Online housing search if you rely on benefits / Housing Payment
adminOnline housing search if you rely on benefits / Housing Payment
Where to look for housing if you are relying on financial support through Housing Payment, Universal Credit
More details about Housing Payment are available here.
You may have already experienced that, when searching for housing, many agents and landlords are not very welcoming towards people who want to rent with the help of financial support from the government, such as Universal Credit, benefits, or DSS.
It is important to note that refusing to rent to someone because they receive social support is illegal.
Unfortunately, at the moment, councils are still in the process of dealing with this issue, so you may still come across it in real life.
In practice, even if this restriction is not openly stated, you may simply “not be chosen” for another reason during the rental process.
More information about this is available here.
Housing charities are actively fighting against this reality.
You can read about successful examples here:
https://blog.shelter.org.uk/2022/08/stop-dss-discrimination-live-blog/
But for now, the situation is what it is.
What can you do if you rely on Housing Benefit / Universal Credit housing support?
- Some websites, such as Rightmove and OpenRent, have filters that allow you to search specifically for landlords who are open to tenants receiving benefits.
