Information for landlords

If we pay your tenant, they can give us written permission to talk to you about the progress of their claim and the award. They must sign the consent box on the claim form or write to us. 

 

With their current permission we can tell you:

• what progress has been made with their claim, 
• whether we have made a decision, 
• when we are sending out the payment.

But we will not be able to tell you confidential details like:

• personal details about their household or financial circumstances

Without their current permission we cannot tell you anything. We cannot even confirm that they have made a Housing Benefit claim. 

Payments are not generally paid directly to landlords, because under LHA rules tenants are expected to be able to take greater responsibility for managing their financial affairs and paying their rent to their landlords in the same way as tenants not on benefits do. This is why any Housing Benefit will usually be paid to the tenant and not to the landlord.

Protection for landlords

There are a range of safeguards to protect the interests of landlords. For example, we must usually pay the benefit to the landlord if the tenant is eight weeks or more in arrears with their rent.

Payment may also be made direct to you where we decide that the tenant is:

• likely to have difficulty in managing their financial affairs, or 
• unlikely to pay their rent
• we also have discretion to pay Housing Benefit directly to the landlord where it would help the tenant to secure a new tenancy, or remain in their current home at a reduced rent. 

If we pay you directly: 

We will write to tell you, and the notification will include the following details:

• when the benefit starts being paid to you
• the weekly amount of benefit. 
• if there is an overpayment, how much we are taking direct from weekly Housing Benefit to recover the overpayment.

If you would like to discuss any of the above, then please contact us.