Notifying Landlord of housing benefit?

musingsofnikki

left my job a month ago, for the sake of my mental health and whilst I am applying for things, and have some savings, I'm looking at what benefits I am entitled to. Looking at it, it looks like I can get housing benefit which will pretty much cover my share of the rent, which would be a huge help. It does ask for my landlord's contact details though - will he find out? I don't think it would be a problem, as the lady below us doesn't work, I'm just thinking that if he does get notified by the Council, it might be best for me to give him a quick call first.

Thank you!

Jowo_2

I do not believe that landlords are contacted by the benefits office when an existing tenant claims LHA as this is now paid directly to the tenant. Hopefully another poster can confirm this is the case.

Obviously, a new tenant seeking accommodation cannot usually hide their status as most landlords undertake some kind of tenant screening upfront, such as asking for current employer references, requesting copies of bank statements or payslips, credit check, etc.

The difficulty seems to be when the claimant does not have a tenancy agreement as proof of tenancy is required.

Another potential difficulty is when the LHA claim is slow to be processed and the tenant cannot cover the rent in the meantime, or when the LHA sum does not cover the sum of the rent - naturally enough a landlord will ask for an explanation of the arrears.

Do you have a written tenancy agreement and do have any contingency to continue paying the rent should the LHA claim take awhile to come through (though I believe that there is some interim payment that can be claimed after a few weeks)?

Fire_Fox

If you quit your job - as opposed to then letting you go on health grounds - are you sure you are entitled to any benefits?

Pee

Whenever my tenants have applied for housing benefit I have known about it and the council sometimes come round to do a rental valuation but if you are already living in the property, i don't think they will be appraoched. That said, it is probably a good idea to tell them.

Jowo_2

There's a leaflet here which explains the sanctions (loss of payment for up to 26 weeks) possible for JSA if the employee was found not to have 'just cause' to leave. Not sure how this affects LHA.

http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/jsasanctions.pdf

Jowo_2

Pee wrote: »

Whenever my tenants have applied for housing benefit I have known about it and the council sometimes come round to do a rental valuation but if you are already living in the property, i don't think they will be appraoched. That said, it is probably a good idea to tell them.

did this pre-date the introduction of LHA? I thought that valuation visits stopped under LHA, as opposed to HB, because they have bandings of rent levels according to postcode?

musingsofnikki

Fire_Fox wrote: »

If you quit your job - as opposed to then letting you go on health grounds - are you sure you are entitled to any benefits?

I'm not entitled to job seekers allowance, but it does look as if I am entitled to Housing Benefit.

musingsofnikki

Pee wrote: »

Whenever my tenants have applied for housing benefit I have known about it and the council sometimes come round to do a rental valuation but if you are already living in the property, i don't think they will be appraoched. That said, it is probably a good idea to tell them.

From what I can tell, they send a form to the landlord, so he would find out.

musingsofnikki

Jowo wrote: »

I do not believe that landlords are contacted by the benefits office when an existing tenant claims LHA as this is now paid directly to the tenant. Hopefully another poster can confirm this is the case.

Obviously, a new tenant seeking accommodation cannot usually hide their status as most landlords undertake some kind of tenant screening upfront, such as asking for current employer references, requesting copies of bank statements or payslips, credit check, etc.

The difficulty seems to be when the claimant does not have a tenancy agreement as proof of tenancy is required.

Another potential difficulty is when the LHA claim is slow to be processed and the tenant cannot cover the rent in the meantime, or when the LHA sum does not cover the sum of the rent - naturally enough a landlord will ask for an explanation of the arrears.

Do you have a written tenancy agreement and do have any contingency to continue paying the rent should the LHA claim take awhile to come through (though I believe that there is some interim payment that can be claimed after a few weeks)?

I do have means to pay the rent for a few months, but am applying on a contingency basis more then anything! I do have a tenancy agreement, yes.

thanks!

bendix

musingsofnikki wrote: »

I'm not entitled to job seekers allowance, but it does look as if I am entitled to Housing Benefit.

Oh, that's a huge relief.

I'm absolutely delighted that you gave up your job (for your mental health) in the toughest recessions since the 1930s, and that those who can be bothered to go to work in the morning happily know we are paying your rent for you. I was worried you might be penniless you see, but now I will be able to sleep soundly tonight.

Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to go and create some wealth so that that roof will stay over your head tonight.

Jowo_2

musingsofnikki wrote: »

From what I can tell, they send a form to the landlord, so he would find out.

does your local council website expressly say this? Why not phone and ask?

I've browsed a couple of information sites published by local councils who adminster LHA and it looks to me like landlords are not informed unless payment will be sent to them directly (and mainly it goes automatically to the tenant with few exceptions).


For example,

"Where payment of the LHA will be made to the Landlord we will:

Write to the tenant and/or their representative advising them of:

• The decision

...
Where payment of LHA will be made to the tenant we will:

Write to the tenant and/or their representative advising them of:

• The decision
• Any advice agencies, voluntary or statutory organisations that offer help and support "

or

"Data Protection Act
If housing benefit is being paid to the tenant, we will be unable to discuss the claim; in fact, we will not even be able to confirm whether the tenant has claimed without their written consent."