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Property Search Tips?
OverlyAnxious
Member Posts: 1,435 Disability Gamechanger
Just wondered if anyone could offer any 'outside the box' advice on private rental property searching?
I've been looking for months but not finding anything suitable. I think I've only found 2 places that were around 80% suitable in the last 3 months. I do have fairly strict criteria that can't be compromised on and only a small distance range but have a reasonable budget since winning PIP.
I'm checking the big 3 comparison websites every day, as well as getting daily email updates from them so shouldn't be missing anything on there.
I'm getting very desperate to move now but not sure what else I can do except keep waiting and checking the same sites over and over. Any ideas?
Thanks!
I've been looking for months but not finding anything suitable. I think I've only found 2 places that were around 80% suitable in the last 3 months. I do have fairly strict criteria that can't be compromised on and only a small distance range but have a reasonable budget since winning PIP.
I'm checking the big 3 comparison websites every day, as well as getting daily email updates from them so shouldn't be missing anything on there.
I'm getting very desperate to move now but not sure what else I can do except keep waiting and checking the same sites over and over. Any ideas?
Thanks!
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Scope community team
Best of luck with the move.
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I haven't seen that site before @poppy123456 so will have a look on there now!
Nearly 2 months on and still haven't found anything. Have been refused another 2 properties due to DSS this week...one of which didn't even have pictures and was taken within the same day! So it's easy to see the landlords don't need the extra hassle and risk of people like us. Prices are also rising considerably, what would have been £700pcm back in August is now £750 or £775pcm.
There hasn't been anything at all less than 20 miles away on the DSSMove site in the last 2 months. Even 20 miles away, it's just 2 small studio flats which aren't suitable even if they were closer.
I've just seen one property pop up that's not available until January and I'm getting really worried about this now. Living here is worsening a lot of my issues, but I'm also worried about finances of not being able to move quickly. If I can't move before before Jan 1st I'll be forced onto UC and lose some income right? I'm also worried that the backpay I have will cause problems for the switch to UC and the housing element/CTR with a new council (fairly sure I'll be moving to a different council area). And if I can't move until February then I'll have less than a year of PIP left so prospective landlords would rightly suggest I may not have the income to cover the full 12 month tenancy on a more suitable place.
I had this all planned in my head...move to a new place by the end of 2020 and remain on the same ESA/SDP/HB/PIP that I am now. Buy furniture/appliances with some of the backpay. Buy a more suitable car with whatever was left, before May when the 12 months grace period is up. But now I'm wondering if I should buy a more suitable car now instead to get the backpay down before having to move to UC and change councils...but then I don't really know how much I need to keep back for furniture and appliances until I've found a place, and also wanted to keep the option of a 6 month deposit in case that would help me secure a place.
Am I worrying about this unnecessarily? Have a I got the wrong end of the stick about changing councils and changing to UC etc? What would you do in my position?
The 17th seems an odd date to end the SDP regs but it does at least give me a couple more weeks than I thought.
If I did move after the 17th and into a different council, how quickly do things have to change? Would I immediately lose the HB & ESA? Would I have to apply for UC or is it just automatic that I'd placed onto LCWRA without a new application or assessment? Would I have to wait the 6 weeks for the UC payments to start?
The backdated money was triggered by the PIP award, but some of it was from housing benefit (moved from shared to one bed rate) and some was from SDP as well. They all arrived on different dates which is a bit confusing but can obviously be proved by bank statements. The worry is, I'm not sure if the new council will disregard the backpay for the council tax reduction? And if that's the case, do the council have any input on the housing element of UC? I'm assuming that only the DWP based benefits disregard the backpay and that's why I don't want to leave it in the account if it'll cause problems for the move.
Have also had one place suggesting they'd be happy to allow a benefits tenant...as long as I had a guarantor that was earning £30k a year! Not to speculate but I'd guess the majority of benefits tenants won't know anyone earning that sort of money.
I'm also getting a bit fed up with the old pictures that agents use on their ads. One place even listed as a new build with pictures from when it was new...but it turns out they were old pictures. They wouldn't get away with that anywhere else...if you place an ad on Autotrader saying 'brand new car' with pictures of it all factory fresh, buyers would rightly be upset if they turned up to find a dirty, used car that's been battered and bruised ferrying kids and dogs about for the last few years.
