x
By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies to enhance your experience.
Graham Awards

TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Landlords blast Sunak for making rent payments harder

Landlords have sharply criticised Chancellor Rishi Sunak for cutting the amount tenants relying on benefits will be able to claim to pay their rent.

The small print of Sunak’s Spending Review, delivered in the House of Commons yesterday, shows the lettings fallout as being far less rosy than the Chancellor suggested to MPs.

According to a report by the Office for Budget Responsibility published alongside the review, the Local Housing Allowance will be frozen in cash terms from next year. 

Advertisement

This means that the rate will fall below the current level which is set to cover the lowest 30 per cent of rents in any given area.

The National Residential Landlords Association is warning that the announcement represents a kick in the teeth for both renters and landlords struggling with the consequence of arrears through no fault of their own.

The current LHA rate was set in April this year to help renters whose incomes had been affected by the pandemic to meet the cost of their rents. 

A recent analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests that five per cent of households in the private rented sector are in arrears. And 30 per cent of all private rented households are worried about paying their rent in the next three months, compared to 19 per cent immediately pre-Covid-19.

The NRLA says the vast majority of private landlords have done everything they can to support struggling tenants. 

Now an angry statement from the association comments: “However, given that most landlords are individuals and not property tycoons it will become increasingly difficult to keep affected tenancies going without adequate financial support to pay off rent arrears.”

Ben Beadle, NRLA chief executive, adds: “Many renters and landlords are struggling with the consequence of rent arrears through no fault of their own yet the government is failing to take the action needed to address this.

“Whilst the Chancellor has spoken about the need to support those who find themselves homeless, it would be much better for all concerned to provide the funds needed to sustain tenancies in the first place.”

Want to comment on this story? If so...if any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on any basis, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.

Poll: What do you think of Sunak's announcement?

PLACE YOUR VOTE BELOW


Join the conversation

  • icon

    More reason to refuse tenants on benefits.

    Mark Wilson

    Not really the big picture, more the point rents will fall. A freeze in public sector pay, it will happen every. Yields will drop significantly.

     
    icon

    Rents won't fall. I put a property back up for let on Monday and had over 20 requests for viewing within 24 hours.

     
    Mark Wilson

    OK rents wont fall, but they have in London by 25%?

     
    icon

    London is suffering a drop in demand. Other parts are still buoyant and rents continue to rise in line with demand. No matter how hard you wish for it Mark, you can't fight market forces!

    According to recent data, I should be in line for a £40,000 pay rise once the predicted rent increases for Scotland kick in.

    Happy Days!

     
  • icon
    • 26 November 2020 09:41 AM

    I am all for the more reasons to refuse benefit tenants the better.
    I would rather sell my houses than rent to those skiving, filthy crooks on benefits.

    icon
    • 26 November 2020 10:25 AM

    I agree!

     
    icon

    Seven years ago I took a family on benefits those house had been repossessed due to redundancy when the man's employer went bust. They recovered over the years through hard work, are now both working and not missed ONE rent payment. In return I have never increased the rent. Your many hard working people can find themselves in benefits.

     
    icon
    • 26 November 2020 11:18 AM

    Never increased the rent?
    That is charity, not business!!!!!!!!!!!

     
    icon

    David - 'those skiving, filthy crooks on benefits' - oh dear. You've obviously had bad experience. But this is a generalisation too far. (Unless you can 'fact-check' your statement, I'm afraid you really should not have stereotyped like this ......... whatever your experience. Sorry.)

     
    icon

    Very true David. Wirth

     
    icon

    "I am all for the more reasons to refuse benefit tenants the better."
    Well said David Crisp. We need to move these benefit tenants into shop doorways and cardboard boxes under railway arches. Even that is too good for them, these skiving filthy crooks.
    As a matter of interest where would you live if you had no money and would you steal for food if you were hungry?

     
  • icon

    As expected a bunch of idiots in charge of us, now they even wants us to educate ourselves up to their standard imagine that ? morans. The Furlough Scheme was a disaster hundreds of Millions wasted if not Billions, everyone milked it from the Billionaire to the man in the Street, I know so many didn't need it and didn't even affect them some took thousands and then carried on in the black market in the mean time making easy extra money, I see free food being delivered to Millionaires its disgusting. All the Chancellor had to do at the outset was simply say its a loan & will need paying back sometime that would have cut the Bill by more than half immediately, the millions that didn't need it would not be applying. Everything Mark says this time is correct and a forgone conclusion.

  • icon
    • 26 November 2020 12:01 PM

    Mr. W,

    I just find benefit tenants to be non rent paying grubby crooks and scum....And in a country of free speech, I have every right to have any viewpoint I want, when I want.

  • icon
    • 26 November 2020 16:08 PM

    Echis:

    I would never be in that position as I work very hard, 7 days a week,, I save money, I am frugal with purchases. I do not fritter on non essential items. Unlike these scums.......who by the way have trashed 8 of my properties, leaving human waste, destroyed cupboards, broken toilets, sinks, showers, baths, dog chewed doors and cupboards, cat piss, dog shit, and no rent!!!!

