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You are here: Home > Housing health and care > Benefits > Advice for Landlords

Benefits Advice for Landlords

This section is intended to help landlords, agents and housing associations get the best out of Benefits Services, for both themselves and their tenants.

What is Local Housing Allowance (LHA)?

If people rent their homes from a private landlord, move address or make a new claim for benefit on or after the 7th April 2008 they will be subject to the new rules known as Local Housing Allowance (LHA).

Those not covered by the new rules are:-

• Council tenants

• Housing Association tenants

• Tenants who have a registered 'fair rent'

• Pre 1989 tenancies

• Tenancies provided by charitable or voluntary organisations which include care,support or supervision

• Tenants of caravans, mobile homes and house boats.

For more information see our section on Local Housing Allowance.

What is Housing Benefit?

Housing Benefit is a social security benefit to help tenants pay their rent. Rent Allowance is for tenants of private landlords, including housing associations.

What are 'pre-tenancy determinations'? 

If someone is thinking about renting private accommodation and needs help to pay the rent, they can apply for a pre-tenancy determination.

A pre-tenancy determination will tell the prospective tenant the highest rent we can use to work out their benefit.

This helps them decide whether they can afford the property before they take on the tenancy.

However, it will not guarantee that the tenant will get housing benefit, or tell them how much they will receive if they do claim.

How do tenants make a claim?

Your tenants can pick up a form to claim Housing Benefit from any of the Helpshops in the Borough. All of the addresses are at the end of this leaflet. 

If your tenant cannot get to a Help Shop please tell them to ring and ask for Benefit Services on 01737 276497.

If your tenant is elderly and housebound or has a disability, please tell them to ring Benefit Services and we will arrange a home visit to help them fill the form in to claim Housing Benefit. 

Benefit is normally paid from the Monday after we get the claim form.

What information will they have to give? 

When tenants claim Housing Benefit they will need to give us proof of their:

• household income;
• savings;
• identity;
• rent liability; and
• rent payment or deposit. 

We can only accept original documents. Photocopies cannot be accepted.

If the tenant does not have all the proof we need, get them to send the claim anyway and send the proof later. If they don't claim promptly, they may lose money.

What happens after the claim is made?

When we have the claim and all the proof we need, we will work out their Housing Benefit. We will then write to the tenant and tell them how much they will get. We deal with most claims within 14 days. 

The Rent Officer

If you are a private landlord, landlady or agent, we need to send details of the tenancy to the Rent Officer.

The Rent Officer tells us if he thinks the rent being charged is reasonable. 

If the Rent Officer thinks that the rent is too high or the home is too large for the tenant's needs, he will tell us the average rent charged in the area for similar accommodation.

If your tenant applied for a pre-tenancy determination, we will not need to contact the Rent Officer again for 12 months. 

What is a direct payment arrangement?

Tenants who apply for Housing Benefit can ask for payments to be sent directly to their landlord, landlady, agent or housing association. If this occurs we will send a direct payment agreement form to you.

This will tell you how much benefit has been awarded, the period of the award and how often the payment will be made. If you do not want direct payments you must tell us.

What responsibilities and duties do landlords have if they accept direct payments?

If payment is sent directly to you, you have a duty to tell us of any changes in circumstances which might affect the claimant's entitlement to Housing Benefit or the amount of benefit paid. 

This could be, for example, if the claimant dies, or moves out of the property. Any overpaid Housing Benefit caused may be claimed back directly from you.

If I accept direct payments what information will I receive?

As well as the direct payment agreement, you will receive a letter (which is computer generated) confirming the amount of the award and the period of the award. 

If there are any further changes, we will write to you at the same time as we write to the tenant.

What landlords and agents can do: 

If you have staff, make sure they understand the principles of Housing Benefit so they can give tenants accurate advice. The Council can provide training.

If you have tenants newsletters or leaflets, publicise the benefits scheme in them. The Council can provide information leaflets.

Advise prospective new tenants about the pre-tenancy determination scheme. This scheme tells prospective tenants the highest rent figure we can use for benefit before they take on the tenancy. Ask us for more information and a claim form

Understand the rules on recovering overpayment and remind tenants when they need to renew their claim. The Council can provide training.

Have regular liaison meetings with Benefits Services. Please ask the Council to arrange a meeting

Tell new tenants about the Housing Benefit scheme when they sign up for their tenancy. 

For a claim form, contact the Council.