I've placed a post on social media asking if anyone local knows of anything - but haven't had a single reply. Trouble is, I've lost touch with any local people due to my health issues so don't really 'know' anyone local nowadays.
I know I've just got to keep looking, and that moaning about it won't make somewhere magically appear but it's getting more difficult to retain the optimism.
My guess is the estate agent is a bit like some car salesmen and just wanted an easy life. As a benefits tenant maybe you create more work than a “normal” tenant so he wanted rid of you. Not the best attitude but it happens
I hope you manage to find a property soon
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I wouldn't know which are trustworthy for here and I'm not really comfortable with making 'public' posts under my name.
Scope community team
As you said, you've just got to keep looking at hope something pops up. If I find any resources I'll send them your way!
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Apparently if you have an income that’s not seen as secure you can sometimes get a property by providing a larger deposit, up to 12 months. You could maybe offer to do this if you have the resources? I know you got a decent back pay.
Doing this would also come in useful as it would reduce your savings for the purpose of your income related benefits then if you ever lost your benefits again you could move to a cheaper property and release some of the deposit money.
It is something I've considered but there are a few downsides to doing it.
The main one is that it would take up all of my backpay to do 12 months on the sort of property I'm looking for, meaning that I couldn't buy any furniture. I'd have to wait several weeks just to buy a bed for example. Plus I couldn't ever upgrade the car to a more suitable one as I'd never have a big enough lump sum in savings, only reason I've got a big lump currently is due to the backpay grace period.
It also means I'd end up with excess income that's not being used on rent (after the first few months when I'd bought furniture) which would push me over the £6k threshold by the end of the 12 months. I'd have to start 'wasting' it on cheaper items that I don't really need, rather than one large, useful item like a car. I could get 12 months use out of a car if that was bought with the backpay, at the same time as paying monthly rent on a house with the income flow. It's not so much about the amount of money, it's about the money management and flow.
Plus, if something went wrong and I lost the ESA and had to move after say 6 months, I couldn't get the excess deposit back to use as a deposit on a new place. You only get the deposit back after moving. Again, you end up with the same money, but are not able to use it as and when you need it.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of the above...this has all been bouncing around in my head for so long that I may have confused myself lol.
I'm not ruling it out, but would rather not do it if I can help it. The plan I mentioned earlier in the thread to pay monthly rent and then buy furniture with backpay and change car with whatever backpay is left seems like a safer option to me. If I got in trouble after 6 months and needed the money, I could sell the car within days to get the money back from that, unlike a 12m deposit.
The alternative to a large deposit would be a guarantor. I can get a guarantor but it depends on how much they have to earn. I've only been offered the use of a guarantor on one property so far but the guarantor didn't earn enough to even pass the references, let alone actually be considered for the property when there are other non-benefits tenants applying for the same place.
I never realised it was so hard to get a property when on housing benefit. I was always told that HB claimants are quite attractive tenants as the landlord is pretty much guaranteed an income directly from the government!
I am not looking forward to looking for a property when it is time for me to leave home!
The Landlord no longer gets the HB directly which has been a massive knockback for them and us. It's paid to the claimant now which is a terrible idea for many claimants! Not everyone can manage money effectively, someone with addiction or bipolar can spend a whole months rent in a day for example. Plus with all income being paid 4 weekly through UC now, that makes matters even worse than when everyone was on ESA with 2 weekly payments.
I think the worst thing by far is the media portrayal of benefits tenants though. We've all seen the programmes with tenants smoking weed, getting drunk and punching holes in walls next to a 60" TV with every optional Sky channel available...complaining that they haven't got any money for the gas meter to warm up a dented tin of value beans from the food bank. Sadly we're all tarred with the same brush. There are loads of working people that can't manage money or priorities either...but the word 'benefits' immediately puts that image into the head of a landlord or agent.
The final problem is the lack of housing...there's just not enough of it, several applicants are going for each place now and obviously, the one with the secure job will always be more attractive than a benefits claimant. This is what's been the biggest shock to me trying to move this time. When I moved 5 years ago my place had been on the market for weeks, I was the first applicant and was immediately accepted. Other places in my block are only on the website a day or two before being snapped up now!
I'm well aware that part of my difficulty this time is having a very tight area radius and specific criteria. I can find plenty of flats (although whether they'd be more inclined to accept benefits I don't know) but really need somewhere with it's own non-communal entrance and some private outdoor space which is generally going to mean a house.