Help with Social Housing

Something that really impresses me when meeting professional property investors is they’re enthusiasm for using property to help others. This is especially true in the number of landlords I’ve met that are interested in providing property for social housing.

I’ve been fortunate enough to speak to people with a wide variety of goals from working with social housing already. I want to contribute to investors helping local councils by providing property. This has always inspired me. So, it was great news to hear from the BBC that there is a crackdown on discrimination against tenants receiving benefits.

According to ‘The National Housing Federation’ and ‘Shelter’ 1 in 10 tenants have been denied housing due to receiving benefits. When ‘The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’ researched landlords they found that around half of them would not be willing to let to tenants on benefits. Often called ‘DSS tenants’ (‘Department of Social Security’) these people can really struggle to find places to live due to discrimination. This has led to the ‘National Landlord’s Association’ and the ‘Residential Landlord’s Association’ to call for a ban on blanket restrictions that target DSS tenants.

Thankfully many people agree.

Including the focus of this article Zoopla, the UK’s largest property resource. Charlie Bryant, the managing director of Zoopla, announced that the website will prohibit posting adverts for properties tagged with ‘No DSS’. Prior to this ban 1 in 10 listings on Zoopla contained the words ‘No DSS’ or ‘No housing benefit’. In response to these forward steps Heather Wheeler, the Housing Minister, wants to investigate making it illegal to discriminate on these grounds. The Work and Pensions committee has launched an inquiry into discrimination against benefits claimants. They are watching landlords closely currently and have helped some tenants receive compensation. Also, according to the article this pressure is also being spread to lenders, insurers and agents.

I know the ‘housing crisis’ is a big priority for a lot of Fielding Family members. It makes sense as we all want houses to be filled and we know that social housing can provide some of the best and most reliable tenants. So, it is great news for everyone that this progress is being made. If you would like to learn how to use property to help yourself and others make sure you come to one of our FREE Property Investing Seminars Click to find your nearest seminar to you.