Welcome To Wirral

Who can claim Housing Benefit?

Housing Benefit is a scheme to help tenants who are unemployed or on a low income pay their rent. Only the tenant can apply for Housing Benefit.

A landlord cannot claim Housing Benefit on behalf of a tenant. This is because benefit entitlement depends on the level of rent and on the personal circumstances of the tenant.

To be eligible for Housing Benefit a tenant must meet three basic rules:

• the tenant must have a liability to pay rent; and
• the tenant must be living in the property as their normal home; and
• the tenant must make a claim for benefit.

If a tenant fails, to meet any of these, s/he won’t be eligible for Housing Benefit (there are some rare exceptions to this – please refer to "Will you pay benefit if my tenant s absent from the property for a while?").

All Tenants must make a claim for Housing Benefit directly to Wirral Borough Council.Tenants who are claiming Income Support or income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance will be asked if they want to claim Housing and Council Tax Benefit at the Job Centre Plus.

The Job Centre Plus will send the claim onto us with confirmation of Income Support entitlement.

How long does it take to sort out benefit?

All Local Authorities are required to pay Housing Benefit within 14 days of receipt of all information.

There can be delays in making payments of benefits.

These delays can be caused by:

• claim forms not properly completed;
• evidence of income, rent, identity or National Insurance Number not provided;
• tenant not in when Rent Officer calls.

What can I do to help the process along?

Always make sure that your tenant has an original tenancy agreement.

It should be clear from this:

• How long the tenancy is for;
• How much the rent is;
• What services are included;
• How often the amount is due;
• The tenancy agreement should be signed by both the landlord and the tenant(s);
• If you are the agent for the landlord the agreement should give the landlords full name and address.

Can I find out how much you will pay before I take a tenant?

The landlord cannot find out how much the Housing Benefit entitlement will be before a tenant moves in. However, if a tenant is thinking of renting from you they can ask for a Pre-Tenancy Determination. This will give details of the maximum rent we can use when we work out benefit.

Your prospective tenant should make the application for a Pre-Tenancy Determination but you will need to sign the form and arrange to allow the Rent Officer access to the property.

The Rent Officer will write to you, your prospective tenant and Wirral Borough Council with the maximum rent details.

The maximum rent is not necessarily the amount of benefit someone will get. Benefit is affected by income and who lives in the tenant’s household. There is no appeal against the Rent Officer’s decision.

When does the benefit start from?

This depends on the date we get the form and the date the tenant moved into the address.

This means that in most cases benefit entitlement won’t start until the tenant moves in. Benefit is usually paid from the Monday following the date the claim is received.

If a tenant moves into a property and makes an application for benefit within the first week they are in occupation, we can pay benefit from the day they move in.

Example: The tenant moves in on Tuesday 2nd and we receive the claim form on Friday 5th, then we will pay from Tuesday 2nd.

If the claim is received in the benefit week following occupation, the benefit will only be paid from the Monday following the date the claim is received.

Remember we may have already paid the tenant benefit based on their previous address.

How much benefit will I get on behalf of my tenant?

This depends on a number of factors:

• what the rent covers;
• whether the rent is considered reasonable;
• whether the property is considered to be too large for the tenant;
• the tenant’s personal circumstances and household composition.

What the rent covers

Housing Benefit covers rent and a few services such as cleaning of communal areas. It does not cover heating, cooking, hot water, lighting, water rates, laundry, room cleaning, meals and some less common services.

How does the Rent Officer decide market rents?

All claims from the private sector must be referred to the Rent Officer Service. The Rent Officer Service looks at the referrals and decides whether the rent being charged is significantly higher than the landlord could achieve on the open market. That is, the Rent Officer looks at whether the landlord would be likely to get that much rent from someone who wasn’t claiming Housing Benefit.

The Rent Service collects information to decide whether a rent is significantly high or not. In most cases the Rent Officer will visit a property before providing a market rent figure.

Whether the rent is considered to be reasonable

The law says that the Rent Officer must consider the level of rent on all privately rented properties where the tenant intends to claim Housing Benefit.

