SOUTHEND has been ranked as the 8th least accepting town/city in the UK to tenants on benefits.

Results were found from a new online tool which shows users where in the UK landlords are more lenient to renters on benefits, and which locations are the most and least accepting.

The tool, which was created by the team behind Thomas Sanderson, a premier windows furnishing company, allows users to enter the name of their desired town or city which will take them to an interactive map. The 'DSS Deadlock' then shows them what percentage of property listings in that area specify no tenants on benefits (‘no DSS’).

It was found that in Southend, 20% of property listings weren’t accepting tenants on benefits and in Basildon, 15% of property listings weren’t accepting tenants on benefits.

The city with the highest percentage of property listings not accepting tenants on benefits was Colchester with 29.76%.

The interactive map also reveals how your chosen city compares with the rest of the UK. The areas with the lowest percentage of property listings not accepting tenants on benefits, were Falkirk (0%), Woking (0.56%) and Oxford (0.70%).

Richard Petrie, Marketing Director at Thomas Sanderson, said: “Property listings often include all sorts of restrictions and tenant criteria, all of which is in place and set by landlords and estate agents for a number of different reasons.

“We created this online tool as we wanted to take a closer look at which areas of the country landlords were more likely to allow tenants on benefits and see how it compares around the country.”

The DSS Deadlock tool can be found here: https://www.thomas-sanderson.co.uk/resources/dss-deadlock/