0:01 AM, 27th June 2025, About 8 months ago 26
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Hi everyone,
I’d appreciate some advice from landlords with experience renting to benefit claimants, especially older tenants.
I’ve been offered a prospective tenant who is pension-age, receiving a mix of benefits — mainly Local Housing Allowance (LHA), Pension, and PIP. To summarise the situation:
• LHA covers about 70% of the rent
• They have Pension income and PIP which covers the rest comfortably
• After paying my rent, they’d still have around £1,600 a month left over for other expenses
• They’ve offered a guarantor on top of that for extra security
On paper, it seems reasonable — especially given I’ve had working tenants before on decent salaries who’ve still ended up defaulting or damaging the property, so I know no tenant type is “risk-free.”
That said, my estate agent is sceptical. They’re concerned the tenant could lose some or all of their benefits in future, leaving them unable to cover rent. I know benefits can sometimes change, but from what I understand, Pension and PIP are fairly stable, especially for someone older.
The tenant seems nice enough, and I don’t want to be the kind of landlord who unfairly discriminates against an older person just because they claim benefits. But obviously, I still need to protect myself financially.
Has anyone had similar tenants? How stable do you find these types of tenancies? Have you had issues with benefits being stopped unexpectedly? Or are the risks no worse than with employed tenants?
Many thanks
Rina
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Member Since June 2014 - Comments: 1549
10:16 AM, 29th June 2025, About 8 months ago
Any tenant less than A1 perfect will find it increasingly difficult to find a place to rent.
Landlords are not to blame for this.
Rina S
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Member Since June 2025 - Comments: 9
9:12 AM, 30th June 2025, About 8 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 27/06/2025 – 14:03
Hi Judith, I probably didn’t use the best words there. I know that it’s against the law to discriminate based on age/benefits/etc however as we all know some benefit claimants can be high risk if for example UC is removed unexpectedly and I could have always picked someone else and used any legal excuse like “the house is more suitable for a young family due to school proximity” or anything else really as it’s not “first come first served”. What I was trying to say that instead of a hidden but firm “no DBS” approach I’m genuinely trying to be fair and assess the tenant without any prejudice.
Rina S
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Member Since June 2025 - Comments: 9
9:15 AM, 30th June 2025, About 8 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 28/06/2025 – 16:13
That’s very unfortunate 🙁 Sorry for the trouble your friend goes through 🙁 Looks like my prospective tenant has lots of family nearby so hopefully I won’t be in the same situation
Rina S
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Member Since June 2025 - Comments: 9
9:18 AM, 30th June 2025, About 8 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Perc666 music at 28/06/2025 – 17:36
That’s a very creative approach 🙂 Guess if my tenant does the same I won’t be overly upset unless I have to deal with lots of damage after they move out 🙂 I can’t expect someone to stay in my property forever just because it suits me 🙂
Perc666 music
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Member Since August 2023 - Comments: 4
10:00 AM, 30th June 2025, About 8 months ago
I was pointing out that tenants are using private housing as a stepping stone into council cheaper housing. I offer long term not short term tenancies.
Rina S
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Member Since June 2025 - Comments: 9
22:25 PM, 30th June 2025, About 8 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Perc666 music at 30/06/2025 – 10:00I’m afraid if the new tenant rights bill makes it way through no one will care about our preference for long tenancies (and cost to clean/redecorate/find a new tenant/pay council tax) 🙁 I hope won’t be used as a temporary solution but I’m even more afraid of potential damage from younger people. The property is not in the best area 🙁