No DSS to YES YES YES

For as long as I can remember landlords have always been adverse to accepting tenants whose income is state benefits
Deemed, unreliable and more likely than not to leave a landlord with thousands of pounds in rent arrears, landlords have always preferred an employed tenant claiming them to be reliable and with a guaranteed income each month.

What a difference a virus makes.
The small number of landlords who have been accepting tenants on benefits and those who made it a clear business model are now sitting pretty in these bizarre times

All of the reliable employed tenants with the regular income are now stamping their feet and demanding they live rent free, causing landlords sleepless nights and uncomfortable calls to their Mortgage lenders.

While landlords whose tenants claim benefits have not seen a flicker of this problem, in fact these landlords are also experiencing rent increases as the benefit freeze was lifted today and those savvy landlords who knew this was happening would have submitted S13s a month ago in readiness for the the increase in local housing allowance, although this increase is small in comparison to the usual increase, it is in this time of uncertainty, welcomed and guaranteed.

Now with thousands of tenants losing their jobs and having to claim benefits, will this finally change the mindset of landlords who were so set against any form of benefit as an income.
Now this is the only option, will Landlords be more open to accept the reliable income of the benefit system.

Local Housing Allowance ( LHA) is the level of benefit a person can get towards their rent, this is different for each area and is calculated on the 30 percentile of the rents for that type of property in that area.
With the benefit freeze, which lasted 4 years, this meant that market rents in some areas shot up well above LHA meaning tenants on benefits couldn’t afford to rent in some towns and cities or were left with a shortfall that they would need to ‘top up’, for landlords this would not fit the business model and they would want to get the highest rent possible, which from a business perspective is totally understandable.

However with the freeze removed many LHA rates would easily cover rent in most areas, with no need for a topup.

We don’t know how long it will take our tenants to find new jobs, pay off their arrears and be in a position to start paying full rent again, but those landlords who worked outside the box and saw the logic and stability of a tenant on benefits will not be experiencing as many problems as those who refused.

Will this see a change of mind for landlords and agents when considering tenants in the future, will the small print say ‘ Sorry No employed’