Information for landlords about Housing Benefit
Useful information when your tenants are claiming Housing Benefit
Housing Benefit payments
Payments due to be paid direct into bank accounts for Monday 14 May
2012 will reach the account that day rather than on Friday 11 May.
This is the result of technical difficulties. We are sorry if this causes any inconvenience.
What we can tell you if we pay your tenant
Even if we pay your tenant they can give us written permission to talk to you about the progress of their claim and the result, either by signing the consent box on the claim form or by writing a letter to us.
If they give us permission to share information about the progress of their claim we will be able to tell you where the claim is up to. We will not be able to tell you their personal details such as their financial circumstances. We will not be able to tell you how much benefit we have decided to pay them, if we have made a decision. That information is confidential. However, we will be able to tell you whether we have made a decision and, if we have awarded benefit, when we are sending
out the payment. After this, we can't tell you any more because the claim has been decided and this means that the tenant's permission has expired.
If they don't give us permission we cannot tell you anything. We cannot even confirm that they have made a Housing Benefit claim.
What we can tell you if we pay you
We will write to tell you when we start or stop paying you direct. If we pay you, we can tell you:
- The date benefit started and ended.
- The weekly amount of benefit and how often we pay. If there is a shortfall, it is up to you to collect the rent your tenant owes you.
- The amount we are taking direct from benefit to recover any overpayment.
- Details of any cheque paid direct to you.
If your tenant has asked for payments direct to you but we can't pay the claim because we don't have all the details, we will not tell you we can't pay unless we have the tenant's written permission on the claim form or in a letter.
What we can tell you if we pay your agent
If we pay your agent:
- we expect to deal with your agent, not both of you;
- you must ask your tenant or agent for any information you need; and
- we will give your agent the same information that we would give you if we paid you direct.
Download our leaflet 'A Landlord's Guide to Housing Benefit.'
Contents of Information for landlords about Housing Benefit
- Useful information when your tenants are claiming Housing Benefit (this page)
- Direct payments to landlords
- Working with landlords to prevent eviction
- Recovering overpayments of Housing Benefit from landlords
- Contacting us and staying in touch
