Benefits Tenant in Rent Arrears
Where a Benefits claimant is in Rent Arrears the Council are obliged to help the Landlord.
When a tenant is rent arrears Contact the Council as quickly as possible requesting them to
suspend the payments to the tenant YOU are wiser to follow this call up with a
LHA rent arrears letter and enclose a copy of the Section 8 Notice. The reason you do this is to demonstrate to the council that the tenant by their actions have made themselves vulnerable to a risk of being made homeless - This by definition should be sufficient to have payment made direct to the Landlord or your Agent
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The council suspends further payments going direct to the tenant, they then write to the tenant and Landlord seeking clarification. Once the Council are satisfied arrears in excess of 8 weeks (this actually is 5 weeks see below) then thereafter rent [including monies which had been suspended], are paid directly to the Landlord or their agent. Receiving payment directly improves your cash flow.
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To find contact details for your local council click here
IMPORTANT - COuncilS ARE WRONG IN REFUSING TO MAKE DIRECT PAYMENT - Sadly This has now been superseded by Universal credit Alternative Payment Arrangements whereby in a MINORITY of cases payment may be made to the landlord
PLEASE NOTE THE UC47 form request for Direct Payment maybe downloaded here then email to ucfull.service@dwp.gov.uk
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When arrears reach the equivalent of one month’s rent, DWP will review the situation following notification from the claimant or the landlord. At this point DWP can offer the claimant budgeting support and may decide to pay the rent directly to the landlord.When arrears reach an equivalent of 2 months’ rent the landlord (or the claimant) can ask DWP to consider if an Alternative Payment Arrangement would be an appropriate course of action.
- To notify DWP at either the 1 or 2 month stage, please open the Universal Credit: Rent Arrears Form and either email it (if you have access to a secured email system) or post it to DWP – full instructions are included on the form.
- DWP offers an email address for landlords to use for urgent enquiries: uc.servicecentrehousing@dwp.gsi.gov.uk. This should only be used for cases facing eviction or in instances where landlords require an urgent response. Otherwise complete form UC47 for Direct Payment downloaded here then email to ucfull.service@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
HISTORICALLY THE POSITION WAS
Councils state that they consider arrears as being eight weeks in arrears and this excludes rent in advance - But the following 'Adjudication and Operations circular' from the DWP contradicts this position and should be used as a term of reference to secure direct payment earlier
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Doncaster v Coventry City Council, First Tier Tribunal 032/09/00932, 5 October 2009 the Chairman expressed the view that ‘Rent is in arrears once the contractual date for payment has passed irrespective of whether rent is due in advance or in arrears’.
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In view of this, we have consulted with lawyers at Communities and Local Government to establish at what point they consider a tenant to be in arrears of eight weeks. As they are also of the view that rent is in arrears once the date for payment has passed without any payment being made, we have revised the LHA guidance so that it is consistent with this position.
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Historically a DWP circular was sent to benefits staff and cited the ruling in sections 14 & 15 this meant the council MUST pay the landlord or their agent direct. This has now been superseded by Universal credit
whereby in a MINORITY of cases payment may be made to the landlord.
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8 weeks - 5 weeks this is double dutch - Example Tenancy Agreement says you pay your rent 1st of each month. Month one dont pay me, Month two dont pay me on due date. Because payable in advance they have now missed two months rent payments so they are now 8 weeks in arrears and I am entitled to request the rent direct from the council. If the Tenants know the intricacies of the system they will make a nominal payment to delay direct payment to the landlord
DIRECT RENT PAYMENT IS NOT JUST ABOUT CASH FLOW
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Direct Payment vs. risk - Sadly whilst you may achieve having the rent paid direct to yourself, you also transfer liability. Should it transpire at a later stage the tenant made an ineligible claim the council may pursue you for the overpayment for they will argue that you were the beneficiary? Should this happen see
Overpayment suspension and repayment of LHA Housing Benefits
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Cash in - Tenants Out - Sometimes a tenant know the rules and once the landlord is receiving the rent direct they will simply move on to the next landlord, start a new claim and get the rent paid direct again. Housing Benefits know the tenant is a persistent non payer and have the authority to cease payment to such tenant but do not do so.
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