Why not pay Housing Benefit directly to Landlords?

Reply to the comment left by Kate Mellor at 10/01/2023 - 13:22
I would love to see that law / rule in writing. I’m pretty sure all councils will demand from landlord (often by taking it out of payments for other hb tenants they pay for).

I have for a number of years had and will continue to have DSS tenants.

I agreed with my council that I could endorse the tenancy agreements with. This tenancy id conditional on all rents are paid directly to the landlords and I give my permission to share information with my landlords.... WORKS A TREAT.

Direct payment. the government. ok the people who think the govern the country. Insist that the tenants must be paid direct..... OK to encourage them to handle their money.. SO LETS HELP THEM TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT say Credit Union. The council pays it to this bank and the bank pays the landlord.

JOB done they are paid direct and the landlords get our rents... fits both parties. The Gov and the landlords would I am sure reduce evictions.

Reply to the comment left by John Dace at 10/01/2023 - 16:22
It used to be written on the back of the housing benefit statements when they used to post them out

Just one quibble with the opening premise of your article, London Landlord. DWP no longer state that Housing Benefit or Allowance is to cover claimants' housing costs but that it is to help towards housing costs. This distinction matters little in those areas where the LHA is close to market rents but in many parts of the country it falls far short. We have had a couple on benefits in one of our properties for fourteen years and the monthly LHA has increased by £23 in that time whilst our costs have spiralled and inflation has severely eroded the real terms value of the rent we receive. If we tried to increase the rent the couple, who are in poor health, would be homeless because the "help towards housing costs" is woefully inadequate.. This, coupled with the other problems listed by others posting here, is the reason so many are in temporary accommodation or homeless.

I agree with all the above. I am currently on Universal Credit awaiting a hip replacement operation. My rent is £411.68 pm which by todays standards is very reasonable. My Housing Benefit is £350. So I understand how families living in poverty who are afraid to use their heating should not have the temptation to spend rent money and this should be given directly to the landlord. Where is the problem with that? Who in government thinks providing an opportunity to use the money for other things to very poor people is going to end well? Personally I bank transfer my full rent at the first opportunity to my landlord, but I can sympathise with some who put the health of their family instead of their landlord. Why create that opportunity?
Patrick.

Back in the day, pre 98,they used to pay 2 weeks in advance direct to the landlord, that worked fine, they then altered it to 4 weeks in arrears direct to the tenant, so you lost out at away, also they said it was the tenants claim so hb would not speak to landlords.

Reply to the comment left by Kate Mellor at 10/01/2023 - 13:22
Hi Kate

Good to see you challenging the common myth, amongst landlords, that receiving Direct Payments, whether it be HB or UC that's involved, must be repaid by the LL. As you rightly, point out, invariably the overpayments recovery is determined by what caused the overpayment in the first place, not necessarily who received payment.

I challenge overpayment demands on a regular basis on behalf of my LL clients, and invariably secure exoneration from any culpability. That's because the tenant has an obligation when making their claim to ensure the info provided is accurate. He/she signs a declaration to that effect. If at a later date that proves to have been incorrect, only the tenant can be pursued.

As you'll know, most overpayments occur because the tenant fails to report a change or delays in doing so. For example, they experience a wage increase, an adult return to the home, they inherit a property and fail to report the "material change" to the Council or DWP or delay in doing so. Either way, the resulting overpayment will invariably be recoverable from them.

Where LLs run the risk of being asked to repay the overpayment is where they become aware of a fact that they could reasonably know, might affect the payments being received from HB or UC.

For example, tenants might vacate a property, without advising the Council and payments continue being paid to the LL. If the LL has no knowledge of the tenant's vacation, he/she can claim the overpayment was caused by the tenant's obligation to report the change but has failed to do so. But, if when investigating the circumstances that led to the OP, the Council or DWP discovers the LL did know e.g., tenant gave notice, tenant vacated and handed back keys, or was evicted or LL tried to make contact with tenant to organise gas safety check, with no success over a period of months, then in those instances they run the risk or having to repay any resulting overpayment.

One worrying thing for LLs is, DWP is making a pig's ear of UC's "housing costs" administration and during 2020/21 created £6 Billion of overpayments, representing 14% of its overall UC expenditure. The following year, I'm told, the figure is even higher. To make matters worse, many of the decisions are simply ridiculous and indefensible. My worry is, where DWP does pursue the LL, they're more likely to cough up than appeal and lose out unnecessarily.

If anyone encounters such a problem seek out advice from the NRLA or contact someone who can assist.

Regards,

Bill

Reply to the comment left by alan thomas at 10/01/2023 - 12:41
Yes that happened to me I ended up owing 15k,all hb said was get it off your tenants, who'd obviously legged it by then.

Reply to the comment left by David Meale at 13/01/2023 - 11:56
Hi David,

How long ago did this happen?

If you felt aggrieved by the Council's decision, did you do anything to challenge it, at the time?

FYI, if the decision was within the past year you could still challenge this, if you're confident you didn't play any part in the cause of the OP.

You'll find an example of a case I successfully dealt with involving £45K here https://universalcreditadvice.com/articles/housing-cooperative-and-elderly-tenants-win-fight-over-45000-overpayment-demand/

Most of the cases I deal with involve sums of between £1-5K. However, I'm currently dealing with 3 cases involving £35K, £37K and £287K, for different clients, on a "No win, No fee" basis and expect to secure commissions in all three.

Bill

It worked from 1997 to 2008 when we din't have the homeless problems we do now.
And 2012 when Council's realised LHA was again making people homeless.
I must be getting old to remember that.