Payment of Housing Benefit direct to Landlord

Tiggy777

HI all

Any advice on this please............

In this case despite the landlord and tenant stating they want the housing benefit paid direct to the landlord the local council are insistant that the tenant is paid direct !

The tenant does not want the financial responsibility of every 4 weeks checking that benefit has been paid and then transferring the amount to the landlords account. The way that benefit is paid every 4 weeks means that a standing order not be set up and the payment date changes every month !

What can been done in such cases. I think there maybe an appeal process but wondered if anyone has any advice on what to include in an appeal to make the council listen.

Many thanks for your help and kind regards

Mike

Icewytch

Wish I could help with advice, but I can give you my own example as a tenant of a private landlord.
Up until a few months ago my Housing Benefit would be paid directly to my landlady (who lives in Spain!)
but when I split from my partner and the house was transferred into my name, I`d to reclaim the Housing Benefit (a note to councils everywhere..please, oh please, make the forms a little easier to understand and fill in and less intimidating...:()
and now they informed me their new policy is to pay direct to the tenant. So it became my responsibility to set up Standing Order to pay my landlady in turn, direct from my account.
This has its drawbacks...unforeseen bills cropped up and recently my Standing Order wasn`t honoured by the bank meaning I missed paying a weeks rent!
When a tenant fills in the Housing Benefit application forms, there should be a section which asks how you want the benefit to be paid, ie.. weekly or monthly, if the tenant ticks weekly, it will be and then a Standing Order can be set up.
But in truth I think the whole thing is just another way for the council to avoid admin. :mad:
Perhaps in your appeal the tenant can make the case that, (like me) if any unforeseen bills happen and due to not being financially well off, there might be a chance the rent doesn`t get paid, they will change it to weekly so the Standing Order can be set up. But warning! RBS, at least, doesn`t necessarily honour Standing Orders.

cw18

I can set up a Standing Order on my bank account so that it's paid 4-weekly, so would suggest to the OP that the tenant in question checks with their bank as to how to get this done. (I know the norm tends to be calendar monthly, but it's not impossible to set up other frequencies)

smileyhappy

Housing Benefit could be paid direct to landlords. Local Housing Allowance which came into being April 2008 has to be paid to tenants. Its part of the Governments quest to make everyone responsible for their own finances.

It can be paid direct in certain circumstances ie if you owe more that 8 weeks rent. But not just because the tenant doesnt want it paid to them.

I work in a Lettings Agency and we thought it was going to be a nightmare but so far so good. We tell our tenants that the rent is due every month and it has to paid regardless of whether payment has come from Council. Harsh I know but its the only way I can assure my landlords any payments.

Oldernotwiser

Tiggy777 wrote: »

The tenant does not want the financial responsibility of every 4 weeks checking that benefit has been paid and then transferring the amount to the landlords account. The way that benefit is paid every 4 weeks means that a standing order not be set up and the payment date changes every month !

I'd be seriously worried about letting to a tenant who didn't want this level of financial responsibility! AsCW18 say, 4 weekly SO/DD should be possible.

Conor_3

Tiggy777 wrote: »

The tenant does not want the financial responsibility of every 4 weeks checking that benefit has been paid and then transferring the amount to the landlords account. The way that benefit is paid every 4 weeks means that a standing order not be set up and the payment date changes every month !

The only problem with this is that if the payments aren't made, the tenant isn't likely to find out until arrears have built up and the landlord decides to evict for non payment.

Personally, the tenant should face up to their responsibilities. What would they expect they'd have to do if they got a job?

Tiggy777

Thanks for the reply.......

If HB is paid direct into someones account how long after do people suggest a SO is set up. Ie how long would it take to clear?

Also can HB be paid monthly instead of every 4 weeks

Many thanks

Mike

cw18

It's clear as soon as it shows in the recipients account -- BUT my bank does all outgoings before incomings, so if they both happened the same day the payment to the LL would either bounce or incur a charge (unless I had enough in the account to cover it the previous night).

My salary goes in on the last working day, which could be 31st of the month -- and I don't set up and DD's or SO's to go until 1st.....

Also gives me a chance to check the money has arrived and cancel the DD/SO if it hasn't for some reason.

zzzLazyDaisy

My son is on LHA since he recently moved and made a new claim. He was worried about it at first as he is disabled and can't always get out to bank the cheque (for some reason that I can't fathom they send him a cheque rather pay it directly into his bank account).

But he has found that it all works out fine. His LHA is paid every 4 weeks, and his rent every calendar month. This means that, apart from the first couple of months, the cheque comes in and is cleared before his rent is due. He has opened a separate account for his rent, and in the early days, if there was going to be a shortfall, he topped it up through the month from his benefits. But now it has all evened out and the money ticks over fine.

lil_me

It is paid 4 weekly not calendar monthly. SO could be made at any date, would just be up to tenant to ensure enough funds are in to cover it. If it was set up at 1st of each month, there would always be a payment gone in before the next 1st of the month IYSWIM

If the tenant is 8 weeks in arrears the LL can apply to have the rent paid direct, so maybe the tenant could arrange with the LL to delay payment until that becomes true?

I just pay mine by bank transfer online each month, no cheques etc to mess about with.

fluffymovie

Hi there

I am a benefit assessor and was instrumental in the project team for the introduction of LHA in my authority.

LHA only affects new claims made on or after 7th April 2008. This means that any changes of address where the landlord was paid direct, would now mean the HB was paid to the tenant.

The government do recognise that some tenants will have issues dealing with money and they have asked every council to create a vulnerability policy which should be available on their website. In our case, if a tenant feels that they are unable to manage their own affairs, perhaps due to alcohol or drug addiction, the council can choose to pay the landlord directly.

The aim of the scheme is to create responsibility and give tenants more power. What was happening was that landlords would ring us as refer to "our tenants", telling us that we hadn't paid the rent and using this as a threat.
In reality, Housing Benefit is only a benefit calculated using the rental liability that someone has. There is nothing in law (yet) which says that HB must be used to pay rent and so the council is now a little bit removed.
If the benefit is paid to the tenant, if the property is not maintained etc, the tenant can withold the rent until work is done.

I hope this helps! If in doubt, check your local council's website or contact them for the vulnerability policy.