I recently visited my first ever Property Network Event and learnt some great tips on how to profit from tenants on LHA.
As I entered the room I was greeted by a plethora of other property professionals each looking for their pound of flesh from any risk averse landlord brave enough to attend. We really did have a full house when it came to property services available in one room- ranging from accountants, to property lawyers, to other local estate agents (GGRRR) and we even had a tree surgeon in attendance- to cover every aspect of landlordship (if that’s a word!).
After the formal introductions and a few short guest speakers I was privileged to witness a very interesting presentation on housing benefit tenants and how to profit from them as part of your property portfolio by local housing expert (someone else’s words not his own) Richard Jones of Ilkeston Property.
We discussed in depth the whole process ranging from where to find suitable housing benefit tenants and perhaps more importantly once you have the tenants how to manage the property and ensure rent is paid on time every time for the duration of the tenancy.
A few important tips I learnt on providing social housing:
- Remove all luxury items that may lead to expense in the future such as gas fires and cookers (tenants can buy their own) etc.
- Fit laminate flooring throughout- much easier to clean, last longer than carpets and cheaper to replace when required.
- Decorate in neutral plain colours in order to appeal to as many people as possible- giving you the option of the best tenants.
- Visit the property at least once every quarter, but with as little disturbance as possible to ensure the tenants are maintaining the property sufficiently.
- Request the prospective tenant to sign a permission mandate which will allow you to contact the local council directly and check if there are any arrears or any other issues with the applicant.
An advantage of taking on housing benefit applicants and being up to date with the whole process is that landlords are quite often able to receive more than the market rent that would be payable if they were to let the property privately.
In these uncertain economic times it is possible anyone can lose their job and by doing your due diligence and preparing properly it would seem that there is no safer investment than a housing benefit tenant.
Along with the highlighted advantages such as direct payment form the council, higher than open market rent, and the fact that DSS tenants tend to stay for longer than a private let perhaps when searching for your next tenant you may consider a housing benefit applicant.
Until Next Time
Tom
