Are 46% of Penicuik tenants really on housing benefit?

I’m often asked “Who is your typical Penicuik tenant?” by people who don’t know the modern day Private Rented Sector and therefore assume that tenants are either exclusively students or on Housing Benefit …

In reality tenants tend to fall into several groups – 20 something professionals; young working singles/couples; young and middle aged families; corporate tenants; students; older singles/couples and Housing Benefit claimants – and they all come with different needs and wants.

So choosing who best suits your Penicuik property – and steering clear of bad tenants – is a big factor in making property investment a success.

I’m often asked by landlords & novice investors looking to Penicuik whether they should accept tenants on Housing Benefit? Often they think they have little choice but to do so.

I carried out research into Housing Benefit levels in Penicik and it may come as a shock to the landlords of Penicuik to learn that 46% of Penicuik tenants are in receipt of Housing Benefit.  This may seem a high figure but it compares favourable to the Scottish average of 62% which I find a truly staggering figure.

It’s worth noting that this figure does include those who are working and are receiving some form of Housing Benefit top up so it would be wrong to assume this Housing Benefit figure equates to only 'the unemployed'.

I know many Landlords have suffered late rent payments with tenants on Housing Benefits, especially since 2008, when local authorities started paying Housing Benefit to tenants rather than directly to the landlords, but you can’t ignore Housing Benefit tenants given that they make up almost half of the Penicuik rental population!

My opinion is that the final choice of accepting such tenants has to be the Landlords – some Landlords see the fact that Housing Benefit tenants often stay a lot longer than working tenants as a major positive to outweigh any negatives.

For purely commercial reasoning, I would always advise landlords that if a property is of a suitable standard to attract a working tenant, then working tenants would always be preferable ...

... and if a property is not to a standard that will attract a working tenant, why isn't it?

In the meantime, if you want more news, views and commentary about the Penicuik property market, there are many similar articles like this on the Penicuik Property Blog or give me a call on 01968 674601, email lettings@thekeyplace.co.uk or pop into our office at 6 Bank Street, Penicuik for a chat.