Do I have to tell my landlord if I am on housing benefit?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

dmg24 wrote: »

Whilst LA's are far from perfect, the incidence of tenants choosing not to pay (or spending the money on something else) is much higher than that of LHA claims being decided incorrectly.

So you can accept that councils can screw this up then? Good, because it is an additional reason, not the only reason for problems.

Geenie

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

You didn't HAVE to. Usually, all HB need is a copy of the t/agg. No need to contact the landlord at all. In fact, unless the tenant permits it, they won't.

Well I assume she did, as they did. They wouldn't accept the tenancy agreement alone and I had to do all of the other stuff. I keep being told I don't have to do this, but I like to be helpful and she is a good tenant so I was happy to do so.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Geenie wrote: »

Well I assume she did, as they did. They wouldn't accept the tenancy agreement alone and I had to do all of the other stuff. I keep being told I don't have to do this, but I like to be helpful and she is a good tenant so I was happy to do so.

The point is that, without her permission, you need never know the source of the income which pays the rent. Almost every tenant will have that option. Maybe tenants SHOULD notify their landlord of such a change of circs, but they don't HAVE to and the landlord need never know.... which was the original question.

Geenie

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

The point is that, without her permission, you need never know the source of the income which pays the rent. Almost every tenant will have that option. Maybe tenants SHOULD notify their landlord of such a change of circs, but they don't HAVE to and the landlord need never know.... which was the original question.

Would I have not? When she applied she had to fill out a Tenancy application form about employment, references etc and doing credit checks. She doesn't work. Would I as a LL not grasp this straight away and query where the money for rent was coming from?!

This isn't a change of circumstances but about someone renting on benefits to start with. Read the original post.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Geenie wrote: »

Would I have not? When she applied she had to fill out a Tenancy application form about employment, references etc and doing credit checks. She doesn't work. Would I as a LL not grasp this straight away and query where the money for rent was coming from?!

This isn't a change of circumstances but about someone renting on benefits to start with. Read the original post.

....See #4.

Geenie

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

....See #4.

So what is your point Wee Willy Harris?

The original OP asked if a LL needs to know a potential tenant is on benefits. I stated that in my experience yes, as I have always been approached by the council for confirmation of the rent payed to me.

t0rt0ise

The landlord doesn't need to know. As another poster says when completing the HB form the tenant has to give permission for the landlord to be contacted. If they refuse their claim will be not be affected.

Geenie

t0rt0ise wrote: »

The landlord doesn't need to know. As another poster says when completing the HB form the tenant has to give permission for the landlord to be contacted. If they refuse their claim will be not be affected.

I keep being told this, but the fact of the matter is that the council where I live would not pay the tenant any HB until I had confirmed what she was paying along with a copy of the AST. Her claim was affected! They refused her any payment until they had confirmation from me.

This is a joint tenancy situation so might be different from the normal.

t0rt0ise

The HB form is available for download quite a way down on this page http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018926 . See the section near the end of the form about informing your landlord.

missdee85

So what happens if they do say they dont want people on benefits artfullodger? Just wondering as i live in Scotland and the ad's constantly say no DSS even though it aint DSS anymore.

I would be upfront with the LL, she never knows if something may go wrong with payments and with processing of the forms then she would have to come out with it all anyway to the LL that may come back to bite her. I know when i was on LHA my LL got all the letters i did about the benefit i did opt to get the money paid directly to her at the time we were in arrears so gladly this was an option. But the council took so long getting the forms processed and then loosing all the information conveniently ours didn't get sorted until our local MP got involved. So given that situation i would advise her to be upfront about it explain her situation if nothing else she will come across as an honest potential tenant.

Good luck to her xx