Benefits - Landlords Information

Landlords/Agents

At Moray Council Benefits Service we think landlords/agents are important stakeholders in the service we provide. We want to work with landlords/agents to ensure that they receive payment promptly and that overpayments are minimised. In return we ask landlords/agents to respect our obligations towards claimant confidentiality and the Data Protection Act when they make enquiries about their tenants.

• General Notes about Payment of Benefits
• View information on Data Protection
• Issues of Confidentiality
• The Data Protection Act and Landlords/Housing Associations/Agents
• Landlord Survey Results 2011

FAQs

• Can payments be made direct to landlords/agents?
• Do I have to repay overpaid Housing Benefit?
• What do I need to know about the Recovery of Overpayments?
• Do I have a Right of Appeal?
• Does the tenant have the right to change the payment method without the landlords’/agents’ consent?
• What can I do if the tenant owes rent?
• Can a tenant’s entitlement to Housing Benefit Change
• What do I need to know about the Rent Service?
• Do I have any other Responsibilities as a Landlord?

General Notes About Payment of Benefits

The person who is entitled to Housing Benefit is the tenant not the landlord/agent, therefore it is the tenant’s responsibility to pay his or her rent to the landlord/agent. It is the landlord’s/agent’s responsibility to collect the rent from the tenant. If the tenant asks us to, we may pay his or her benefit directly to the landlord/agent, otherwise we will normally only pay the tenant’s benefit to the landlord/agent if we know he or she is more than 8 weeks in arrears. Any payment made direct to the landlord/agent does not form a contract between the Benefits Service and the landlord and therefore does not affect the landlord tenant relationship.

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Confidentiality

Personal information held by the Benefits Service such as details of family, income etc cannot by law be given to a landlord/agent as this maybe a breach of the Data Protection Act.

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The Data Protection Act and Landlords/Housing

The Data Protection Act requires Moray Council to protect client confidentiality. By law we are not allowed to tell landlords/agents any details concerning the personal circumstances of a claimant.

If the client has not authorised payment to the landlord/agent we cannot tell the landlord/agent anything. We are not even allowed to confirm that a client has made a claim unless the customer has given written consent.

If the client has authorised payment to the landlord/agent we can only tell the landlord/agent the amount of entitlement (but not how it is calculated), the date from which it is to be paid and the method and frequency of payment.

If the landlord/agent has been charged with an overpayment we will tell the landlord/agent the amount of the overpayment and how it is made up (i.e. number of weeks and amount per week), the reason for the overpayment, the fact that it is recoverable, and the method of recovery.

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Can payment be made direct to landlords/agents?

For Housing Benefit to be paid directly to landlords/agents a Payment to Landlord or Agent Authorisation Form must be filled in and signed by both the tenant and the landlords or agent. Landlords/agents must read all of the conditions set out on the form and be aware that overpaid benefit may be recovered from landlords/agents. The form with original signatures should be sent to us - please do not send us forms of photocopied signatures, as these will not be accepted. You may wish to keep a photocopy for your records, though.

Payment of a tenant’s Housing Benefit may be made direct to the landlord/agent:

• If the tenant has agreed for payments to be made directly to the landlord/agent and we have received a signed Payment to Landlord or Agent Authorisation Form.
• Without the tenant’s consent, if the Council considers it is in the tenant’s best interest for payment to be make directly to the landlord/agent.
• Without the tenant’s consent if they have left the address and there are rent arrears outstanding for the period that Housing Benefit has been awarded
• Without your tenant’s consent if they are eight weeks or more in arrears with their rent

In line with Government regulations payments made direct to landlords/agents must be made 4 weeks in arrears.

The landlord/agent will receive a statement which will show the landlord/agent the amount of benefit and the name and address of the tenant. If the landlord/agent is receiving payments for a number of tenants the landlord/agent will receive a statement which lists them individually. One payment will be made for all the tenants on the statement. We recommended that this statement be kept for your records.

We will also send the landlord/agent a notification of Housing Benefit entitlement for each tenant whose Housing Benefit is being paid directly to the landlord/agent. This will show the date Housing Benefit entitlement started and the weekly amount. The tenant will get a similar but more detailed notification.

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Do I have to repay overpaid Housing Benefit?

1. In all cases where the tenant authorises direct payment to the landlord/agent, both the landlord/agent and the tenant will have to sign a Payment to Landlord or Agent Authorisation Form. In signing this form the landlord/agent agrees to repay any Housing Benefit which has been overpaid, the landlord/agent also agrees that any overpayment can be recovered from any future benefit paid direct to the landlord/agent/
2. Recovery from landlord/agent is deemed appropriate where it is reasonable to expect the landlord/agent to repay the overpayment. For example, if a tenant leaves and does not inform the Council and Housing Benefit continues to be paid to the landlord/agent.
3. Where recovery is made from another tenant’s benefit (to whom the overpayment does not actually relate) that tenant is deemed to have paid rent to the landlord/agent to the value of that recovery.

PLEASE NOTE: Housing Benefit is not payable for any period after the tenant has vacated. Housing Benefit cannot be paid because the tenant has failed to give the landlord/agent notice that they were leaving, has not returned the keys or has left personal belongings in the accommodation.

PLEASE NOTE: If the landlord/agent accepts direct payment of the tenant’s Housing Benefit from us we may require the landlord/agent to pay back money if the tenant receives Housing Benefit to which they are not entitled.

