Housing benefit visiting officer

lissyloo07

Can someone please tell me why a visiting officer would want to come out to my house ? Came once unannounced and now they’ve made an appointment with me .. had a council property now for 5 years and never had this.. I had a sister stay with me for a while and I got reported but when I did it was all through telephone when I got questioned and it later got dropped .. all they’ve asked is for my id on the day and a bank statement ? 

TELLIT01

They will possibly be doing a physical check to ensure that you are the person who should be occupying the property.  There seem to be many more instances now of people either sub-letting or using council/housing association properties as AirBnb lets.

Having visitors staying with you won't generally be a problem unless it is longer term and you have been getting single occupancy discount on council tax.

FlorayG

Someone may have reported you for something they think you are doing that you shouldn't be. As long as you're not doing whatever-it-is, don't worry, just give the visiting officer a cup of tea and a biscuit (always a good idea to keep on their good side!)