WITH reference to the advertisement by Festival Housing for apartments to rent in Malvern, the small print states: ‘Please note we cannot accept applications from those in receipt of housing benefit and No Pets’.

As tenants of private rented housing will know only too well, ‘no pets’, along with ‘no children’ and ‘no DSS’ are common themes, but what a sad world we live in in which a housing association feels it can place such restrictions on properties they let.

Do Festival Housing assume that all people in receipt of housing benefit are automatically unfit to rent one of their, no doubt, prestigious apartments?

In these times of economic hardship, with so many people out of work and in danger of losing their homes, there may not be any choice but to claim housing benefit.

Without financial assistance in hard times, where would people go if they have no family or friends kind enough to put them up?

Well, they can always turn to the local housing association... or maybe not.


SUELLEN HOLLOWAY
Malvern