Since January 1996 we cannot pay Housing benefit above the figures set by the Rent Officer unless the tenant requires further assistance with their housing costs. In these circumstances a tenant can make an application for Discretionary Housing Payments.

The Rent Officer gives a number of figures which are used to work out the eligible rent.

• The Rent Officer Service will tell us whether they think the proposed rent is too high and will give a figure considered reasonable for the property. This is called the Market Rent.
• The Rent Officer will sometimes give a Local Reference Rent. The Local Reference Rent is the midpoint of the range of rents for all types of property with the right number of rooms for the tenant's needs, in the locality. The range of rents used will not include any rent that is unusually high or low. The Rent Officer gives a Local Reference Rent only where the market rent for the property is higher than the average rents for the type of property. This could mean that although the rent you are charging is considered reasonable by the Rent Officer, we cannot base our Housing Benefit calculation on it because it is higher than the Local Reference Rent. The purpose of this is to encourage tenants on Housing Benefit to look for affordable accommodation in the middle or lower rent brackets, so if they come off benefit they can afford to pay the rent themselves.
• The Rent Officer will also give a Single Room Rent for benefit claims for single people under the age of 25. Most single people under the age of 25 will have their benefit restricted to the cost of shared accommodation.

Whether the property is considered too large for the tenant.

Where the Rent Officer thinks the property has more rooms than the tenant needs the Rent Officer will give a figure for a suitably sized property. Usually this is lower than the market rent for the property. This is known as a size-related determination. When deciding whether a property is too large the Rent Officer considers the number of living rooms and bedrooms but ignores the bathroom and kitchen and uses the following criteria:

• 1 bedroom for 2 children under the age of 10 whatever the sex;
• 1 bedroom for 2 children of the same sex under the age of 16;
• 1 bedroom for a couple or a single parent;
• 1 bedroom for a person aged 16 or over.

So a house with three bedrooms could be considered too large for a single parent with two girls aged 15 or even a couple with two girls aged 15. The number of living rooms (i.e. rooms other than bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms) is also taken into account when deciding if a property is too large. One living room is allowed for up to 3 people, 2 living rooms are allowed for 4-6 people and 3 living rooms for more than 7 people.

NB: Children who are not normally resident at the property (i.e. visiting every weekend) will not be counted by the Rent Officer when making a decision.

If the Rent Officer provides a market rent and a Local Reference Rent and a Size Related determination, Housing Benefit will be calculated using the lowest figure.

The tenants personal circumstances and household composition.

The amount of benefit payable depends on the tenant’s individual circumstances. The income and capital of the tenant and his/her partner, age, dependant children and other adults (i.e. grown-up children) all have an affect. Special circumstances relating to disability etc may also have an affect.

Can I appeal against the amount of benefit my tenant is entitled to?

NO. Only the tenant can appeal against the amount of benefit they are entitled to. The tenant is the person who must make the claim for benefit, any benefit entitlement is the right and property of the tenant. It is up to tenant to say whether they are unhappy with the amount of benefit being paid. Any appeal against the amount of benefit must be made and signed by the tenant at every stage of the appeal.

What rights do I have as a landlord?

Landlords have limited rights.

Landlords have rights in the following instances:

• If the landlord receives direct payment. The landlord had the right to be told how much the weekly benefit is, how often it will be paid and the period covered by a benefit payment. If we decide to stop paying the landlord directly we must tell the landlord that we have done this and the reasons why. The landlord has the right to appeal against a decision to stop paying the rent direct.
• If a landlord requests direct payments because the tenant is 8 weeks of more in arrears with the rent and we decide not to pay the landlord, we must write to the landlord giving the reasons. The landlord can appeal against the decision.
• Overpaid Housing Benefit can be recovered from a landlord, but there is a right of appeal. The Housing Benefit Regulations state that the tenant must make the claim, provide the information we need to deal with the claim and decide how benefit will be paid. The tenant has the right of appeal in relation to the amount of benefit she/he is entitled to or the amount of rent we are counting for benefit purposes.

