it must differ from council to council as my son specifically wanted the housign benefit paid direct to the landlord, but the council housing benefit office said they could only pay it into the claimants account

[karenmac60]

I rented out my flat a few years back to someone on housing benefit which was paid by the local council's housing dept. The money was paid directly to the tenant but he could have requested it was paid directly to me. The cons are: you might not get a great tenant, but same goes if you are letting to anyone, benefits or otherwise; the council paid by cheque in arrears which left me out of pocket initially; the council sometimes stop people's money (they did this a couple of times) either to investigate whether the claim is still relevant or because the tenant has not reniewed their claim. The tenant I had was no better or worse than anyone else I rented to, but I vowed not to go down the whole benefits route again if I could help it since the council were notoriously unreliable. It depends how on the ball your housing dept is really.