"Allowing" a tenant to claim housing benefit
Discussion
Hi everyone, never had this before so am asking for some advice please.
I own a flat in the U.K. which is rented to a recently divorced lady and her two young children. Husband is the guarantor for the rent. Been in there a few months, rent always paid on time, lovely tenant from all accounts.
Had an email from the letting agent asking permission for the tenant to claim housing benefit as due to her status she is entitled to it. So here's what I don't know:
Is it my decision? If she is entitled to claim then surely is her choice?
Is there upside for me? More likely to pay maybe?
Is there a downside? To be fair, had a tenant come to me on benefits from day 1, then i would probably decline them.
Any advice welcome please. Many thanks
I own a flat in the U.K. which is rented to a recently divorced lady and her two young children. Husband is the guarantor for the rent. Been in there a few months, rent always paid on time, lovely tenant from all accounts.
Had an email from the letting agent asking permission for the tenant to claim housing benefit as due to her status she is entitled to it. So here's what I don't know:
Is it my decision? If she is entitled to claim then surely is her choice?
Is there upside for me? More likely to pay maybe?
Is there a downside? To be fair, had a tenant come to me on benefits from day 1, then i would probably decline them.
Any advice welcome please. Many thanks
Thanks Breadvan, I have read it but it was a while back and I couldn't say if that clause is there or not. I suspect it is hence why they have asked me. Traveling this week and the contract is at home.
The second part of my question is still valid - is there any downside by allowing her to take benefits?
Cheers for your reply
The second part of my question is still valid - is there any downside by allowing her to take benefits?
Cheers for your reply
As above, given that you have a guarantor, it shouldn’t matter to you whether she receives HB or not - if she defaults they the guarantor will become liable. I am the guarantor in the exact same situation for my wife (separated, divorcing) who also rents and claims HB. The landlord didn’t have any problem with this.
Like someone else mentioned, there will probably be a delay in you receiving payment - depends on the council though. Salford Council used to take anywhere between 8 and 12 weeks to process a claim, however it is back dated from the date the claim went in. If you use an agent, make sure they keep on top of any forms that need filling in & also see if you can set it up so you receive the payment direct. I've had a council cock this up in the past & pay a tenant about £1300 rather than me...
The other thing to remember is most councils do a 4-week payment run for HB rather than a calendar month. So if your rent is say £450pcm, it works out at about £415 every 4 weeks. You do get 13 payments a year though rather than 12 so it works itself out. Universal Credit is paid monthly though just to confuse things, but that hasn't been rolled out everywhere yet.
Forgot - check your insurance terms as they may not allow HB claimants - working professionals only.
The other thing to remember is most councils do a 4-week payment run for HB rather than a calendar month. So if your rent is say £450pcm, it works out at about £415 every 4 weeks. You do get 13 payments a year though rather than 12 so it works itself out. Universal Credit is paid monthly though just to confuse things, but that hasn't been rolled out everywhere yet.
Forgot - check your insurance terms as they may not allow HB claimants - working professionals only.
on a related subject (working in social housing)- we predict the current debt owed to us of £4m by current tenants will rise to £9m very swiftly when Universal Credit kicks in next year.
My reason for saying this, is I predict the utter collapse of the private rented sector to UC claimants shortly. indeed landlords flatly refusing to rent.
I think you need to know a bit more about yr tnt, their overall income and critically their outgoings to know if they can afford to remain. You might find someone now with a healthy benefits income will be in dire straits soon, when the caps start being applied and claims don't run smoothly OR are backdated (as they once were).
bottom line, IF on benefits can they afford to be in your home.
My reason for saying this, is I predict the utter collapse of the private rented sector to UC claimants shortly. indeed landlords flatly refusing to rent.
I think you need to know a bit more about yr tnt, their overall income and critically their outgoings to know if they can afford to remain. You might find someone now with a healthy benefits income will be in dire straits soon, when the caps start being applied and claims don't run smoothly OR are backdated (as they once were).
bottom line, IF on benefits can they afford to be in your home.
austinsmirk said:
indeed landlords flatly refusing to rent.
I'm one. I've got 2 tenants left that claim benefits for their rent - one is HB and one is UC. Both are single blokes in their 60s and have been tenants of mine for 5-6 years. The days of me taking on as a tenant a 22 year old single mum with a couple of kids is long gone & Universal Credit is a lot to do with that (not just that, but a massive factor).If I advertise a property now, it is excluding HB/UC claimants (that are solely relying on that benefit for their rent).
austinsmirk said:
on a related subject (working in social housing)- we predict the current debt owed to us of £4m by current tenants will rise to £9m very swiftly when Universal Credit kicks in next year.
I work in the finance side, and our housing debt has doubled in 2 years, as has the debt from over payments of housing benefits which is now much harder to recover (as it's something like 14th on the universal credit list to get repaid). And whilst claimants can "streamline" their application with just the DWP, they still have to contact the council to register for council tax support - which is like 95% identical to the conversation they've already had with the DWP anyway...It's stupid, as is the in-built feature to delay a payment for the first 6 weeks (expecting the claimant to simply use their savings to tide them over - haha).
And councils also face a requirement for families to not be in B&B for more than 6 weeks. Result: no claim ever gets processed before the family are moved on (and so a new claim must begin). Arrears all round.
The actual idea is quite good, but some implementation decisions - and the fact it's being used to slice away benefit expenditure at the same time - is what's daft.
Of course, the real problem of why we have people unable to afford rent near where they work without a state subsidy, (or to flip round - why they're not earning enough to afford a home near where they work) are going unasked and unanswered by the government.
Ian
Another thing to check is who is responsible for over payments.
If your tenant receives HB but it's later established that they weren't actually entitled to it, then if paid directly to you, the council are coming directly to you for repayment.
I have a HB tenant, have done for years, and occasionally there is a blip on the rent payments which has lead to £2K+ of arrears. It's happened three times over the years, phone calls don't have the desired effect, but I've now learnt that s S21 does
If your tenant receives HB but it's later established that they weren't actually entitled to it, then if paid directly to you, the council are coming directly to you for repayment.
I have a HB tenant, have done for years, and occasionally there is a blip on the rent payments which has lead to £2K+ of arrears. It's happened three times over the years, phone calls don't have the desired effect, but I've now learnt that s S21 does
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