Article: Landlord Information Article Body What is housing benefit? Housing benefit is a government scheme that helps people on low income pay rent on the home that they live in. To work out your tenant's housing benefit we will look at the money they have coming in, the capital or savings they have, and their circumstances, such as their age, the size of their family, and property they are living in. To find out more please see the new claims for housing benefit. The rules changed from 1 January 2012 for single people aged under 35 who live on their own and rent from a private landlord. For further information please see local housing allowance. Sharing information Where payments are made direct to your tenant we are unable to discuss their claim with you unless they have provided explicit consent for us to do so and we have a record of this. Your tenant can give us permission to discuss the progress of their claim with you by signing section 16 of our claim form or by completing the section sharing information with your landlord on the HCTB1 form which they obtain from the Department for Work and Pensions. Your tenant can also give us permission by making a written statement or by completing the declaration to disclose information to landlord form. Where payments are made direct to a landlord, we can share some information without the tenants consent. The information we can discuss with you under these circumstances is: details about payments that have been made or will be made to you the period a payment relates to details about any overpayment we ask you to repay You can access details of your tenant's benefit payments online although this service is available to registered users only. Registration is simple, please click view your tenant's benefit payments online. Payment of housing benefit From April 2008, the rules changed for tenants who rent from a private landlord. If your tenant makes a new claim, or a change of address claim for housing benefit they will fall under this scheme which is called local housing allowance. There are certain tenants who are exempt from local housing allowance and they will continue to have the choice of having their housing benefit paid direct to you. To find out more please see local housing allowance. Further information can also be found at Valuation Office Agency. Under local housing allowance rules your tenants housing benefit will normally be paid direct to them. However, if your tenant feels that they are unable to manage their finances as result of their personal circumstances or that direct payments may jeopardise their tenancy, either you or your tenant can make a request for their housing benefit to be paid directly to you under our safeguards policy. From April 2011 we can also pay benefit direct to you if you help the tenant secure a new tenancy, or keep their current one, by charging a reduced rent that the tenant can afford. The rent must be at or near the LHA rate and the tenant must demonstrate that they can afford any shortfall. Further details can be found within the safeguards policy. To make such a request you or your tenant need to approach the council, providing the necessary proof and documentary evidence to support the request. Each case will be looked at individually and further evidence may be required from a third party such as a welfare organisation, social worker or doctor. You, your tenant or a third party can make the request by completing the form request for direct payment to landlord. Rent arrears If your tenant has eight weeks or more rent arrears you can make a request for their housing benefit to be paid direct to you. You will need to provide evidence to show the amount of arrears, the period of the arrears and details of any action taken to recover the arrears. You can complete the form 8 weeks in arrears to make this request. Before taking court action for rent arrears please contact us if you think your tenant may be receiving housing benefit. If your tenant is in receipt of housing benefit we may be able to make future payments to you to avoid eviction. Please also see homelessness and housing advice. Reporting changes Please report any changes in your tenants circumstances to us straight away. To find out more please see the housing benefit change in circumstances. Overpayments An overpayment is an amount of housing benefit that has been paid, but for which there was no entitlement. It is recoverable from either the person who caused the overpayment or the person who received the overpayment. We can only recover an overpayment from you if you received the housing benefit directly from us and we consider that it was reasonable for you to have known the overpayment had occurred. To find out more see the housing benefit overpayments. Appeals Landlords and agents have the right of appeal but only in certain circumstances. You can only appeal against something directly involving you and the council. For example, where we are seeking to recover an overpayment from you. You must follow the same rules as a tenant. To find out more see the housing benefit appeals. Application forms 8 weeks in arrears form Change of address form Declaration to disclose information to landlord form Request for direct payment to landlord Request for payment into a bank account Related documents Safeguards policy Service standards Landlord newsletters Legislation Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 Council Tax Benefit Regulations 2006 Housing Benefit (persons that have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006 Council Tax Benefit (persons that have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006 Data Protection Act 1998 Contact details Enquiries and requests for application forms can be made as follows: E-mail: benefitassessments@barnsley.gov.uk Telephone the benefits helpline: 01226 774743 Opening hours: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 4.30pm Fax: 01226 774733 By writing or sending documents to: Benefits, Taxation and Welfare Rights Division, PO Box 634, Barnsley, S70 9GG By personal visit to any Barnsley Connects offices Your views are important so please send any comments or suggestions on how we could improve our service to our Landlord Liaison Officer. Email: landlordliaisonofficer@barnsley.gov.uk Telephone Landlord Liaison Officer: 01226 774857 Fax: 01226 774899 By writing to: Landlord Liaison Officer, Benefits, Taxation and Welfare Rights Division, PO Box 634, Barnsley, S70 9GG Additional information To learn more about our compliments, comments and complaints process please see general complaints. Related services Council Tax Welfare Rights Barnsley Connects Homelessness and Housing Advice View your tenant's benefit payments online Benefit calculator Other useful websites DirectGov-Money,Tax and Benefits Valuation Office Agency (Rent Service) Citizens Advice Bureau Department for Work and Pensions