Landlords Look To Benefit Tenants

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More of Britain's private landlords are now taking housing benefit claimants as tenants, rather than advertising their properties through letting agents.

According to the latest Landlords Panel report from research agency BDRC, private landlords are being squeezed in a number of ways: not only are buy-to-let mortgages increasing in cost and reducing in availability, but many private tenants are under increased financial pressure themselves and becoming unable to pay their rents. As a result, the number of private landlords who accommodate benefit claimants has more than doubled, from 9% at the end of 2008 to 20% by March 2009.

However there are a number of factors deterring more private landlords from considering benefit claimants as viable tenants. Many do not trust them to look after the property, some have already had a previously bad experience with claimants and there is also the issue of those on benefits not paying the rent.

The survey asked private landlords what reassurance they would need to encourage more of them to accommodate benefit claimants; top of the list was a call for the current government to reverse its policy of paying benefits direct to the tenant. One respondent said to BDRC: "New DSS tenants get their rental money paid directly to them – not the landlords – and as a landlord you do not see it. It was a very bad move by the government to change this policy."

Mark Long, director at BDRC, says: "Our research has shown that whilst almost half of private landlords want to increase rents to improve profitability they also realise that it‚s not the right time to do so. It seems that some landlords are therefore taking the opportunity to rent to DSS benefit claimants for the first time, despite the caution from some other landlords based on the bad experiences they have had."

SOURCE: BDRC, 19/05/09

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