Social Welfare & Renting

[gomoveshift]

Hi there, not 100% sure if this is in the right forum so feel free to move it if not. Basically I wanted to sound out people here to see what their views with regard to SW recipients renting & any advice. I'm a single guy in my late 20s who was laid off a few months ago & having trouble finding work so claiming JB. I'm currently living in shared private rented accomodation but have to move house due to Landlord wanting to sell the property.

I've just started looking for a new place but am struck by the amount of ads (despite the media claims of a flooded rental market) on Daft which specify "professionals only" or "no rent allowance" or "full time workers only", etc so am worried that I will have a lot of trouble finding a place within my budget in a safe area due to this. I would love to be working & am currently applying for courses to upskill but am still unemployed which judging by a lot of Daft ads really counts against me.

I'm college educated, clean & don't take drugs, but it worries me that a lot of landlords & potential housemates would still see me as a bum because of my situation. Has anyone else on JB/JA encountered this kind of problem? For those of you lucky enough to have jobs what would be your view of people in my boat, would you have a problem living with a JB/JA recipient (not a "skobe")?

 

[Cat101]

God almighty, don't be so hard on yourself!!
If you hadn't noticed.. half the country is on JB/JA at the moment.
If people look down on you for that reason, then they are the one's with a serious problem NOT you. There are a lot of landlords accepting RA as it means they are sure of getting tenants in their properties and rents paid. Much more attractive than having an empty house with a mortgage to pay... and there's the extra cost of insurance for an empty house. I'm sure any landlord would love to have you!

 

[Cat101]

...Also get a referance from your landlord before you move.
Always handy to have.