I won't give up because of them. They are my drive to give them a better future. Whatever anyone throws at me I will keep going," she said. Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said discrimination against people on benefits was unlawful and continuing despite the legal cases. Ms Neate said there was a need for fundamental reform of the private renting system. A spokeswoman for the National Residential Landlords Association said no-one should be excluded because they were receiving benefits, adding that the benefits system was in "urgent need of reform".
A spokesman for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: "Everyone should have access to secure and safe housing and blanket bans against tenants on benefits have no place in a fair and modern housing market. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.
Property site listings exclude renters on benefits. Legal victories over 'No DSS' letting agents. Landlords who say 'no DSS' flout the law. Zoopla bans housing benefit discrimination. National Residential Landlords Association.
How to challenge DSS discrimination. This could include when agents: refuse to let you view an affordable property won't consider you for a tenancy because you get benefits advertise properties as 'no DSS', 'no benefits' or 'working professionals only' When to complain A complaint letter won't always work but it gives the agent a chance to put things right.
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All landlords and letting agents should know that if they keep acting unlawfully, they could face legal action and hefty fines. Everyone deserves a decent home and housing is a right, not an investment. This article is more than 1 year old. People on benefits report still being discriminated against, despite landmark court ruling. Thanks for your replies and advice I will definitely go around the estate agents when the restrictions ease, I am one of the vulnerable, so need to be careful.
I didn't think about the rights a person has with a disability, but the amount of estate agents that say we dont take no one on benefits is ridiculous even when I have said I am claiming pip and if i get better I'm a qualified nurse, there would be no problem with me earning enough money then, so i really am risk free, my landlord is happy to give anyone a reference, he's in Australia and has left me to sort out the selling of the house, well just the house side of things, obviously not the financial side lol, but helping with viewings and all the gas checks and surveyors etc.
I will also put a message on gumtree do you think that would be the best site? I'll explain that they can view my bank statements, do a credit check and can get a brilliant reference, hopefully there's someone out there who actually believes me, that's the hurdle I have, once I get over that hurdle it should be pretty easy.
I've searched and searched dss on gumtree and they are either just one room or the house is very basic and they are asking more money than average, if you could advise on any other websites it would be greatly appreciated. I came across this website and I was really disheartened to see the view of dss tenants. In the meantime my circumstances have changed and I had to sell my property to get away from dangerous drugs gang and started renting where it is safer.
But sadly I fell seriously ill myself and my husband got medically retired, we ended up claiming dss and here we were on the other side of the two worlds where we found ourselves to be dss tenants. However despite that for the past three years of renting we never had a single missed payment.
We are immaculate with the property. And even during the pandemic, our rent is fully paid including the shortfall that we are responsible for. Since we moved in we had increased the value of the property by painting it all white, making necessary repairs and updated the bathroom.
I look at all those private tenants now during the pandemic who are either living on furlough or lost their jobs suddenly not having enough to pay their rent whilst dss continues to pay my rent on time and we continue to pay rent on time. Do you ask to see their bank statementS to see what your prospective tenant was like with paying their rent in previous property?
Do you ask to see evidence what type of tenants they are? We are now looking to move as our landlord due to mismanagement and defaulting his mortgage we have to look for another property. The mortgage lender is receiving every month evidence from us showing payment of rent we make to the landlord but the landlord is the one defaulting. We are reliable tenants, we have been accepted by deposit Guarantor scheme and can pay up to six months rent in advance.
We are even happy to cover the extra insurance premiums for taking on dss tenant. We have credit cards that we pay off the full balance so that we save on interest. There are dss tenants that are reliable and there are private tenants that loose their jobs and have nothing much to fall back on. S Olivia. Maybe you should read all the previous comments before telling us your own story.
Also the Government changed the rules on claimants receiving their benefits directly, so as a landlord there's nothing you can do if the tenant won't allow it. I've had tenants go down the 'intentionally homeless' route, that's up to them. As David Cameron said, it's your money! So they spend it and get emergency housing 6 months later.
S Olivia, you definitely should have read the above posts. Unfortunately we are all being screwed, tenants and landlords. I'm still looking,I put an ad on gumtree, I've got no where. There's good and bad in all walks of life.
The estate agents don't want to know. Unfortunately even today I phoned up for one and I was told that a lot of people have gone for it and they know the landlord will choose someone working than me. Like you I have paid every month for the past 10yrs, I have dealt with just my landlord for aprox 7yrs, but now my landlord is selling. It's very hard, I will probably end up back at my family home. Like you I have 6 months rent in advance and I am now considering saving more and buying a house, I've learnt that even though I don't work due to disabilities I can still get a mortgage, so I think that's the only route I can take now.
Interesting thread. I stumbled across this while googling "landlord insurance tenants on benefits" and there are plenty of insurers who accept tenants on benefits. Let me say a bit about myself. I am 69 years old, in receipt of State Pension and a small self-employed income. When the coronavirus thing started, my self-employed income disappeared overnight so I applied succesfully for Housing Benefit therefore I am currently renting. I had been a home owner most of my adult life from the age of 23 in up to when I effectively lost everything through a marital decision and have been in the private rented market ever since.
I have recently moved house within the same local authority and been successful in transferring HB to my new address. I am fortunate that I now rent from a family member, but on a tenancy at a market rent that fulfils all the criteria to qualify for Housing Benefit and help with Council Tax.
I heard few years back it was meant to be illegal but they got around it by instead of saying 'no dss' they now put things like mortgages restrictions won't allow housing benefit. We will see if this ruling makes any difference but from my experience the agents just say we'll get back to you as got someone else interested or something similar then ignore you completely after that. The places I've asked about are well within the housing benefit limit so rent is fully covered, makes no sense to me when they won't even consider looking into my situation.
