Just a handful of private rental properties are available to single people on benefits, according to Crisis.
The charity for the homeless used mystery shoppers looking for a room in shared properties in Birmingham, Leeds and Lewisham, London.
Most of the properties were too expensive for those on benefits, and of those that were the right price, most of the landlords did not take benefits tenants.
For the last year, people aged under 35 who are on benefit receive the shared accommodation rate, lower than Local Housing Allowance. The age limit was raised from 25.
The research found that in Birmingham, of 1,813 shared property rooms available, just 188 were affordable, but of these, only 29 were available to benefits tenants.
In Leeds, of 1,877 rooms available, 290 were affordable, and 31 open to housing benefit tenants.
In Lewisham, a total of 670 rooms were available, of which 82 were affordable and just six open to benefit tenants.
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Comments
Maybe Crisis should start asking why so many letting agents and landlords do not want to deal with people on benefits and use some of the answers they receive to help educate their clients. I imagine we all have way more than 1 nightmare story for their researchers!
We have 25% Polish tenants in our rental property, all managed to find work even with Pigeon English. I do not accept that people can't find work. Nothing worse than a lazy, young single person that thinks they owed a place to live by the state. They should swallow some pride and live by their parents rules or get a job and their own place to live.
I would go further and remove ALL benefit entitlement to those that have never worked.
Just when will the likes of these research organisations realise that at 1.5% availability private landlord's just do not want benfit supported tenants. They should get a proper job and stop telling us what we know.
Can someone please explain to me why this is an issue other than on social grounds, or comes as a surprise to anyone?
When the age limit of 25 was first introduced probably 15 years ago now, the under 25's had the same problem. I assume it is the same rule, that a person must be truly single. If it is a couple, or a single mother with a child, they are not classed as single.
Another rule was that an existing claimant didn't come under the new rules unless they changed property.
If they are single as defined then they get the single allowance which used to work out at bedit or single room rate as opposed to a one bed flat. So in my area where a one bed flat was about £350 and the bedsit about £275 the tenant had a shortfall.
Has anything changed - other than applying it now to all those up