New research from the National Landlords Association (NLA) reveals that, in areas where their local authority encourages them to do so, over a quarter of landlords rent properties to homeless families.

However, just 31% of the landlords questioned are aware of whether their local authority operates a scheme encouraging landlords to rent to homeless families, and six out of ten landlords (61%) remain unsure. Of this 61% who are unsure, only 38% said they would consider renting to homeless families.

Of those landlords participating in such schemes, a third said that they had either not encountered any problems in doing so, or had found the experience to be very successful.  However, the majority of participating landlords have encountered some sort of difficulty with schemes, of whom 48% experienced minor problems, and 33% major problems. 

David Salusbury, Chairman of the National Landlords Association comments:

“According to the homeless charity Crisis, there are currently around 400,000 people without homes across the UK. The private rented sector has a vital role to play in helping to solve this problem, and many private landlords already house some of the country’s most vulnerable people.  Those local authority schemes which encourage landlords to house homeless families are to be lauded, but they are not without drawbacks.  Many of our landlords have experienced difficulties when participating in these schemes, which have commonly resulted from disruptive tenants or poor administration."

He continued: "The first and foremost priority for landlords is finding good tenants who will look after their properties, stay for a reasonably long period and, of course, pay their rent on time. To encourage more landlords to house homeless families, local authorities need to ensure that they protect the interests of landlords, as well as those of their tenants.” 

Respondents were also questioned about their willingness to let properties to tenants on Housing Benefit, to which over a third (35%) replied positively.  A fifth of landlords say that an advantage of letting to such tenants is the reliability of rent payments, while one in ten identified longer tenancies as a positive aspect.

Of those landlords who have at some point let to tenants on Housing Benefit, 22% said that they had not encountered any greater problems as a result of doing so. However, the majority of landlords (78%) questioned have experienced greater problems renting to tenants on Housing Benefit.

When problems do arise they are often related to rent arrears, either through poor administration of Housing Benefit or through tenants not paying. Damage to property is also a major area of concern for landlords, as is disruptive or anti-social behaviour. For the 17% of respondents who said that they encountered problems in other areas when renting to tenants on Housing Benefit, the most cited reasons were delays in payment of Housing Benefit and being asked to repay Housing Benefit claimed fraudulently by the tenant.

David Salusbury comments: “Rent arrears represent a major stumbling block in persuading more landlords to rent to tenants on Housing Benefit. Currently tenants do have the option to have their Housing Benefit paid directly to their landlord and there is a strong argument that the rent arrears problem could be largely alleviated if this became standard practice. This would take a lot of pressure off the tenant, by removing the burden of paying the rent on time and relieving pressure caused by administrative errors on the part of the council. Given that landlords already experience many problems in this area, we urge the government to think very carefully before changing the system to one where the only option open to tenants is to have their housing benefit paid directly to them.

The NLA has suggested to the government that a forum for interested parties would be useful in identifying obstacles for the private rented sector in housing the homeless and those on Housing Benefit. We could then work together to find ways to resolve these issues”.

The National Landlords Association, founded in 1973, has members right across the United Kingdom, including five special corporate members, Birmingham Midshires, Bristol & West, Mortgage Express, Mortgage Trust and Paragon, and forty local authorities who are associate members. It protects and promotes the interests of private landlords of residential property and represents their views to government, local authorities and the media.