To whom is Housing benefit / LHA Paid ?

Monty_Zoomer

Sorry - I have read through many links this morning and cannot see this information.

My wife and I are looking to rent a property but the landlord has stated no DSS.

We don't currently claim housing benefit or any benefits at all and are able to pay the deposit ourselves straight away - will the landlord ever find out if we become DSS or is housing benefit paid direct to the claimant?

Oldernotwiser

HB/LHA for new claims is paid direct to the tenant, however, you risk invalidating the LL's insurance if you don't notify him of your status. In addition, you will presumably not have enough income topass the financial cheks required if you're in a position to claim this benefit.

You will need to pay a month's rent in advance out of your own income as well as the deposit as LHA/HB is paid in arrears.

Jowo_2

Your question is regularly asked here - LHA is now routinely paid to tenants directly so the landlord is not contacted. I dispute what Amistoso has written - the landlord isn't approached to verify the rent, the LHA calculator will merely inform the tenants what they will pay for a certain size (i.e. number of bedrooms) property at a particular postcode. The tenant needs to supply a copy of the tenancy agreement to the council with their LHA application.

But most landlords will want to verify the tenants income and this is where it reveals that they have no or low employment income so it is apparent to the landlord that the tenant has ignored the 'No DSS' stipulation. Its fairly normal for a landlord to want to take up employer references, see payslips or bank statements. If you have insufficient employment or pension income to pay the rent, it doesn't take a genius for a landlord to figure out they will need to pay the rent through LHA.

speedfreek1000

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

HB/LHA for new claims is paid direct to the tenant, however, you risk invalidating the LL's insurance if you don't notify him of your status. In addition, you will presumably not have enough income topass the financial cheks required if you're in a position to claim this benefit.

You will need to pay a month's rent in advance out of your own income as well as the deposit as LHA/HB is paid in arrears.

As well as insurance some BTL (buy to let) mortgages may include a non HB/LHA clause.

Also lying on a tenancy application may result in a section 8 possession notice see Ground 17 here http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/grounds_for_possession.htm

Why not ask the Landlord 1st?

As long as you can provide references/deposit and rent in advance they may be willing to consider you :T

gabby71

when you fill out the form for LHA there is a section that must be completed by the landlord, so he would need to know.

dmg24

gabby71 wrote: »

when you fill out the form for LHA there is a section that must be completed by the landlord, so he would need to know.

You can provide proof of tenancy yourself rather than having the LL submit details.

Nonetheless, Oldernotwiser's information is correct.

karenx

Also your claim might not be finalised in time for the next months rent payment, so you might need to fund that yourself. How would you explain to LL why you cant afford it in full? Wouldnt make a good impression!
Better to be honest! If you explained your situtaion and said you dont get full benefit just a small amount paid and can prove your income with payslips etc! And get a reference from previous LL's they might be willing to accept you

mossy

I understand how you feel. Although I can appreciate why some landlords or agents prefer not to let to 'what you might consider a normal dss recipient to be like'. There are lots and lots of people on hb who are decent peeps and aren't going to trash the house.

It is really difficult to find private houses to rent that don't state 'no benefits', well at least were I live it is virtually impossible to find somewhere (unless it's a dive)!!

Some landlords/letting agents will rent to you but with the stipulation that you have to pay six months in advance. I don't know if there is anyway you could manage this, but it may be an option. At least you'd be able to save up the hb over the next six months ready to pay the next instalment.

I know that may not be much help to you, but I thought I'd suggest it, as that's what a letting agent recently told me when they said none of their landlords were accepting dss.

Good luck