Housing benefit (UK)

[Becky61]

Im living with my mum and dad, the house is overcrowded as i share a room with my 14 yr old sister. They own the property.
I have been to the council and they cannot house me in a council house for up to 3 years and have advised me that i look for a private rented house.
My problem is i cant find anywhere that accepts DSS. Ive been looking for months now! I only have 4 weeks til my due date, my mum and dad can put me and baby up for maybe a few weeks but ive turned their tiny house upside down already and little one isnt even here yet!
Any advice or similar stories?
Thanks
x

 

[Redhead84]

Option 1 - get your parents to write to the council stating they cannot house you anymore, therefore making you homeless... They will have to find you something, though consider that it probably won't be what you want short term (B&B, that kind of thing).

Option 2 - find properties that you like, and ask them if they will accept DSS... They can only say no, but many landlords will put this on as a blanket no as they consider it an indesirable position or they have been burned in the past. Explain your situation and you may find people more accommodating.

Good luck with finding something!

 

[aly0890]

Have you tried the website RightMove, I'm looking for a house atm and I have seen quite a few on there that accept DSS, ofc it depends on your area but it's worth a look x

 

[aimee-lou]

Could you offer a guarantor at the start? When we were looking for a house we outright said 'look, we don't think we're going to pass the checks, but we can offer a guarantor,' and we were accepted as we were honest and gave the landlords that added security. Would your parents be willing to help out with that? They don't need to put up any money, but will need to sign a document and if you get behind with the rent the landlord would come to them instead. My Dad did it for us and we've never missed rent in 2 years.

 

[pandaspot]

Best thing to do is ask your local authority if they have a list of landlords that accept benefit claimants. Don't know why they still put dss as it hasn't existed for 10 years lol.

I am a housing benefit assessor and we are able to guide people to landlords that would be willing to accept them. Also check if your la do a bond scheme as they will also hel find a landlord for you.

Another option as mentioned above is to get your parents to declare you homeless and confirm this with the la. they have a duty by law to house you. It might well be in a hostel/b&b but least you will be in the system then

 

[belle254]

If its any help I spent a day with my local housing team and was told that not many councils put women and children in hostels/bnbs any more as its never really suitable, especially if your search for a house or on the waiting list ends up being long term! What is more possibly is that they'll offer you a tiny temporary place miles from where you want/need to live until a place becomes available to you. A friend of mine and her 2 kids got declared homeless and the council offered them a tiny 2 bed flat up several flights of stairs about 15 miles from where her family and friends were, and where she'd originally intended to live! xx