    I am proud of what I do and how I have been successful in my life.

    So - It is not an option for me to be a stinking non rent paying scrounging thieving scum bag. These people deserve nothing.

    If they can afford dogs and cats, they can afford to pay my rent first.

  • icon

    @ Echis there is good reason for most of us not to rent to benefit claimants, past experience has proved that it is very hard to get them to pay their rent and that the housing benefit payments do not cover the full rent, we are not operating a charity , it is the local council's responsibility to home homeless people in their area , so people on benefits are best left to the local council to home.

  • icon

    Andrew Townshend, I take the point and thank you. The relevant category of renters may be short suited on respect for property and debt. They are also hard up, mistreated and with little to look forward to in life. Landlords who want to take their housing benefit to enrich themselves do so at their own risk. They want the government's hand out money for substandard flats but they want this without risk. That doesn't work. They have a filtering process when taking on new tenants. They can say no or yes but they need to stop whinging and beating up people with nothing in life.

    icon

    We don't want to beat anyone up - just avoid the higher risk prospective tenants.

     
  • icon

    I am horrified on what I see on here. Benefit tenants are perfectly in their rights to sue landlords for not allowing them to live in their properties, it is discrimination.

    I cant believe how you call people on benefits scroungers, some have had it so tough where people have lost jobs, not everyone is as privileged as you. Maybe you should be careful what you say, when you call people scu, for having disabilities and temporarily or permanently unable to work,its pretty disgusting.

    I hope you do find yourself with a tenant who does refuse to pay rent, working or not, that would be karma

    icon

    Sorry Andrew our properties we chose who lives in them just as a builder would chose who he works for, as I said before we have had so much trouble getting the rent paid from people on benefits in the past, and also now it can take us a year + to evict a non payer we are not prepared to take that risk.

     
    icon

    Get real!

    As for being privileged, the harder I work the more privileged I have become.

    No one is owed a living at the expense of others, unless they have a disability of some kind.

     
  • Carlo Rappa

    Hey David Crisp.
    You have been imposed rules, imposed taxes, impose laws... and you still think you live in a "free" country??
    Can you check how many timea you have whinges when a new tax come to force??
    So dont call free country.
    Just because you are free to say what you like, i dont think you should offend people that are less fortunate.
    Yes i agree many people on benefits are doing little for themselves.
    But many are live in area and cities were there is little to do.
    .
    Look at the travel sector. Many will face fierce competition to go back to work!
    And if i was them, i definitely ask for support to get by until market rebalanced
    So don't call everyone "scroungers"
    If you have done well in life, coach someone else it will feel good that way.
    I guess you watch too much tv peograms
    All the best
    Carlo

    icon
    • 27 November 2020 18:55 PM

    Go live in or example Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Gambia, America, Canada and see how house rental works......You will be back in the UK in Nano seconds ......

     
  • icon

    I'll tell the next solider who has their leg blown off, or the next emergency worker attacked on duty, the next disfigured person or mentally impaired person.
    You cant tarnish everyone with the same brush. People have things happen beyond their control. Not everybody leads a privileged house or has mummy and daddy to help buy their first house.
    Its people like you that give landlords a bad name, really you are genuinely scum and people like you should be criminalised for your attitudes.

    I'll tell the next person who needs to rent a property that they can't (if they have one of the things listed above) that David crisp says they are scum and should rent a property out.
    You really are a vile human being

    icon

    What makes you think that mummy and daddy helped any of us buy our first houses? most of us on here are of a generation that worked hard, stood on our own 2 feet from an early age and saved, we are not from the ''entitled'' generation.

     
    Daniela Provvedi

    @Andrew Williamson I feel sorry that some people have had a hard life (leg blown off, attacked, disfigured, etc), but why do you think they should be allowed to live in one of my flats for free?
    No Mummy & Daddy helped me - they died when they were young.
    All my privileges were obtained with my own 2 hands.

     
  • icon
    • 27 November 2020 18:30 PM

    Totally agree.......
    It has nothing to do with your business.....
    Do you think the likes of Unilever or Shell think of anything other than their business.....

    I know they don't as I used to have then and others as Clients....They look after number 1.....

    Just as I have to do so in this environment too........

    Other people's misfortune are not my problem. I have enough of those.

    Let them and the Government sort them selves out.

    icon
    • 27 November 2020 18:40 PM

    And given that the one of the biggest issues of the PRS is that of rent default.
    It just does not happen in Australia and Germany, because there it is considered a criminal offence and not a civil one.

    Any defaulters are forced out by the police in 48 hours. Not even any bailiff charges which is good.

    No courts, no 2 years of landlord losses.....No more paying lawyers and Agents.....

    So - Which do you think is the right and better way? And which would you prefer?

    The the SCUMS might actually then pay their rent rather than screw the system.

