Yep Bristol this is true mate..

But i would like to say tho, as you well know there is a huge demand for council houseing in the uk, and if your lucky you can get on such a list but this as i said goes on a points system due to the applicants situation ect..
But even that there is a very long time waiting for such a placement.
Also the council is not the only houseing department out there, as i know back in my area, they have havod housing also, this is where if the council cant get you a place on there list they will put you in line with havod houseing which is where the government made a law that every 14 homes being built on new land the builder must issue so much % to such council run projects..
But again this is also a long waiting list..

Yep there is a huge demand for homes there in the uk and the councils just can't keep up...after all the Uk is only a small Rock and more and more people are living there now, i think the last stat i seen was something like 70 million, that's governments stats mind, so ya can add that figure up another 10 million if the truth to be known...


Anyways....such is life..

We have recently got our house back from a girl on Housing benefits and I assure you we were receiving statements from Housing commission throughout all the time she was receiving them i.e. she wasnt getting cash in hand but her rent was paid into my OH's account.

yep..sound bout right...

Did you give her Notice? was that a problem for you?

I have said Housing Benefit can be paid to landlords.

If it's paid to the landlord, of course the landlord would know.

But, as the official link confirms, it is not routinely paid to landlords. Most tenants will pay their rent to their landlord whether from Benefits or some other income. Providing they do that, the landlord has no reason to know the source unless the tenant chooses to say so.

What's the Housing Commission by the way and what does it have to do with Housing Benefit administered by Local Authorities?

Ah, I see you're in N Ireland...they do have different names for agencies there sometimes.

The problem was that our tenant gets legal aid and spends her time suing everyone she likes (i happen to know this for sure)
We got her the Notice , then another one, offered assistance in moving etc, ended up in court and spending 1300 quid and 11 months on the whole exercise...
Now you understand why lots of private landlords do not want tenants who receive housing benefits, right?

yep..correct....I thought so, that's why i ask you...seemed to be a lot of drama involved....

You could be right.
It just sounds logical to me to pay the housing benefit for people who entitled to it via the agent/landlord and not to give cash in hand to ensure they have a roof over their heads and do not spend money on ...you name it and I have a relevant first hand experience though in NI.

I was renting a flat in Dublin a while ago from landlady directly and had as she was owning the whole building and managing it herselve she was around quite a lot collecting rent , showing flats etc.I asked her once what kind of tenants she was after and she said "working ppl,foreigners-OK, students-OK, ppl on benefits-NO!"
She was dead right my landlady.

You might be wondering now how we got into situation we were in and it's simple: we rented the house to a working couple which turned into couple with a baby and shortly afterward in a separated woman with a young child

My brother is a plumber and was employed by Coventry City Council to do work on their properties, including council houses.

A few years ago the council handed all of its houses over to a housing association, so my brother became employed by a housing association instead.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndC...ions/index.htm

Some housing associations (and there are many of them operating, even in the same city) also have schemes where you can part-buy and part-rent the same property and build some - or eventually complete - equity in a home.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndC...emes/DG_066479

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_association

Yes there is a certain sense in it. There's a fair admin cost involved as well, though. And there are those who object to "the nanny state" getting involved. Lots of responsible tenants (there are some ) object and prefer to keep some privacy.

Not every benefit recipient is a waster and not every working person is the renter from heaven. My husband and I were landlords in Canada for a few years, rented to a working couple who completely ruined our house, gave us NSF cheques for the rent, left us our house flea infested and thousands of dollars of repairs. The single parent of 3 kids we had before them , left the house in perfect condition and had even painted the walls and had planted a garden, she was a welfare recipient.
I have learned not to paint everyone with the same brush. I feel bad that you had to go through the problems that you did, no one should have to deal with that type of situation. We had a managment company looking after house and we had done everything to ensure that they were good rental people, but you know what S..t happens.

I haven't bothered reading all that's been written but if you want more info Id be glad to help. I'm a housing support worker in UK so any info feel free to ask.

Totally agree. Same principle applies to tenants with small children, pets. I am renting our other house to the second family in a row now which has a dog while lots of other landlords would say NO without thinking twice. Hasnt have a problem yet.
However logically you have more chances to end up with tenant that brings you to court for the fun of it(for which you pay lots of money while he DOESNT)on top of infesting your house if this tenant enjoys free life paid by the state. Working person would think twice before engaging himself into legal actions.
Also, at least in theory you could sue those working tenants for the cost of damage of your house if it wasnt fully covered by the deposit/bond you probably had.
In our case I couldnt even spread the warning word amongst the local real estate agents let alone try to get some compensation paid by someone who supposed to have nothing.

I think you're right - there must be more to it, as I was quite baffled myself. I've just found out the said lady also spent some time in Switzerland - though when and how it all ties in I don't know.

Suing in civil court in Canada would of cost us more money and time and in the end even if the judgement was for us, there is no real way of enforcing the judgement, without more hassle and cost. I don't believe that just because someone is on benefits they are more inclined to engage you in legal action, I just think that this person would of done the same thing even if they had been working as that is who they are and has nothing to do with their social status. Everyone has the right to good housing and a shot at a better life.