Landlord Products / Services
I’ve come to the very sad realisation that it’s not worth getting involved with DSS tenants anymore because of the incompetence of the local council (or at least, my local council, although I’m sure it’s a national disaster).
The system in place is so brain-numbingly stupid it’s painful. Not to mention, their unwillingness to help landlords make me want to rip my eyes out with a blunt spoon every time I have to engage with them.
Let me be clear, I have no qualms with DSS tenants, my gripe is with the system, and I know I’m not the only landlord that feels this way.
Council tax problem
I received a council tax bill for £18.57 regarding a property. Not much, right? Right. But that wasn’t the point.
I knew I shouldn’t be liable because I’ve had tenants occupying the property, so I wanted to know what period the bill accounted for so I could drill down the problem. I’m not entirely sure why they don’t have the dates on the actual notices.
Anyways, I called my local council to find out what the deal was. A woman on the other end said it accounted for 15th August – 20th August. I told her that my tenant (a tenant I actually had to evict due to excessive rent arrears) was occupying the property until the 20th of August and my new tenant moved in on the 21st.
The unhelpful tit on the other end said that their records showed that my ex-tenant and the council had agreed for her to vacate on the 14th. I said I wasn’t aware of that arrangement, and asked why I wasn’t made aware of their internal agreement – seems like useful and vital knowledge the landlord should know about – and when I questioned how I was meant to know my tenant and the council had made that kind of arrangement, her response was, “it’s your property, you should know”.
“How the fuck am I meant to know if no one notified me?“, is what I should have screamed at the top of my lungs.
We basically kept aimlessly squabbling for 20 mins, and we were obviously getting increasingly frustrated.
It really wasn’t about the money, it’s the principle. I shouldn’t be made liable for my tenant’s council tax bill because my tenant and council made an arrangement that I wasn’t made aware of.
She then requested for me to provide proof that my tenant moved out on the 20th, and I should send them my tenancy agreement. That would have made reasonable sense had it not been for the fact that my tenant was evicted before the fixed term of the tenancy, which they were perfectly aware of.
“Yes, I understand, unless you can provide proof you’re liable because it’s your property”
*slaps forehead*
At this point I had mental images of slamming a pencil through her spine. As a last ditch attempt at highlighting how absurd the situation was [from my perspective], I asked, “what if you had a tenant and she had made an arrangement with the council that you weren’t made aware of which ended up costing you?”
Unsurprisingly, silence.
The conversation ended bitterly and we predictably got nowhere.
Benefit cheques received every 30 days
Benefit payments are released every 30 days and are based on day rates. Totally impractical. I wonder whose brainchild that was?
99.9999% of landlords charge rent on a per calendar month basis (i.e. the same date on every month). So for example, I collect rent on the 1st of every month, consequently it would make perfect sense for the council to release cheques on a per calendar month basis (even if it’s not the 1st of every month). Receiving cheques every 30 days can get very confusing from an accounting point of view, especially if your tenant has to pay a shortfall. So if I make a very logical agreement with my tenant to pay her shortfall of £100 on the 1st of every month, and the council pays every 30 days, I’m receiving cheques all over the place.
The Government has stopped sending money directly to landlords
Back in the day, the council sent their housing allowance directly to landlords. It gave landlord’s reassurance, and actually, a pretty good reason to take on DSS tenants.
Unfortunately, the Government took the brazen decision to nip that good idea in the bud.
Anyways, to save myself from repeating myself, you can read more about this issue here, The Difference Between DSS Tenants on Housing Benefit (HB) And Local Housing Allowance (LHA)
Council didn’t give a shit about rent arrears
One of my tenant’s was receiving housing benefit cheques because she was an unemployed single mum. All good with me.
However, she fell into arrears by two months, so I contacted the council and explained the dilemma. They didn’t seem to give two shits; the fact that someone was receiving housing benefits and failing to pay her rent didn’t seem to phase them in the slightest. More frustratingly, due to data protection policies they couldn’t tell me anything useful, like if she had actually received her benefits or not.
I never ended up receiving the rent, so I was left wondering what happened to the money. Additionally, from what I’m told, she is now living happily in a council house. Where is the justice?
Why should I or anyone else even bother housing DSS tenants if that’s the kind of support landlords get from the council? It’s mind-boggling how the government can be so incompetent.
Incidentally, here’s a segment of an email I recently received from another landlord that experienced similar bullshit service from the council:
I’ve got the horriblest tenant in the world!
I rented out to a desperate, friend of a friend – and my children and I moved in with my partner. Problems started straight away with none payment of rent and Housing Benefit were a nightmare.
Housing Benefit started paying direct to me and I asked my tenant to start paying off the arrears.She blathers on about missing payments and that the benefits people are looking into it but then still makes no attempt to pay anything.
I issued her with a Section 21 on 27 August 09 and told her to be out by 23 October – she’s still dragging her heels. The Council are worse than useless, and treat me with utter disgust because I’m making a lone parent with 3 kids homeless.
I know, let’s not focus on the actual problem (i.e. the rent-dodging asshole), let’s just emotionally blackmail the landlord.
The Council advise rogue tenants to remain in the property
To add insult to injury, the council encourage rogue tenants to completely fuck the landlord over. And I’ve heard this same old rotten story from so many different landlords.
When my DSS tenant fell into arrears, she was actually advised by the council to remain in the property until she had received a Section 8 – eviction notice from me. The problem is, landlords can’t do that until a tenant falls two months in arrears, so we have to sit bone-idle and wait for time to pass.
Bear in mind, the tenant was receiving housing benefit, but failing to pass it onto the landlord, yet the council were still advising/helping her. Makes me feel physically sick.
Councils have a duty to provide shelter and prevent homelessness, this is why they instruct tenants not to vacate the property even when they receive a notice, whether it be an eviction or repossession notice. I understand the logic, but there seems to be no accountability when tenant’s go rogue, on the contrary, there seems to be a continuous stream of support, meanwhile, there are genuinely decent folk waiting for support and can’t get it (for whatever reason).
From my experience, the council try and prevent homelessness with delaying tactics even when they are fully aware the landlord is being royally screwed, because as soon as a social tenant needs a new roof over their head, they then become the local authorities problem, and in a society where there is a huge housing shortage, that’s literally their worst nightmare. They’ll literally do anything to prevent the problem from falling back onto their lap, even if it means supporting and helping tenants that are swindling their housing benefit down the shitter.
It’s beyond ridiculous.
Conclusion
As far as I’m concerned, the government is simply trying to house as many people as possible under a framework that isn’t fair or logical, and allows piss-takers to run rampant.
Landlords get a real shitty deal when it comes to DSS tenants simply because they don’t always get the support they need from the council. In fact, they get zero support. We’re cannon-fodder.
Okay, allow me to finally put you out of your misery. Rant over.
Has anyone else had any problems with the council regarding DSS tenants? :)
Disclaimer: I'm just a landlord blogger; I'm 100% not qualified to give legal or financial advice. I'm a doofus. Any information I share is my unqualified opinion, and should never be construed as professional legal or financial advice. You should definitely get advice from a qualified professional for any legal or financial matters. For more information, please read my full disclaimer.
If the tenant was evicted then nobody was occupying the property ... I didn't think you had to pay council tax on unoccupied properties (after all, your non existent tenant isn't exactly consuming council services)
The council are cr@p through you're absolutely right. Its standard local goverment stuff, and where there's no commercial drivers there's no compulsion to provide any kind of service at all. Privatise the lot of them, that's what I say.