lanaby Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 I'm new to this forum and new to being a landlord and have found everything I've read very helpful so far. Can anyone answer some questions for me please? If I am renewing an AST after the initial period to the same tenant, do I have to put the deposit that is already in my account into the new scheme, or does it just apply to new deposits received after the start date in April? re Housing Benefit. I have just rented to a tenant on benefits. The Council very happily paid me £600 dep and £600 rent in advance to secure her tenancy. They are now saying the rent has been assessed as too high and subsequently will now only pay her an amount whereby she can't afford to top up the rest. I am not prepared to lower the rent and have written to her/them to that affect, saying basically saying that they have been irresponsible by allowing her to secure the tenancy and not backing it up when it matters. She's been there for 3 weeks and I'd like her to stay. Am I within my rights to argue this with the council and will I get anywhere? On another HB note, the rent is charged PCM as is everything in this world it seems. Why does my local council want to pay me per 'lunar' month, thus varying the amount I receive every month, resulting in my tenant being unable to set up a fixed direct debit for the top up rent. Is this common to every LA? If so, has anyone managed to pursuade their council to make PCM payments instead? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robwalsh25@tiscali.co.uk Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Pretty sure you only have to put a deposit into a scheme if you receive it arter april 2007 or the AST is signed arfter april 2007. Check out www.mydeposits.co.uk it should explain all. as far as the council are concerned if they entered into a contract with you to pay £600 rent then they have to pay you £600 rent! You could sign up with the national landlord association NLA which costs about £80 and they can advise you on anything anytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Hi Lanaby, I am the "resident expert" on Councils and Housing Benefit ... and Rob is incorrect with the advice that he has given. On Tenancy Deposits, if you renew an AST on or after 6th April 07 then you MUST put the security deposit in either a custodial or insurance based scheme and you MUST notify your tenant, within 14 days, of what scheme you have used. If you fail to do either of the above then the court will fine you THREE TIMES the deposit (ie: £1800), will force you to put the £600 in a scheme. In addition, you will not be able to use a Section 21 to gain repossession of your property at the end of the tenancy. On Housing Benefit, you should have completed a "Pre-Tenancy Determination" - known as a PTD - before you started the tenancy. A PTD form is completed and sent to the local Rent Officer who then assesses what the "fair market rent" is for properties such as yours. Without a PTD (as is your case) the Rent Officer will assess how much rent is payable AFTER the tenancy commences. It is possible to appeal a PTD - but you need to be very very careful because during the appeal process another Rent Office could lower the rent further ! Housing Benefit is always paid 13 times a year, 4 weeks in arrear. Local Councils are paying thousands of claimants every month and are unlikely to change their systems to suit you ! You should have checked this before taking on Housing Benefit tenants. Finally, the tenancy agreement is between you and the TENANT and not the Council ... so you cannot "force them" ie: the Council to pay anything. If you are not happy with the situation then you can either try and serve a Section 8 notice on your tenant (because they are behind with the rent) but I would be surprised if the judge awarded in your favour, you could reduce the rent (which is what I would do) or you serve a Section 21 when you can. The reason why I would reduce the rent is 1) because the Rent Officer has a pretty good idea what a fair market rent is, 2) the tenant cannot afford to pay the top up payment, 3) you can't get money out of someone who is unable to pay you (ie: the tenant), 4) the tenant will reward your kindness by staying in your property for a long time thereby minimising your future void periods and more than compensating you for a small amount of rent shortfall each month. Good Luck, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPEEDTWIN Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Before you reduce the rent ask the tenant to apply for discrestionary benifit from the the council. I have a number of tenants who get a top up of their rent this way for any shortfall in housing benifit. They may or may not get it and will have to reaply each year for it but it may solve your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanaby Posted February 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Before you reduce the rent ask the tenant to apply for discrestionary benifit from the the council. I have a number of tenants who get a top up of their rent this way for any shortfall in housing benifit. They may or may not get it and will have to reaply each year for it but it may solve your problem. Thank you speedtwin, I will definitely try that if it comes to reducing the rent. Much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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