With so many rental properties available in the market do landlords now need to be flexible in who they rent their property to. Before the demand for a good rental property meant that landlords could pick and choose the tenants for their property. However with the number of properties on the market increasing it is becoming increasingly difficult to rent out your property.

Once a DSS tenant would be held in disregard, however maybe this is an option that should be open to consideration. Often a DSS tenant can be a single mother, a person who is classed as homeless and looking to get back on their feet. There is as much chance that this person will treat a house as their home as much as a private rental tenant. Not all letting agents will accept people on DSS onto their books but there are agents that do. Also letting agents that are approved may well have a close working relationship with the council and will get leads of tenants who are looking for property. The approved agents will be familiar with the official process involved with arranging a tenancy of a property with a DSS tenant. Also an approved letting agent will have a list of property that is suitable and already agreed upon by the landlord.

What are the benefits of a DSS tenant to the landlord?

To the landlord a usual period of time that a tenancy will be 1 year minimum, the usual period for a private tenant would be a minimum of 6 months. The tenants are refered by the council and receiving benefit and It can be suggested if there are serious problems this can be taken up with the council directly via the letting agent. You as a landlord are guaranteed to receive your rental payments, particularly if the tenant is in receipt of the full housing benefit entitlement. On some occasions the tenant may be required to make a pre-arranged contribution to the rent if the value of the property is above their entitlement, this is something to watch out for.

DSS