18th
Apr 2013
A couple in Bonsall face the prospect of losing their property due to Nottingham City Council’s “disastrous” and “misguided” housing benefit policy. The landlords David and Joanne Lansbury rented their property last July to their current tenant and had no idea that upon receiving two months rent upfront, that the tenant was in fact receiving housing benefits being paid directly into his own account.
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After the first payment the tenant refused to pay any more money after entering into a dispute over property maintenance.
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Joanne said: “Once we found out, we appealed to the council who, after initially suspending his payments, unbelievably decided to continue paying our tenant directly.”
The couple have repeatedly asked the Council for help to reconsider their policy as they are in extreme danger of having their property repossessed.
A council spokesman said: “The Council applies the law in such cases in the same way as all councils. In this case, we had begun to pay Housing Benefit direct to the landlord but this was suspended when the claimant entered into a dispute with his landlord over disrepair to the property. The suspension of the payment could be reconsidered if the dispute is resolved and rent remains outstanding.”
PIMS Comments
We do not know the finite detail in this case and their may indeed be credance to the Tenants claims of dissrepair. Each case is unique so if you are experincing similar we sugest ringing the helpline - the key issue is if more than eight weeks in arrears
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