Why does the Housing Benefit sometimes go down?

All aspects of a claim are reviewed at various times. This includes looking at the level of rent being charged. It is necessary to get up to date market rent information from the Rent Officer Service before we continue paying benefit.

Benefit can also go down because a tenant’s personal circumstances have changed. i.e. The tenant may have had an increase in income or a change in the number of people in the household.

What information can I expect to get if I ring the benefit office?

The Data Protection Act is very strict about what information can be given about someone’s claim for benefit. If we award benefit and it is to be paid directly to you, we can tell you:

• the amount of the benefit;
• how often it will be paid;
• we will also tell you when we stop paying benefit.

We can discuss the claim further if the tenant gives us written permission to do so (See Authority to discuss claim form in the downloads section).

If the benefit is paid to the tenant we can't tell you anything unless we have the tenant's written permission.

The important thing to remember is that the benefit claim belongs to the tenant and they are responsible for paying the rent.

What should I do if arrears of rent are building up?

The first thing to do is to speak to your tenant, remember they are responsible for the rent. If you think that the tenant is getting Housing Benefit and there are 8 weeks arrears of rent, contact us straightaway in writing. We will write to the tenant to ask about the arrears and if we can confirm that there are 8 weeks arrears we would normally pay the rent directly to the landlord but see below.

Can I have benefit paid directly to me?

The tenant can ask us to pay the benefit directly to you but they can change their minds at any time. Some landlords make it a condition of the tenancy agreement that the benefit is paid directly to them. This agreement is with the tenant and not with Wirral Borough Council – even in these cases if the tenant asks for rent to be paid directly to them we must do this. If you wish to receive direct payments of Housing Benefit on your tenants behalf, we need written confirmation from the (See Payment Request form in the downloads section) and you must complete an application for direct payments of Housing Benefit.  See Application for Direct Payments form in the downloads section.

Until recently we were obliged to pay benefit directly to a landlord where there was evidence to show that a tenant was 8 weeks or more in arrears with their rent. However, new rules mean that in these situations, the Local Authority is not obligated to pay a landlord direct. However, we will usually only refuse to pay a landlord direct where it is decided that the landlord is not a fit and proper landlord to receive direct payments of Housing Benefit. Landlords may be considered not to be fit and proper if there are problems in getting overpayments back or the landlord is implicated in fraudulent claims for benefit.

How will payments be made?

Payments will be direct to your bank/building society account and you will be sent a schedule. This will tell you whose benefit is being paid to you, how much it is and what period it is covering. It will also tell you when we stop making payments to you for a particular tenant.

Payments will be made every 4 weeks in arrears and may be affected by a deduction where we are recovering amounts to reduce/clear an overpayment.

Will I have to repay overpayments of benefit paid directly to me?

All overpayments are recoverable unless:

• It has been caused by official error

AND

• the person entitled to the benefit couldn’t reasonably have been expected to know their benefit was too much.

Recovery of the overpayment is normally from the person who has received the payment. If benefit is being paid directly to you, this means we will normally recover the benefit from you. Overpayments can be recovered by offsetting the overpayment against the tenant’s ongoing benefit entitlement – if the benefit is being paid directly to you, you will therefore receive a reduced amount of benefit.

In some instances we will recover the benefit directly from the tenant even though the benefit was paid directly to you. This will normally happen when we are happy that the landlord could not have known that they were not entitled to the payment. If there is still entitlement to benefit, future payments will be reduced until the overpayment is clear.

How will you recover overpayments?

New powers of recovery have been provided to Local Authorities when the 1997 Fraud Act became law. These new powers mean that we can recover overpayments of benefit by making deductions from future payment schedules.

In the first instance we will normally only recover new and recent overpayments from your schedules.

We can recover old overpayments from the schedules but we will do this only when all other attempts have failed – even then we will normally contact you first before recovering old outstanding overpayments by making deductions from future schedules. Your rights as a landlord are not affected by the new powers of recovery. You are still entitled to information about the overpayment and you can still appeal against the overpayment. If your appeal is successful, any amount recovered from you will be refunded.

