MICHAELA8668 Posted October 12, 2006 Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 I have a woman with 2 kids who wants to rent my 2 double bed flat. I have reservations as I dont really want kids in the flat as I guess there may be more wear and tear. The council will be paying her rent (Iam yet to get all the details so I am not sure if this will be all or part of her rent). Have any of you had experience woth this type of tenant? She also wants to let for 3 years. I can see how this could be good but want to know if any of you have any views on this. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtis Posted October 12, 2006 Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 I have a woman with 2 kids who wants to rent my 2 double bed flat. I have reservations as I dont really want kids in the flat as I guess there may be more wear and tear. The council will be paying her rent (Iam yet to get all the details so I am not sure if this will be all or part of her rent). Have any of you had experience woth this type of tenant? She also wants to let for 3 years. I can see how this could be good but want to know if any of you have any views on this. Thanks If the Council are paying you direct then that is one advantage and if she is waiting for a Council House the list is ususally 3 years. You have nothing to do for that period other than general repairs. You might have work on your hands when she leaves but if you arrange monthly inspection visits and you ask her for a deposit. then you can keep any damage down to a minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MICHAELA8668 Posted October 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 Thanks Curtis. The agent says that the council will pay a 6 week deposit. I am hesitant as I have heard horror stories about delays in getting the housing benefit and I am also concerned about having 2 kids ithe flat. It was decorated to attract young working professionals as its quite a posh area. It hadnt occurred to me that someon with 2 kids would want to live there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reg Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 I let a small house out to a single mum (with 1 kid). I haven't used an agent, but did my own checks on her (phoning references and giving her a financial check using www.letsure.co.uk - £14. I hadn't originally intended to let to dss and reluctantly agreed to take a single mum with two months deposit of her own money (borrowed from her dad) and with a guarantor. So six weeks deposit is probably the bare minimum of security you want. Firstly I wanted the rent sent to her, then paid to me. This was because if the she had started to work and and the council found out, they would have unfairly chased me for any falsely claimed rent. However, I have recently heard that this may not be the case anymore (rightly too) and that landlord's now have slightly more rights over this matter. Anyway, after the deposit was paid in cash, There was a delay in receiving rent (10 weeks in total), this was due to the rent assesors disputing the amount of rent I was requesting. She didn't want to contribute out of her own pocket to meet the full rent amount. She managed to get the council to pay the full whack after contesting there orignal decision. At this time my relationship with my tenant was not good, she was telling me that she had spoken to the council and there were sending a cheque out the next day, two weeks later she said she was still waiting. I rang the council direct, but they wouldn't disclose anything what so ever. Subsequently, I leant on the guarantor, who paid me the next day in person one month of the two months rent that was owed, shortly after that the tenant rang and had received the first cheque. Things have settled down now. The up side with single mums with young kids is that they don't want to move regularly, they want abit of stability and want there kids to stay at the same school, well this is my thinking. On hindsight I would have got the council to pay me directly and regularly made sure she wasn't officially working. Also being payed direct allows you to chase up the council at the same time making sure that the prospective tenant is entitled to benefits in the first place. Her little nipper hasn't wrecked the place so far, obviously two kids will double the potential of 'wear and tear'. I think it comes down to two factors: FIRSTLY, the measure of the spec of your furnishings, decorating etc If it's a very high spec, I wouldn't take on a single mum of two, because with the up most respect, she wont go out of her way to look after your place, the kids will probably scribble on the walls etc and how would you feel if that happened. And will six weeks deposit to cover any possible damage, would this be enough. I would also have a clause in the inventory / tenancy agreement, if you leave a washing machine, that it is left as courtesy only and it is not your responsibilty should it go wrong, because a single mum will be doing alot of washing. SECONDLY, how did she appear? If you haven't meet personally (ie your agent showed her around), you need to meet her in person. What are / will be - your first impressions. If she made an effort to look respectable, then there's more chance she will make an effort to look after your flat. However if she looked scruffy and / or had a fag hanging out of her mouth then I would catergorically say no. As little self respect will mean even less respect for your property. Best of luck, hope u get a good tenant in there soon dss or not. PS If you do take on dss make sure you use an insurance company allowing dss, not all insurance companies do, paragon do. You don't want anything invalidating your insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 All this information re-DSS is the principle reason why I don't bother with DSS Tenancies. Just too much hassle and red tape dealing with Council officials. When the day comes that Councils review their letting policies then that will be the day I may take