Alliance Solution for Housing benefit tenants

Alliance Solution for Housing benefit tenants

20:33 PM, 12th November 2018, About 5 years ago 57

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Last Week, the newly formed Landlords Alliance came up with a unique and simple solution, to help housing benefit tenants in to new homes. We proposed that Shelter act as guarantor for housing benefit tenants. It should be remembered that this £60 Million charity offers advice, but houses nobody.

They employ over 1000 and their CEO earns over £120k. Shelter therefore could very easily offer real and practical help by offering to bond tenants. £60 M equals 15000 bonds if each guarantee was worth £4K. Obviously the majority of these tenants are good decent people, therefore the bond would not be called in. Yes imagine 15000 families empowered .

Our plan was immediately supported by hundreds of landlords and even better Karen Buck Labour MP also supported us on twitter. We thanked Karen as support flooded in with emails from benefit tenants thanking us for supporting them. Imagine our surprise and horror, when this MP then deleated her support and blocked us. This is cruel and shocking. A few weeks short of Christmas, a plan to given thousands of benefit tenants a shouting chance of a new home and the MP who liked our plan, changes her mind and offers no explanation to these people. Was Shelter involved in her decision to recant?

Did she regret her support because it might have annoyed Shelter? Who knows. Shelter instead prefer to whine about discrimination against DSS tenants.

The reality is that Landlords must pay mortages. Benefit tenants rent is paid monthly in arrears,while private tenants pay in advance. Private tenants have deposits, while very often benefit tenants do not. Landlords decisions therefore, are not based on bias, but based on commercial reality. Agents also have faced the wrath and ire of Shelter, accused of discrimination for simply acting in the best interests of their clients.

The media meanwhile have acted disgracefully like vultures sweeping in to eat the carcasses of these vile agents. This atmosphere of negativity, bile and hate can be laid at the door of Shelter.

We stepped in to de escalate this crisis. Our solution provided security for landlords and tenants alike. Are Shelter saying that housing benefit tenants are not to be trusted? Our landlords are willing to give them parity of treatment with private tenants, if the bond was forthcoming. The rent delays, payments in arrears, no credit history etc would be overlooked. Our plan was scuppered.

Who blocked it and why? Surely these tenants who have had their hopes of moving dashed before Christmas, deserve an explanation. Finally we are not interested in excuses.

We again demand that this Charity stand as Guarantor for benefit tenants. To say they assist by offering advise, does not cut the mustard. It is shameful. Real support and action is what is needed.

We are waiting, our landlords are ready and waiting but most importantly thousands of tenants are waiting

What is Shelter doing ?

And Where is Karen Buck MP?


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Comments

TheMaluka

12:58 PM, 22nd November 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Annie Landlord at 22/11/2018 - 11:10
Annie, why not ask Paul Routledge (Landlord Referencing) about personal safety, he survived a hammer attack by a deranged tenant who left him for dead after the attack. There is reason for landlords to be concerned about personal safety.

Annie Landlord

13:09 PM, 22nd November 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by David Price at 22/11/2018 - 12:58
Yes I am very aware of that. But there are 2.4 million landlords and also recorded cases of landlords assaulting tenants. I heard a landlord speak at an event a few years ago who had his van window shot out by a tenant! My point was, the people making vacuous 'threats' on social media are less of a danger to us than our tenants, or neighbours

Monty Bodkin

13:14 PM, 22nd November 2018, About 5 years ago

Matt Wardman

8:31 AM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Annie Landlord at 22/11/2018 - 13:09You have half a point here, @Annie - but only half a point.

Golby is an opinion-former, who claims to be a pro-journalist, and he helps form opinions for his readers. This is an article published on Vice naming a specific landlord after a tweet cherry-picking prejudicial quotes from that landlord and calling for "kill all landlords" to 30k+ followers.
Vice is a media corporation worth $6 billion, and the Golby article has probably been widely read amongst millenials, who are the Vice audience.
This type of commentary has been around for perhaps two decades below the line at eg the Guardian and other gathering places. This is a different kettle of fish.
If you want an example of how easily violence can blow up, consider the Council Volunteer who was attacked on the spot at the peaceful demonstration post-Grenfell when one person just said That is a Tory Councillor.
Golby is 31 and cannot credibly hide behind "I am a naive young ingenue" (one usual excuse) or "I was only joking" (another excuse). There are plenty who will get the call but not the joke, if it was a joke.
We are in a febrile atmosphere because Shelter - amongst others - have spent years and years feeding toxic storylines into the media, sometimes imo deliberately and dishonestly.
I would say Golby;s commentary is a result of crass ignorance combined with casual prejudice - a common combination these days.
It needs to stop.

Annie Landlord

17:37 PM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Matt Wardman at 24/11/2018 - 08:31
I agree its absolutely vile. His twitter feed on this particular issue hasn't gathered the crazed rantings I was expecting, but I would imagine Ros has already reported the tweets that are threatening.

Dr Rosalind Beck

17:47 PM, 24th November 2018, About 5 years ago

No I haven't reported any tweets. If anyone else wants to that would be good. Although I may tweet an article or two, I don't tend to go on there and look at replies etc. I have noticed that there are a lot of nasty losers there - often anonymously threatening. Jealous of people more successful than themselves as well.

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