Rent Overcharged from March 2020 to August 2022

NotAllThere

I received a call from my local housing association landlord last week. The caller stated that my rent had been found to be overcharged by around £35 per week over that period. The LHA are currently in the process of refunding me the over-charge in a lump sum of around £4200.

To complicate things, I have/had been working self-employed, WFH, for the duration of that period. For most of those months, I received a portion of my rent from Universal Credit (with deductions each month with reference to my SE income). In that respect, no doubt I will be asked to repay UC for the overcharged rent.

I'm worried I'd have to repay more than my LHA are refunding. As long as I don't have to repay more than the £4200, I actually don't care. However, in January 2023, I will be having the MIF apply. This in itself doesn't bother me, since my SE inclome is pretty much stable. That said, my finances are still in a position where my budget is tight and I don't have sources of funds to repay more than the figure I stated.

As said, I am scared. Scared to point where I am sick in my stomach. Can anyobody advise on my position?

Robbie64

I would have thought that if you received UC to cover the rent and you were overcharged for rent by your landlord by £35 per week then that is the maximum that would be owing back to UC. I can't see how your UC could have been overpaid by more than that amount.

Edit: as you only received a portion of your rent from UC then the overpaid amount of UC would be less than £35 per week. UC would have to recalculate your UC based on your correct rent figure (i.e. £35 less per week).

Hopefully someone else wil be able to advise further.

NotAllThere

Robbie64 said:

I would have thought that if you received UC to cover the rent and you were overcharged for rent by your landlord by £35 per week then that is the maximum that would be owing back to UC. I can't see how your UC could have been overpaid by more than that amount.

Edit: as you only received a portion of your rent from UC then the overpaid amount of UC would be less than £35 per week. UC would have to recalculate your UC based on your correct rent figure (i.e. £35 less per week).

Hopefully someone else wil be able to advise further.

Hello, Robbie! Thank you for your reply - it means a lot.

Yes, my initial position of thought was that I would repay no more than I as refunded by the LHA. But I can't help thinking, something at the back of my mind, that it's not that simple Perhaps I'm overthinking it.

NedS

When you say overcharged, do you mean your tenancy agreement says one amount and they have been charging you (you have been paying) £35 per week more than what was agreed on the tenancy?

UC would only be paying you (up to) the amount on your tenancy agreement, so if the housing association have overcharged you, it may be that you have paid the extra out of your own pocket and there would be nothing to pay to UC.

Can you provide some specifics - how much was the rent on your tenancy agreement (and for what period - weekly, 4 weekly, monthly etc). Do you get any rent free weeks? How much did you actually pay? How much was your housing element on UC?

Robbie64

I think you are overthinking it. The overpayment to UC will be the original UC payments less the revised entitlement (using the correct rent figures). It can't be more than £35 per week and as you didn't receive all of your rent in UC it shouldn't even be the full £35.

NotAllThere

NedS said:

When you say overcharged, do you mean your tenancy agreement says one amount and they have been charging you (you have been paying) £35 per week more than what was agreed on the tenancy?

UC would only be paying you (up to) the amount on your tenancy agreement, so if the housing association have overcharged you, it may be that you have paid the extra out of your own pocket and there would be nothing to pay to UC.

Can you provide some specifics - how much was the rent on your tenancy agreement (and for what period - weekly, 4 weekly, monthly etc). Do you get any rent free weeks? How much did you actually pay? How much was your housing element on UC?

Hello Ned, thanks for your response.

So - the LHA called last week, to state that the rent I was paying was too high. They stated that this decision was based upon on a valuation of the property that had recently taken place. In other words, they said the market-value of the rent should've been  £35 cheaper than I was acually paying. I have no rent-free weeks - I pay 52 weeks of the year.

I'd informed UC of the rent valuation that was given to me (by LHA) when I'd moved in to the property. I'd recieve (partial) rent payments from the Housing Benefit part of UC, which I'd paid to my landlord myself. Some months it was more, some months it was lower - i.e. lower because of my fluncuating effects of my SE income. That's the part that bugs me - I'm actually ahead on my rental account (even disregarding the over-charges). I'd deliberately built up about 3 months on my rental-account with the anticipation of the MIF (just in case!).

In my mind it's difficult to calculate what I'd repay. I would normally be paid UC equivalent to my rent + living allowance (single person), but less 0.55 based upon my SE income.

If I don't have to pay more than the LHA are (eventually) refunding me, then that's fine with me. I wouldn't necessarily like to claim more than my UC entitlement (though it would be nice!). I just worry if it would be more than the LHA refund. That would reallly screw me over at this time... MIF etc..