Legal argument as to paying landlords LHA – 2 months rent in advance
Payment of Housing Benefit to landlords Local Housing Allowance Regulation 95 Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 require a local authority to pay a landlord directly if a tenant is 8 weeks or more in arrears. As a general rule, landlords are no longer able to receive payment except certain circumstances. Can a landlord create a tenancy where the rent is made payable every 2 calendar months in advance, thus forcing a local authority to make payments to the landlord? ... Please login or signup to continue reading this...
read moreHow to find out if a tenant is claiming HB
We all know the problem. If a tenant is in arrears and they are claiming Housing Benefit, the landlord can request payment be made direct. However a landlord does not always know if a tenant is claiming Housing Benefit or not. The local authority will refuse to inform the landlord under the cloak of Data Protection Act. However, there is way to force the council to notify a landlord with regards to payments of housing benefit made to a tenant. The appropriate legislation is ... Please login or signup to continue reading...
read moreEntitlement to HB when Landlord is related to tenant
Below does not deal with the situation where the landlord ‘lives’ with the tenant who is a relative. In that scenario, there is no entitlement to housing benefit (or local housing allowance) [r.9(1)(b) HB regs 2006]. Below deals with the situation where the landlord lets to a relation a different dwelling to where he lives. Regulation 9(1)(a) Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 provides: 9.–(1) A person who is liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling shall be treated as if he were not so liable where– (a) the tenancy or...
read moreEnsure payments are made direct to landlord
How can a landlord ensure payments are made payable direct? The general rule is that payments of the LHA from April 2008 will be made directly to tenants. However, it is possible for landlords to make some amendments to their tenancy agreements in order to ensure payments are made direct to landlords (in our opinion, not yet tested on appeal!). Regulation 95 Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 requires that payment be made to a landlord where the tenant is “the equivalent” of eight weeks or more in arrears. This means a landlord simply needs...
read moreConfidentiality
Local authorities always hide behind data protection and confidentiality. This case shows what they should not have deemed confidential. Commissioner Jacobs CH/1821/2006 ... Please login or signup to continue reading this...
read moreSuggested letter – request for review of decision
This entry is part 7 of 7 in the series Housing Benefit - 8 weeks arrears appeal / compensation Before appealing, you should have asked for a written statement of reasons within one month of the decision. Once this has been received, the first stage of an appeal is to request a revision of the decision. When this is done, someone of higher authority than the original decision maker will review the decision. If the new decision is not more favourable to you, then it can be requested to go to a tribunal. If the new decision is more favourable to...
read moreSuggested letter – Request for written statement of reasons
This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series Housing Benefit - 8 weeks arrears appeal / compensationWhat is a written statement of reasons? When you have received a decision in writing, in most cases the decision is appeal-able within one month. However, you may also ask for a written statement of reasons which should give full details of how the decision was reached. When a statement of reasons is requested, the one month time limit is put on hold until you receive the written statement of reasons and then the clock continues ticking. The written...
read moreMaking an appeal
This entry is part 5 of 7 in the series Housing Benefit - 8 weeks arrears appeal / compensationIf a local authority refuses to pay a landlord direct after a request by the landlord (perhaps because the tenant is eight weeks or more in arrears), the landlord becomes a “person affected” by any decision whether to pay direct or not. A person affected may make an appeal but a landlord must act quickly because there is only 1 month to appeal. Step 1 Ask for a written statement of reasons A statement of reasons is at it sounds, it is an...
read moreAppeal or claim compensation?
This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Housing Benefit - 8 weeks arrears appeal / compensationIf a local authority has paid a tenant in error, for example if the tenant is 8 weeks in arrears and despite the landlords notification that the tenant is in arrears, they continue to pay the tenant, then a landlord will be able to appeal or claim compensation. Appeal or compensation? Often, payment is simply made to the tenant without any notification to the landlord whatsoever. If the landlord has received nothing in writing, then claiming...
read moreDouble Payment not Possible (but Compensation is)
The following case deals with the situation where payment was changed from the landlord to the tenant without notifying the landlord. This is NOT a case where the landlord notified the local authority that the tenant was eight weeks in arrears and then failed to pay the landlord, however the principle of this case will still apply to such a case [Doncaster v Coventry City Council, First Tier Tribunal 032/09/00932, 5 October 2009] In summary, the below case is stating that where a local authority fails to follow the regulations and as a result...
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