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Recovery of Overpayments

Each case is decided on its merits. However recovery from the landlord/agent will normally only begin if the Benefits Service believes that the landlord/agent should have been aware of the circumstances. For example it is understood that landlords/agents should be aware of circumstances relating to the letting of their property i.e. tenants moving in or moving out of their property and circumstances where the landlord and tenant share the same address.

Full notification of the overpayment will be issued to the landlord/agent 1 calendar month prior to recovery, to allow for any appeal. Subject to the result of any appeal an invoice will be issued no sooner than one month after the date of the notification of the overpayment. Payment will be due within 35 days from the invoice issue date. The invoice will show the name of the tenant and the amount of overpayment. If a landlord/agent has difficulty repaying the money our payments section can negotiate repayment by instalments.

If a landlord/agent fails to make repayments of overpaid Housing Benefit we can recover outstanding payments from any future payments of Housing Benefit due to be paid to the landlord/agent. If we do invoke these powers it means that for each tenant in respect of whom Housing Benefit is being paid, the amount of their entitlement will be offset against the overpayment. If this happens the landlord/agent must reduce the tenant’s rent liability by the full value of their Housing Benefit entitlement. The landlord/agent is not entitled to seek to recover the monies form the tenant. The legislation that enables this is contained within Section 16 of the Social Security Administration Act 1997.

If an overpayment is recoverable from a tenant but they still receive Housing Benefit payments, and these are paid directly to the landlord/agent, we may recover the overpayment from these ongoing Housing Benefit payments.

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Landlord’s/Agent’s Right to Appeal

Landlords’/agents’ rights of appeal are limited to areas directly involving them and the Council. For example, where the Council is seeking to recover an overpayment of Housing Benefit from a landlord/agent. To appeal a landlord/agent is bound by the same rules as a claimant.

The Appeal

• Must be in writing
• Must give reasons for the appeal
• Must be made within one month of the date of notification to the landlord/agent.

A landlord/agent has no right of appeal relating to a claimant’s benefit award.

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Does the tenant have the right to change the payment method without the landlord’s/agent’s consent?

At any time during the claim tenants may choose to have the Housing Benefit paid directly to themselves instead of to the landlord/agent. If this happens the Benefits Service will tell the landlord/agent in writing of the tenant’s new payment arrangement. The landlord/agent must discuss this matter with the tenant, as the Benefits Service cannot become involved. However any evidence the landlord/agent has will be considered.

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What can I do if the tenant owes rent?

If the tenant has rent arrears and the landlord/agent thinks he or she is claiming Housing Benefit the landlord/agent should inform the Benefit Service as soon as problems start to occur. We cannot discuss the benefit claim with the landlord/agent but the information will be acted upon.

The Council may suspend payment of Housing Benefit and ask the tenant why the rent is not being paid. Payment will not be reinstated until the Council is satisfied that the problem has been resolved. If the tenant is in dispute with the landlord/agent, the Council cannot become involved in the cause of the dispute. When the dispute is resolved Housing Benefit is reinstated from the date it was suspended and payment made.

In cases where the arrears of rent equals eight weeks or more or where the tenant vacates owing rent equal to or more than any arrears of benefit, the Council may make payments direct to the landlord/agent without the tenant’s consent.

Where the tenant is in arrears with the rent and the landlord/agent wants the Housing Benefit to be paid to them directly, a request for this must be made in writing. The Council will consider the request and decide whether the payment should be made direct to the landlord/agent.

Payment of the tenant’s Housing Benefit must be made directly to the landlord/agent where the Council has been told by the Benefits Agency they are paying the landlord/agent direct an amount towards rent arrears from the tenant’s Income Support/Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance.

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Can a tenant’s entitlement to Housing Benefit change?

Housing Benefit is paid according to a tenant’s circumstances, if these circumstances change the amount of Housing Benefit they are entitled to can also change.  A new Rent Officer Determination may be applied. This means that the Rent Officer could decide that the amount of rent taken into account by the Benefits Service could change, and therefore the amount of Housing Benefit that the tenant is entitled to could be less than their rent.

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 What do I need to know about the Rent Service?

The Benefits Service has to pass details of most Housing Benefit claims from private tenants to the Rent Service to decide whether the rent is reasonable.

The Rent Service decides whether the rent is reasonable by reference to the amount charged, the size of the accommodation, rents charged on other suitable accommodation and average rents in the locality.

It is important to note that the number of occupants is also taken into account. The Rent Service can only quote an eligible rent for Housing Benefit purposes that represents a property suitable for the number of occupants, according to age and family circumstances. If there are too many rooms (see number of rooms allowed below) the Rent Service will decide what the rent would be for a similar property of the right number of rooms. The rules are strict and the Rent Service is unable to alter them.

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The number of rooms allowed:

One bedroom for each of the following, counting each person once only, in the first group they come in to:

• A married or unmarried couple who live together as husband and wife
• Someone who is 16 or over
• Two children of the same gender
• Two children who are younger than 10
• A child (a ’child’ is someone under 16)

Tenants are also allowed:

One living room if there are up to 3 people living in the residence, two living rooms if 4. 5 or 6 people living in the residence, three living rooms if there are more than 6 people living in the residence.

Children

Children are only taken into account in the home where they normally live. They are not counted in a home where they visit even on a regular basis.

If you need details of the maximum rent allowable for Housing Benefit purposes these can be obtained before the tenant takes up a tenancy. The tenant needs to apply for a Pre-Tenancy Agreement

Do I have any other responsibilities as a private landlord?

Most private landlords must register with the Council before they can legally rent out a property in Moray.  If you are thinking of becoming a landlord or are already renting out a property, you can find more information on your rights and responsibilities 

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