Housing Benefit ( Landlord Problem )

Atom

Hi guys am looking for some answers here regarding a situation my dads in - he is on pension credit and has been for 2 years, he stays in a 1 bedroom house on his own, his rent for that property was £330 ( it's a private let ) he was receiving housing benefit for the full amount but he was receiving £391 - £61 more than his lease which was £330, he got this extra benefit because of his pension credit the letter said.

So anyways he was paying his landlord the £330 and keeping the extra 60 odd for himself but he didn't think he was doing anything wrong, he then got a phone call from his landlord, she somehow found out he was receiving £391 and said he should be paying all this to her, dose he have to pay that extra money to her ? he thought he was just to pay the 330 that is on the lease ? another thing how would she get this information from the council on how much benefit my dad is being paid ( i know she has a friend who works within the council ) but is this information not private ?

Another thing the house is full of dampness ( mold ) and she is refusing to fix it, this could be damaging to my dads health, now shes talking about upping the rent to £425.

We feel she is taking the pi$$ but i dont have a good idea how the benefit systems works as i have never claimed and as a landlord she must have to fix the dampness surely, is there anybody we can complain to ? hope some of you guys can shed some light on what to do here.

Thanks in advance.

K

RAS

What if the Local Housing Allowance for the area? For a single person in a one room house?

HappyMJ

At the moment a tenant can still keep £15 per week on top of what the rent is. That's going to stop soon so you'll only get the exact amount of the rent in future. So the answer is no if the rent is £330 then that's what it is and that's all that has to be paid. All change come April.

If she does put the rent up to £425 then you have the option to refuse it, hand in your notice and find somewhere cheaper.

Atom

RAS wrote: »

What if the Local Housing Allowance for the area? For a single person in a one room house?

Hi RAS the LHA for his area for a one bedroom house is £98.08 per week according to the latest figures.

At the moment a tenant can still keep £15 per week on top of what the rent is. That's going to stop soon so you'll only get the exact amount of the rent in future. So the answer is no if the rent is £330 then that's what it is and that's all that has to be paid. All change come April.

If she does put the rent up to £425 then you have the option to refuse it, hand in your notice and find somewhere cheaper.

Ok thanks for that info - moving i think would be the last resort as my dads health is not all that great right now.

RAS

Atom wrote: »

Hi RAS the LHA for his area for a one bedroom house is £98.08 per week according to the latest figures.

Which works out at £425 per calendar month. She is delibarately raising the rent to the maximum permitted.

Atom

Yeah thats what she is doing, very annoying - what im wondering though is how she able to obtain how much benefit my dad is receiving ? is anyone at the council allowed to divulge this information to landlords ?

krisskross

Atom wrote: »

Yeah thats what she is doing, very annoying - what im wondering though is how she able to obtain how much benefit my dad is receiving ? is anyone at the council allowed to divulge this information to landlords ?

She wouldn't need to know how much benefit he is actually receiving. Most landlords charge the maximum LHA for the area. I'm sure I would if I had a house to rent.

The mould may just be due to lack of ventilation though in which case opening a window will sort it.

Jowo_2

Atom wrote: »

...
Another thing the house is full of dampness ( mold ) and she is refusing to fix it, this could be damaging to my dads health, now shes talking about upping the rent to £425.

Most mould is caused by tenant's behaviour, failing to adequately heat and ventilate the property, which causes condensation that settles on cold spots and turns to mould.

Tenants are obliged by law to look after the property. If it's his lifestyle that has caused this, he can expect to pay for the damage/decoration himself or be served notice for his failure to do simple things to prevent it.

Sometimes the building design doesn't help but the onus is still on the tenant to open the windows to ventilate, not dry washing indoors, put lids on saucepans when cooking, which aggravate it.

If there is a maintenance defect, such as leaking guttering, failed damp course or similar, then it's the landlords responsibility. If there is a leak or similar, then he should report this to his landlord.

He should be very careful about blaming the landlord for something that he may be causing because the landlord won't take kindly to a tenant damaging the property and not accepting responsibility for their actions. He will lose some or all of his deposit if he hands back a property that he's made mouldy because of the cleaning/redecoration costs this can entail, damage to furniture and so on.

He should consider getting a dehumidifier.

Here is a leaflet on the causes of damp and mould and how to treat it, including some maintenance defects that can cause it.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/pdf/Mould.pdf

There's plenty of info on the internet published by housing associations and councils for their tenants that contain good information on how to modify their lifestyles so they don't create damp and mouldy conditions.

shellsuit

He can keep the £60 to himself and she has no right to claim it, the cheeky so n so!

I'd ask her how she works out that he should pay it all to her, when the rent is only £330.

If she wants to put the rent up, she can I'm afraid.

You could try the council to see if they would be able to tell you anything, or ask her.