    Make them pay in this world, just as everyone else does.

     
  • icon

    Not paying rent is wrong. Whether people work or not, my point is you cant tarnish everyone with the same brush, call them criminals and scum. In my opinion 98% of landlords are scum, many on this thread I'm sure are scum. David crisp you called everyone on benefits criminals and scum, is that still your opinion. I'm glad to know that you see people with disabilities less human than you though. I really hope you find yourself a working tenant in a nice long contract that stops paying you rent. In my opinion if you decide not to rent to anyone, you shouldn't rent at all. Its discrimination at its best.
    I would be happy for people who refuse to pay rent to be kicked out in 2 months without courts and bailiffs, that is fair.

    icon

    I have reported your post for breaching the rules of this platform for calling 98% of landlords scum, wishing harm on landlords in general and David Crisp in person.

    In my experience, most landlords are sympathetic to unexpected problems experienced by tenants and are happy to release them immediately from the rest of their lease, in return for promptly vacating the properties. Most businesses hold customers to their contacts. Are they scrum too.

     
    icon

    Andrew W you would be happy to see non payers evicted in 2 months, so would every landlord, if we could do that we may well be prepared to take a risk with some tenants, however this is not the case, and never will be in this country , so I'm very sorry but for me and most other landlords this a risk we are not going to take, don't blame us, blame the system.

     
  • icon
    • 27 November 2020 19:38 PM

    So we agree...If they don't pay they go.......
    If they don't go, they get evicted..... and have to pat all default debts
    And when they get evicted the HAVE to pay ALL their debts....................?

    And I can tarnish anyone however I want to.......That is my right. And lets face it, these scums are usually the rag end of society and as such many landlords lose lots of money trying to help and still get kicked in the face financially.

    Not only that, they usually smell....


  • Luvlee Murray

    Ipeople who claim housing benefit or receive universal creditare not skivers and bum. They are people who dont earn enough money due to low paid jobs and the extortionate prices that are paid for rent to be able to pay their rent and put food on the table. My daughter after her divorce from her husband and has two children works full time her rent is €1,500 per month for a tiny three bedroom house and she works hard but her average wage means that she has to claim benefits in order to cover her rent and still be able to pay the bills and put food on the table. So shut up you idiots who are insinuating that people on benefits are skivers and bums. Rents are high and wages are low and people are experiencing difficulties due to the high costs of living..

    icon

    Where ever does your daughter live ? £1500 per month-- wish I could get that for a small 3 bed house, I would be very lucky to get half that here in Norwich , not everyone on benefits are skivers, but a very large percentage are.

     
    icon

    how much money from ex-hubby?

     
  • Luvlee Murray

    Ipeople who claim housing benefit or receive universal creditare not skivers and bum. They are people who dont earn enough money due to low paid jobs and the extortionate prices that are paid for rent to be able to pay their rent and put food on the table. My daughter after her divorce from her husband and has two children works full time her rent is €1,500 per month for a tiny three bedroom house and she works hard but her average wage means that she has to claim benefits in order to cover her rent and still be able to pay the bills and put food on the table. So shut up you idiots who are insinuating that people on benefits are skivers and bums. Rents are high and wages are low and people are experiencing difficulties due to the high costs of living..

  • icon
    • 27 November 2020 20:05 PM

    So - She gets money from benefits (my money) she should move somewhere cheaper that she can afford......She needs to work and get money to support her family.
    Her fault she has kids.
    Why should I pay money for her lifestyle, and her babies?
    And like anything, the market dictates the cost. Not the landlord...The Market.
    If she cannot afford a nice pair of shoes she will buy cheaper ones......Why is a house any different???
    And anyway, a 3 bed house at £1,500 is expensive.....She needs to downscale to her budget.
    She needs to grow up and stop breeding. Unless she can afford it.

    icon
    • 27 November 2020 20:06 PM

    And yes......she is scrounging on public money.

     
  • icon

    welfarism is always destructive

  • icon
    • 27 November 2020 20:07 PM

    And do you help her? I bet not?

  • icon
    • 27 November 2020 20:13 PM

    #TERRY

    Great thought

  • Luvlee Murray

    You obviously were renting to people who were working as you obviously dont like people on benefits.
    You obviously have a problem as I explained my daughter is divorced and during her marriage had two children unfortunately it did not work out. My daughter and her husband both worked but as they are not together there is only one wage coming in.
    I feel a bit sorry for you David we all have problems in life you seem to show little compassion for other people whatever has happened to you must of been a terrible experience. I hope that you are able to resolve these feelings. Try watching the film scrooge its about a man whose whole focus on life is about money and becomes a nasty botter old man who is visited by some ghosts I dont want to spoil it for you you by telling you the rest of the story you should give it a watch.
    Its a bit early but I just want to wish you a Happy New year.😀😀😀


Comments are now disabled on this article. Thanks for your contributions.

MovePal MovePal MovePal
sign up