It's one more added unnecessary stress for something that should be really simple, just a Look at my finances and rent record, do the tenants check thing, even ask my current landlord how well I look after the place.
Also I have a guarantor mum , but seems that doesn't help. It's really frustrating as years ago when I could work would be in out keys in no time, even though when I worked i barely survived on my earnings, was just the saying you work made difference.
Lets all hope this new ruling makes a difference, but I will believe it when I get an agency that treats me like a human and looks at my details. Only because they had a good paid job when they completed the checks, we lost the count of how many people are working or claming benefits now.
This is nothing to do with Thank you very much for this as it has genuinely helped me understand why. John Unfortunately it won't make any difference I'm afraid. Rules, guidance and non statutory regulations, still fall foul of actual Law, and that's where things come to a stop. Proving discrimination is as impossible as it gets, unless someone makes a serious boo boo in what they say or write.
The bottom line is you can't force landlords to take tenants not of their choice, discrimination works both ways. Anyone in receipt of disability payments should not be lumped into the same category as those on unemployment benefits. This incompetence and ignorance has come from the Government, and filtered down into an industry which is out of tune.
I've had tenants on DLA, and would do so again. And yes I'm fully aware that sometimes claimants have their benefits stopped for no reason or fault of their own.
Then it takes months for them to appeal, and get their benefits reinstated, which in most cases they are successful. That's the nasty system for you, but those on disability have a more secure process, and that's a big difference in perhaps choosing a PIP tenant over other benefits. I also note above comments on 'insurers who will take benefit tenants'. Yes I'm sure there are plenty, but is the policy worth the paper it's written on? I'm dealing with the most expensive things I own, so I choose my insurance provider for the terms and conditions which are agreeable to me, not to revolve around a specific tenant!
Dear Andrewa I had to laugh at your comment about Hitler and the Nazi party being socialist. Fascism and Socialism are Extreme opposites in ideology. By your logic it must be Because of Also no DSS is now illegal , which makes sense because it is indirect discrimination. Having to move parents and their children from one place to another part of the country is one reason we have a problem with crime and deviants.
Crispy Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? They are all socialist states. You even state that North Korea is a Communist Dictatorship and therefore a socialist state by definition. In Communism and socialism both philosophies advocate economic equality and state ownership of various goods and services. Why laugh at something so true and blatantly obvious it stares you in the face?
Nazi socialism just didnt include Jews and other untermensch in its particular socialist philosophy but it was socialist nonetheless. Well upto now this new law has not sunk into the small brains of many letting agents as I've found dozens of properties newly added adverts since last week saying 'No Housing benefit'. Who will actually do anything about this, it's a complete joke.
And thats just the adverts, what about the ones, likely many more that simply won't put in adverts but simply will refuse or continue to ignore as always have in my case. Crazy world we live. So the courts compulsorily placed the complainants into the property's that were advertised with NO DSS on shorthold tenancy leases?
Didn't think so. Good tenants have good track records and usually should have no problems finding good landlords. As someone who is a claimant who is desperately trying to find somewhere to live as I am due with my son in a few weeks it really is so so difficult to find somewhere to live. I feel like everyone has this mental image of claimants that we are all scroungers who drink alcohol all day and cause trouble.
Please give us a chance, we are not all bad and I would definitely pay the rent no matter what. I have disabilities but would absolutely love a job. I even had a company called Halo who tried to help me rent from a private landlord.
They are a company who help people like me with special needs. That is pure utter discrimination and disgusting. So what if someone is physically or mentally disabled? As long as the landlords get their money why do they care if you have autism or a learning disability? Whatever the opinions on this site, the fact is this. It is illegal to advertise 'no dss' and to discriminate against people on benefits. By a High Court ruling. I am making it my mission to report any landlords that do this.
I'm disgusted how many are still breaking the law. Landlords have no right to ask personal questions, other than those required to do a credit check. Everyone has the right to a roof over their heads, especially those that have always paid their bills, rent and kept their homes nice. There are plenty of people that work that don't take care of their rental properties or pay their bills.
Credit checks are the legal way to find your next tennant, not ask personal questions about where their money comes from or what disabilities they have. Being a landlord is a business that involves dealing with all types of people, who need a home. Don't breal the law. Hi Julie, they now use other words and say it's because of the mortgage terms, which if that is true then it should be against the law for mortgage companies to have this in their terms.
In a lot of times for me they won't advertise that fact but will ignore you once they know you have any benefits, including pip and esa support group, even though my income is higher than when I could work, have a working homeowner guarantor, non smoker, no pets, no issues with places I've lived, I'm quiet keep self to self, never complain unless it's something I can't fix myself, but they never know because their fingers go in ears soon as they hear anything to do with benefits.
They simply ignore you or let you know later it's suddenly been let. Law or not, they'll find a way around it. Breaking the law isn't enough, it has to be proven. Very true Julie, just as it is every landlords right to ensure as far as he can that his rent will be paid and his asset not destroyed. It works both ways you see. So now the "dss" tenants can go through the rigmarole of applying before being refused thereby wasting their time I take it?
Many years ago when I worked as a manager of a financial company most non payers where actually workers. John You're right, mindsets do need changing. So instead of crying over private landlords, we should be asking why the Country is not providing accommodation for its subjects.
Benefit claimants should not be falling into the hands of private landlords for their housing needs. Whatever Laws are written, you cannot force a landlord to take benefit claimants.
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