Should i tell landlord about housing benefit

Please note that we can only pay you the landlord if your tenant is not receiving local housing allowance or universal credit, or they are classed as 'vulnerable' under the safeguard policy. Please contact us on the details below for more information.

Claims are assessed usually within 14 days of receipt of the last document that we require to assess their benefit. If you are paid your tenants' benefit directly, you can register for 'my benefits' , an online service which allows you to:.

To leave general feedback about the website, please complete our feedback form. To contact us about a service, please use our online contact form. Coronavirus pandemic Coronavirus: information, advice and FAQs. The best way to ask us for direct payments of a tenants Housing Benefit is download and fill in the form below and then email to benefits swansea.

Local Housing Allowance payment to landlord request form [47KB]. If your tenants have been with you for some time usually years and their Housing Benefit claim does not come under the Local Housing Allowance rules, they can choose for payments to be made directly to you.

However, please be aware that they can also ask us to stop paying you direct at any time. If your tenant is receipt of Universal Credit all landlord queries or requests for payments are dealt with by the Department for Work and Pensions. High profile English landlords Fergus and Judith Wilson announced that they will no longer offer tenancies to employees on zero-hours contracts. This comes in the wake of their decision to evict tenants who were receiving benefits.

With this worrying trend on the increase in England, we investigate whether NI landlords can legitimately refuse to rent to tenants on benefits. Affordability is a big issue in the private rented sector and a major hurdle to many prospective tenants. The way in which housing benefit is calculated for private tenants has changed drastically in the past six years, due to the introduction of the Local Housing Allowance system and government commitments to reforming the welfare system.

These changes have made some landlords wary of renting to tenants in receipt of benefits. While there is some assistance available to these tenants, in the form of Discretionary Housing Payments , landlords are concerned about what they may see as an increased risk of rent defaults amongst tenants relying on benefit payments.

People often assume that landlords who refuse to accept housing benefit are operating a discriminatory policy, but this is not the case. There is no law that specifically says a private landlord cannot refuse a property to a tenant who will be claiming benefits.

However, it is very possible that a blanket policy of refusing to let to tenants in receipt of benefits will be viewed as indirect discrimination. Indirect discrimination on certain grounds is unlawful unless the person with the discriminatory policy can provide reasonable justification. Landlords have cited a number of reasons for refusing to rent to tenants in receipt of benefits, including:.

Evidence in England shows that increasing numbers of private landlords are not renting to HB claimants. There are also worries that the impact of Universal Credit will make renting to HB claimants even less attractive. Don't rent a property directly from an existing tenant. If a tenant is just showing you the property on behalf of the landlord they should give you the landlord's details.

Read our advice on subletting to help you avoid problems. Take someone with you when visiting properties, if you can. You only need to tell your landlord or letting agent you get Housing Benefit or Universal Credit if they ask. You should ask them to:. If a landlord or letting agent has their own rule of not renting to people who get benefits, this could be discriminatory under the Equality Act Write to your landlord or letting agent asking them to change their mind.

You can use a template letter on the Shelter website. You might have to agree to meet certain conditions or rules when you rent a property. For example you might not be allowed to smoke or keep pets.

Make sure you ask about any conditions before you agree to take a property. The EPC tells you how energy efficient the property is. The most energy efficient properties get an A rating - the least efficient get a G. You can read more about energy performance certificates on the Energy Saving Trust website. UK to check if a property is exempt. The EPC will say what improvements could be made - for example, replacing an old boiler.

The improvements must be made before your tenancy agreement starts.