Searches on Dssmove.co.uk for properties in London and the home counties have increased by 400 per cent in three months. The greatest demand for LHA property on the website is in London, where nearly 10,000 prospective tenants are searching each month, followed by Manchester with 1,000 and Birmingham with 1,000.
Juelz Miah of Alex Crown Lettings and Estate Agents commented:
“We are seeing increasing volumes of enquiries from LHA tenants looking for private property and we could certainly do with more private landlords in the market to meet the growing demand.”
Aki Ellahi, Founder of Dssmove.co.uk comments:
“We are staggered by the huge demand for private property which will accept LHA tenants in London and the South East. Demand is outstripping supply. There is a shortfall of LHA properties and this problem is only going to get worse, with an increasing population, Government austerity measures and the recession.
More private landlords in and around London are desperately needed for LHA tenants. I know that many private landlords are concerned about the reliability of LHA tenants. But if landlords have the right processes and systems in place, then LHA tenants are no more of a problem than private tenants.
Private landlords can make it easier to take on LHA tenants by looking to use institutions such as local Credit Unions. As a landlord, I have been using local Credit Unions since 2008 and they have provided me with a first class and made it easier for me to accept tenants on benefits.
In addition to this, landlords should always educate themselves on the housing benefit systems. i.e. Do councils pay tenants 2 weekly, 4 weekly or calendar monthly? Once landlords know this information, they can structure tenancies to ensure payments go to credit unions correctly for the tenancy period. So if tenants are paid fortnightly, then it’s best to start and end tenancies on this date, so that the correct housing benefit payments go to the Credit Union.”
Currently there are over five million people claiming LHA. In many inner-city areas LHA rates are sometimes higher than the market rent. Therefore in order for landlords to achieve this higher rent yield, they need to move into the DSS market as private tenants will not pay the same level of rent in some areas.
Dssmove.co.uk is a property portal, open to both landlords & letting agents and is free of charge. Dssmove.co.uk works with over 400 landlord and lettings agents nationwide and has over 4,000 properties on its site. The site also has over 30,000 visitors a month.
