DOZENS of Wokingham landlords are refusing to rent to benefits claimants, new research has found.

Research conducted by the BBC Data Unit found that none of the landlords who listed 45 Wokingham properties on the website OpenRent accepted “DSS income”, which is a shorthand term for benefits.

It analysed a total of 9,000 rental listings, for properties around the country, and found that just 24 per cent were available to benefits claimants.

This is despite a court ruling, made in July, which stated that blanket bans on renting properties to people on housing benefit were unlawful and discriminatory.

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Open Rent says it “does not ban any group of tenants” and it “strongly advises landlords to assess each applicant on their own merits”.

Councillor Shirley Boyt, who sits on Wokingham Borough Council, said she was “absolutely appalled” by the findings.

The Labour councillor added: “We’re going to have a lot more people who are going to find themselves on benefits as a result of the pandemic.

“Are those people going to get forced out by their landlords?

“People in private rented accommodation don’t really have any security of tenure.

“Many people at the moment are one pay packet away from losing their job.

“We need to build more council houses, not housing association houses. Proper council houses, which offer long-term tenancies.”

'We don’t have much control over private landlords'

Cllr John Kaiser, executive member for housing, described the findings as “really disappointing”.

He said: “We don’t have much control over private landlords, unless they are breaking the law by breaching health and safety and endangering people’s lives.

“We have no real power to say you must rent to this person.”

The Conservative councillor also said that when housing benefit was paid to landlords directly, they were “a lot more” likely to take on claimants.

He added: “If you want to get people who are on benefits back into housing, the benefit should be paid directly to landlords.”

Cllr Kaiser accepts that more renters in Wokingham are likely to lose their jobs in the coming months, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and start claiming benefits.

But he said he would be “very surprised” if landlords evicted those tenants because they started claiming benefits.

The government’s eviction ban has ended, but most tenants must now be given at least six months’ notice before they are kicked out.

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Cllr Kaiser added: “The number of homeless people in Wokingham is extremely low – I think we have one rough sleeper in the whole of Wokingham.

“We took the opportunity, and government money, to get rough sleepers off the streets and it’s our intention to keep them off the streets permanently.

“Even if private landlords don’t want to play ball, we’re still fairly well equipped to deal with any problems we may have in Wokingham.”

Adam Hyslop, founder at OpenRent, said: “OpenRent has no policies against tenants who claim benefits.

“We strongly advise landlords to assess each applicant on their own merits, and it is the landlord who ultimately decides who to let to.”

He also said the company asked 400 tenants, who claim benefits, whether they should remove the ‘DSS income accepted’ option from their website and 90 per cent said no.

He added: “Without it, tenants are forced to invest much more time and resources applying to properties where landlords are not able to let to them.

“In some cases, tenants will even go to view properties, only to find out that landlords are not able to let them once tenant referencing checks are completed days later.”