A recent survey of almost 4,000 private renters by YouGov found that a third of people receiving housing benefit said they hadn’t been able to rent a home due to a “No DSS” policy. The Government’s private landlord survey has found that the biggest reason given for “no DSS” policies  was problems with payments and the overall level of Housing Benefit / Universal Credit. The second main reason identified was preconceptions about the character of tenants on Housing Benefit. A quarter of all landlords and a third of letting agents also said that their mortgage or insurance policies prevent them from letting to someone on Housing Benefit.

The housing charity Shelter is running a brilliant campaign to stop discrimination against people on benefits. As part of this, they are calling on the Government to tackle problems in the benefits system, including the long waits many people experience before receiving Universal Credit, which can cause terrible problems for them in paying their rent.