No renting to people claiming benefits

[Burgerman]

Well as a guy who used to rent out a house, I know EXACTLY why landlords, and building societies and banks add that clause to the mortgages! But both the mortgage providers and the landlords dare not say it.


The following is a story from the very left wing progressive Guardian paper, that the media and TV so love!
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... t-protests




Housing activists have forced NatWest branches across the country to close as part of wider actions attended by hundreds protesting against the bank’s policy of discriminating against renters claiming housing benefit.

A clause in NatWest’s buy-to-let mortgage agreement with landlords forbids renting to DSS tenants, a reference to the now-defunct Department for Social Security, with the protests sparked by a recent case that campaigners said highlighted the injustice of the policy.
MPs blast banks for discriminating against tenants on benefits
Read more

A landlord with a NatWest mortgage was last month refused a remortgage, and was threatened with the revocation of their existing mortgage because they were letting to a tenant, a vulnerable older woman, in receipt of housing benefit.

The landlord was then given an ultimatum demanding they either pay a large penalty fee or evict their tenant.

“NatWest’s blatant discrimination against housing benefit claimants is another reminder that our rigged housing system prioritises profits for landlords, investors and banks over everyone’s need for a decent home, and it should be brought to an end immediately,” a spokesperson from London Renters Union, Acorn and Living Rent said.

“Ten years ago, the British public paid an astronomical £45.5bn to keep Natwest’s parent company, RBS, afloat. The public majority own NatWest, so it’s a disgrace that the government is happy to let NatWest deny housing to vulnerable renters despite getting massive state support and losing £130bn since we bailed them out.”