Homeless HAP ....Pros and cons as a landlord.

nad

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I'm interested in hearing LL opinions on the above as I'm in the process of putting a property on the rental market and open to all options.
 
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Big thing is why they are homeless Hap? There are some no fault of their own. Others you don't know the tenant and it could be for antisocial behaviour or non payment of rent in their previous home. They may have other issues which will become yours. Your house could be destroyed. Only talking to a letting agent yesterday and she knows of a landlord not able to evict a homeless Hap. So far the landlord has had a non payment antisocial tenant living in their house for 2years rent free as tenant not turning up to meeting in rtb. Should be quicker.

I heard the council will pay in certain parts of the county e2350 for a 3bed but...and here is the but...if the tenant does not pay their 10% to 15% you get nothing. Rtb will not help to evict as they don't want to be seen evicting homeless Hap tenants. It could take years to get them out. You ring the council asking where is the rent and the council will say scheme is with them and the tenant and with GDPR they will not talk to you! The council has another off the housing list and transferred to the transfer list.

Don't forget if the house is not up to today's building code when the property is inspected you may find the so called windfall will cost you dearly in a full refurbish.

It seems everyone is applying for this scheme or the Hap scheme. How can a council pay e2350 for a property? That is massive money. We are all paying for it in our tax system.
 
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While the possibility of ending up with a non-paying tenant, who you cannot evict, is real, this can occur with any tenancy type.

I would suspect that it is no-more likely with a HAP tenant, as their relationship with the council has value for them. Of course that means nothing to some people.

You say you are open to all options, that says to me that you haven't thought hard enough about your business.

Most properties lend themselves to a particular type of tenant. Is your property suitable for children, or for students. Most landlords have a view of how their role will work out. Do you want the reduced hassle associated with letting to a family. Are you willing to take on the extra work involved with letting to sharers for a higher price.

The one issue particular to HAP is dealing with the council. In my experience this is an additional bureaucratic grief that you could do without. And the council does not play straight, they have their own issues and they will push the associated costs onto the landlord if they can, for example, I have been asked to provide certification on the heating system which the council have no legal right to ask for.

As a final point it is illegal to discriminate against tenants on the basis of their being in receipt of HAP.
 
Thanks Sconeandjam and cremeegg

There's seems to be a bit more bureaucracy involved with it. As regards the standard of the property this is not a problem as I keep it at least as good if not above regulation requirements ..

any other opinions welcome..
 
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