[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by the truth

thers no way the majority get guarantors....even for those who do its simply passing their bills and responsibility onto more financially responsible people which is frankly a disgusting practice.....they've even started paying housing benefits direct to tenants in some cases? how on earth is that justifiable on any level?

They have always done that for private housing. Its stupid really..

And yes, the majority (if not all) of HB claimants living in private housing have guarantors. Without them they could not move in. Landlords will not allow it. Or not many will.

I will give you my experience from a few years back of trying to get somewhere to live while (temporarily) on benefits. The council said the wait list was around 3 years long. I was losing my job AND my house at the same time (owner sold the bar I had worked in for around 4 years and the new owner had their own staff and wanted to live in the flat above..where I was living at the time). Obviously with being unemployed I was going to have to claim HB..basically after calling around 20 affordable places, I managed to find one landlord who would accept housing benefit. I was told I could not move in without a guarantor..which luckily my dad said he would do for me. The landlord asked to see his previous bank statements, and proof that he owned his home to make sure we werent scamming him. After this I had to pay a grand bond (incase of damages) and 500 rent upfront (Incase I missed a rent payment, so he didnt lose out). Again, had to lend this from my dad.

I went to the council to sort out my LHA (housing benefit is called that for private rentals). I asked them to pay it directly to the landlord and they refused. They told me you have to be 3 months in arrears (or have previous rent arrears from properties), or previously bankrupt in order for them to do that. They would not tell me why this was the case. Then it took them 2 months to actually open the claim, during which time I had to lend my rent from my father...or I would have been kicked out pretty much immediately

Luckily for me, I found work around 2 months after I moved in (oddly enough a week before the housing benefit claim actually got sorted/backdated ) so all of the rubbish ended. And everything was fine...until I moved out and the landlord refused to give me my thousand quid back, even though there was not one thing wrong with the property besides the 'damp' that was there when I moved in (and that I pointed out to him when I moved in and he said h would get sorted)

It is not as easy as some people think it is being on benefits. Getting a house is seriously hard too, unless you can get one with the council. Though I understand why landlords require guarantors and rent in advance, and bonds, I really do.