Renting Out House

[danchip]

I'm currently trying to rent out a house that i own, the letting agents that i have decided to use rang to say they wanted to show round a woman yesterday afternoon so i went round and let them in and the guy from the agency was telling me she would be getting grants from the council to help her pay the rent!

I obtained the house as part of the sale of another house and the decor is quite poor and when the woman asked about moving in dates i said i was planning on redecorating before anyone moved in, the letting agent said not to bother because if the woman decided to move in she would get grants to redecorate from the council!

Does this mean she is on housing benefit?

[cazzz1975]

she could very well be, this does not make her a monster.

[friedgreentomato]

Housing benefit tenants can be some of the best tenants speak to nox, he is an expert in this field.

[ummmm]

Would it matter if she was?

[cazzz1975]

tenants who use housing benefit tend to be looked down on, I find this odd as people in low paid jobs claim housing benefit, pensioners and the disabled also claim housing benefit. yet a lot of landlords mistakenly regard most HB tenants as 'workshy scum'

[danchip]

It wouldn't matter if she was, i'd looked into going through the council but they wanted me to sign documents waiving my rights to decide who lived in the house!

[ummmm]

If they are referring to it as 'grants' she may just be getting help with her rent.

[danchip]

ummmmmmm i had thought of that but then why would the council help a middle aged couple move into a 4 bedroom house, wouldn't they just say live in a smaller house that you can afford

[cazzz1975]

as they are looking to rent privately, they can pick whatever house they like as long as they can afford the rent. the council can only impose rules if they are looking to rent a council house.

[ummmm]

Don't the council have limits now? Maybe your house is well within the limits.

[boxtops]

Is it down to her to decorate, though? When I rented out my flat, the tenancy agreement said they couldn't do anything like that, it was in good decorative order anyway.

She might be on disability benefit, anything - rather indiscreet of the agent to tell you about their business, unless you specified that you didn't want anyone on benefits (and I expect you might not be able to say that any more)

[cazzz1975]

to be fair boxtops, anyone living in a house or flat for long term should be allowed to decorate it themselves. as long as the decorating enhances the appearance of the house I cannot see the problem

[NOX]

she might be on housing benefit she might not, it really doesn't matter as long as you get the rent, which actually if she's on HB you're more likely to do. I've had less trouble with HB tenants over the years than with people in work just above the threshold for paying the rent. Let her decorate if she wishes, sometimes grants are available, so let her crack on:)

[friedgreentomato]

See I knew nox was the one to talk too