Southampton City Council

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Guide for landlords

Who can claim?
Tenants who are on a low income and pay rent are eligible to claim Housing Benefit.
The amount of benefit that a tenant is entitled to depends on their income, savings and household composition.

What does Housing Benefit cover?
Local Housing Allowance was introduced in April 2008 and is a new way of calculating Housing Benefit entitlement it affects private sector tenants who make a new benefit application, change address or have a break in their claim. It is a much fairer way of calculating Housing Benefit as it ensures that tenants in similar circumstances in the same area receive the same amount of financial support for their housing costs. The amount is determined by the bedroom requirement of the composition of the tenants' household.It will not affect:

• Tenants who live in registered social landlord properties
• Tenants who are in supported housing provided by certain local authorities, social landlords, charities,voluntary organisations where the landlord is responsible for providing the care, support or supervision
• Tenants whose tenancies started before 15 January 1989.

Exceptional tenancies on properties such as:
• Hostels
• Caravans
• Mobile homes
• Houseboats
• Tents
• Temporary Bed and Breakfast accommodation

How to claim Housing Benefit
Your tenant should apply for Housing Benefit without delay. Housing Benefit is usually payable from the Monday following receipt of the application form. If a claim is made in the same week that the tenant moves in we will be able to pay from the date of occupation. To request a claim form please call 023 80833009.

Proof of rent
The claim cannot be paid until we have proof of your tenants' rental agreement. We will need to see the original rent book or tenancy agreement, which must be completed in full if you do not have a written agreement with your tenant, a signed letter from you detailing the rent charged, frequency of rent payments, the date liability began and your contact address will also be sufficient. Photocopies are not acceptable.

Discussing the claim
We cannot discuss any details about your tenant's claim with you without written authorisation from your tenant. We cannot even confirm if a claim has been made.

How is benefit paid?
Payment sent to tenants are made every two weeks, payment sent direct to landlords or agents are made every four weeks.

Payment will normally be made to a bank, building society account or by cheque. If your tenant does not already have a bank or building society account, you may want to help him/her to set one up, so that they can arrange to pay the rent to you automatically using a standing order.

For those tenants who fall under the Local Housing Allowance scheme payment is not normally made to the landlord, however there are certain criteria where we can pay you directly:

  • If your tenant is 8 weeks or more in arrears (Please see attached Vulnerability Policy document)

  • If your tenant is vulnerable (Please see attached Vulnerability Policy document)

  • If you have kept the rent at a reasonable figure (Please see attached Information for landlords document)

What to do if your tenant does not pay the rent?
If your tenant does not use their Housing Benefit payments to pay their rent and they fall into arrears you must contact us immediately on 023 80833009.

Usually a tenant will need to be 8 weeks or more in arrears before we can change payments to go directly their landlord, however, if you have concerns before 8 weeks that your tenant may not pay their rent or they have a history of non payment please advise us and we may be able to amend payments to go directly to you sooner.

In all cases we will need written confirmation from you detailing the amount of the arrears and the date the rent was last paid.

Changes in Circumstances
It is your tenant's responsibility to let us know if they have any changes in their circumstances but if you are aware of any you should tell us too. This includes:
• Change of address
• Starting or finishing work
• Someone moving in or out of the tenant's home
• Change in rent
Any delay in telling us about changes may mean that too much benefit will be paid; this is called an overpayment. Most overpayments are recoverable and we will collect the money back from the person to whom the benefit was paid

Landlord Forums and Newsletters
The date for the next meeting will be posted on this web site and the agenda will be added as soon as it is available


Payment of Benefits FAQs

1. My landlord is a Housing Association. How will my benefit be paid?

If you are renting from a Housing Association, payments of Housing Benefit can either be sent to you every 2 weeks or sent directly to your landlord every 4 weeks.
If you would prefer to have your Housing Benefit paid directly to your landlord you and your landlord will have to complete a Direct Payment to landlord form to enable this. Your landlord will then receive your Housing Benefit payments on your behalf every 4 weeks.

2. I rent from a private landlord. How will my benefit be paid?

Housing Benefit which is paid based on Local Housing Allowance will normally be paid directly into your bank account. Payments made to you will be sent two weekly, payments made direct to your landlord will be made four weekly.

For payments to go directly to your landlord you will need to fulfill one of the following criteria: you are classed as a vulnerable person, or are in arrears with your rent by 8 weeks or more or have requested payments to go direct to your landlord on the basis they have kept your rent at a reasonable figure.

You may need to complete: a Direct Payment Decision form, a Direct Payment to Landlord form and provide evidence to support your request.

If you rent from a private landlord and your claim is not paid under the Local Housing Allowance (referred to the Rent Officer) scheme you can have benefit paid to you or your landlord without having to fulfill any of the above criteria.

3. I am a council tenant. How is my benefit paid?

If you are renting from the council your Housing Benefit will be paid directly to your rent account every week.

4. How is Council Tax Benefit paid?

Any Council Tax Benefit awarded to you is credited to your Council Tax account and a new bill is issued with reduced instalments.

Basic Bank Account FAQ

1. What is a basic bank account?

Most banks now provide basic bank accounts that give access to limited banking facilities. Generally speaking these accounts allow you to receive your income and withdraw cash from cash machines but do not allow you to have an overdraft facility, cheque book, debit card or credit card. Some do allow the issue of Solo or Visa Electron cards that can be used to buy goods in shops. Most basic bank accounts are credit scored and this means that you may be eligible to upgrade your account to a current account at a future date.

2. Why have a basic bank account?

We pay most of our private tenants’ Housing Benefit via BACS. To receive such payments you must have a bank account. The advantages of receiving Housing Benefit via BACS are:

  • you don’t need to wait for a cheque to clear;

  • there are no postal delays;

  • there is no risk of theft;

  • Housing Benefit can still be withdrawn from various places including the Post Office;

  • you avoid costly charges made by cheque encashment companies, who charge between 5 and 10% of the value of a cheque;

  • you can take advantage of discounts from companies by having bills paid by direct debit.

If you are being paid Housing Benefit through the Local Housing Allowance scheme, your entitlement will be paid via BACS, so you must have a bank account. If you do not have a bank account you may be able to open a basic bank account.

3. What banks have basic bank accounts?

There are several banks that offer basic bank accounts. These are:

Abbey
Alliance & Leicester
Barclays
Cooperative bank
Halifax
HSBC
Lloyds TSB
Nationwide
NatWest
Royal Bank of Scotland

4. What documents do I need to open an account?

As part of the application for a basic bank account documents will need to be provided as proof of identity and residency.

Downloadable documents

Icon Name of file Size Download time
Microsoft Word document LHA - Information for landlords 59 KB 0secs @ 2Mbps
Microsoft Word document LHA Vulnerability Policy 118 KB 0secs @ 2Mbps
Link to download Adobe Acrobat if required

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