a DSS Tenant. I know Mark Trenners will probably dis-agree with my comments as he is dealing with the DSS all the time but hopefully some of these comments will get back to the DSS OFFICIALS. Regarding mike and his problem I would seriously not consider what he has been offered if there is a good chance he can let to just a professional couple for the same money. (don't forget to carry out thorough checks though) Mel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleming Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 I know we are in danger of re-entering the 'do-we-or-don't-we-rent-to-DSS-tenants' arguement again. Personally I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. If you do, then it's much better to be paid direct. Yes, the rules have changed re landlords being chased for over-payment of DSS (I successfully countered a claim by our tenant's council) Our tenant's DSS should have been stopped two months before she was evicted. Fortunately for us, we had ignored our agent's pleas to let the tenant stay on(!) as the overpayment did not come to light for several months. The point being that the wheels of the DSS machine grind VERY slowly and because of the Data Propection Act it is very difficult to get information from the council. Go into this with your eyes opened! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 I couldn't resist contributing to a subject that is so very close to my heart. Not ALL DSS tenant are bad people. I think it should be illegal to discriminate against someone .... just because they are claiming a benefit...... why does that make them a bad tenant? You will find that some professional couples will completely trash your property and will not pay their rent on time ..... you will find some DSS tenants will do the same ...... Yet ... some professional and DSS tenants will respect your property and pay their rent on time. In summary - just because someone is claiming a benefit does not make them a bad tenant. I would add that a good tenant, claiming benefits, will stay in your rental property a lot longer than a professional couple - who will probably be saving to get a foot on the property ladder sooner rather than later ! A benefit claiming tenant might mean having ZERO void periods for 10 years .... that should improve the yield on your investment !!! I say ..... trust your first impressions / gut instinct and go for it ! Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 I couldn't resist contributing to a subject that is so very close to my heart. Not ALL DSS tenant are bad people. I think it should be illegal to discriminate against someone .... just because they are claiming a benefit...... why does that make them a bad tenant? You will find that some professional couples will completely trash your property and will not pay their rent on time ..... you will find some DSS tenants will do the same ...... Yet ... some professional and DSS tenants will respect your property and pay their rent on time. In summary - just because someone is claiming a benefit does not make them a bad tenant. I would add that a good tenant, claiming benefits, will stay in your rental property a lot longer than a professional couple - who will probably be saving to get a foot on the property ladder sooner rather than later ! A benefit claiming tenant might mean having ZERO void periods for 10 years .... that should improve the yield on your investment !!! I say ..... trust your first impressions / gut instinct and go for it ! Mark It's not so much the Tenant Mark ....it's dealing with the bl**dy local Council that's the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPEEDTWIN Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 It's not so much the Tenant Mark ....it's dealing with the bl**dy local Council that's the problem. I agree, the council complain that not enough letting agents or private landlords rent to people on benifits but its their own bloody fault for the way they pay out and when you phone them they could`nt give a s--t. i might be wrong but why pay out 4 weekly when i think most landlords want calendar monthy and then they expect the tenant to know how to convert payment to monthy and then work out any shortfall. madness bloody madness. some dss tenants ive had have been as good as gold but the fact is some cant read or write. so the council say do the payments on a 4 weekly basis, so if you have got more than 1 property you could end up with some 4 weekly and some calendar monthy. lovely just what i want excuse me now i will just get down from my soapbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MICHAELA8668 Posted October 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Thanks for your replies everyone. The siutation has resolved itself as I have now found 2 professional sharers. I take on what some of you have said about professionals wrecking the place. This is indeed what has happened. It has taken 2 days of mine and my husbands annual leave to return the flat to its former glory. Steep learning curve for us re: property inspections but there you go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 I agree, the council complain that not enough letting agents or private landlords rent to people on benifits but its their own bloody fault for the way they pay out and when you phone them they could`nt give a s--t. i might be wrong but why pay out 4 weekly when i think most landlords want calendar monthy and then they expect the tenant to know how to convert payment to monthy and then work out any shortfall. madness bloody madness. some dss tenants ive had have been as good as gold but the fact is some cant read or write. so the council say do the payments on a 4 weekly basis, so if you have got more than 1 property you could end up with some 4 weekly and some calendar monthy. lovely just what i want excuse me now i will just get down from my soapbox. Not at all Speedtwin....... that is what this Forum is for!....... Advice and an exchange of views. Mel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.