How does the Fraud Act affect me as a Landlord?

The Fraud Act is a very significant act of law. As the name indicates the Act gives Local Authorities additional powers to help prevent and detect fraudulent claims for benefit.

The Fraud Act brought in new powers which allow Local Authorities to get information directly from a landlord or agent if there are suspicions about a claim - the suspicions do not have to involve the landlord and could be in relation to any claim at any property the landlord owns or manages.

There are fines for landlords that fail to provide the information. Any time we ask you for information using the new powers we will make it clear that we are doing so and make it clear what happens if you don’t provide the information. The Fraud Act also strengthened the offences related to fraud and these offences have implications for landlords and agents.

The two offences are:

Offence of dishonest representations for obtaining benefit.

"If a person dishonestly:

•  makes a false statement or representation;
• produces or furnishes, or causes or allows to be produced or furnished, any document or information which is false in a material particular;

• fails to notify a change in circumstances which regulations under this Act require him/her to notify; or
• causes or allows another person to fail to notify a change of circumstances which such regulations require the other person to notify, with a view to obtaining any benefit or other payment or advantage under the Social Security legislation (whether for himself/herself or some other person), he/she shall be guilty of an offence".

Offence of false representation for obtaining benefit

"If a person without reasonable excuse:

• fails to notify a change in circumstances which regulations under this Act require him/her to notify; or
• knowingly causes or knowingly allows another person to fail to notify, and he/she knows he/she, or the other person, is required to notify the change of circumstances, he/she shall be guilty of an offence."

These offences mean that landlords or agents who knowingly allow or encourage a tenant to provide false or wrong information may be guilty of an offence. Similarly, landlords who allow or encourage a tenant not to report a change in circumstances can be guilty of an offence.

Where you are receiving payments directly, you have a duty to report changes in circumstances which may affect the amount of benefit you receive. Failure to do so may be a breach of the offences listed above.

Do you pay deposits?

NO. Deposits are not eligible for Housing Benefit. If you require a deposit from a tenant, the tenant will need to provide the deposit from his or her own funds. If the tenant is unable to do this, they can ask the Department for Work and Pensions for help.

Will you pay 4 weeks notice when the tenant leaves without giving notice?

There is only entitlement to Housing Benefit if a tenant has a liability to pay rent and occupies the property as their home. A tenant who has left without giving notice may still have a liability to pay rent but, clearly, no longer occupies the property as their home. There will not normally be any entitlement to benefit.

The only time we can pay benefit on a home that the tenant has left is if the tenant qualifies for ‘overlapping benefit’. Overlapping benefit means that the tenant is entitled to Housing Benefit at two different addresses for the same period.

To get overlapping benefit the tenant must:

• have a liability to pay rent at a new address; and
• have claimed Housing Benefit at the new address; and
• have a liability to pay rent at the old address which could not reasonably been avoided.

Only the tenant can make a claim for overlapping benefit and the tenant has to show why he/she didn’t give notice. If we agree that the tenant took all reasonable steps to prevent the liability at the old address continuing we will pay overlapping benefit – but only for a maximum of 4 weeks.

Will you pay benefit if my tenant is absent from the property for a while?

We can continue to pay benefit if a tenant is away from home on a temporary basis. We can normally only pay for a maximum of 13 weeks.

We can only pay where:

• The tenant’s absence is temporary i.e. the tenant intends to return to the property; and
• The tenant’s absence is likely to last no more than 13 weeks; and
• The property is not let in the meantime.

If a tenant is in hospital or in prison on remand including those in bail hostels, we can pay benefit for absences of up to 52 weeks - but the tenant must be likely to return home within 52 weeks. Once it has become clear that the tenant will not be returning home or that the absence is going to last more than 13 weeks (or 52 weeks for people in hospital or on remand), the benefit stops straightaway.

For example, if a tenant went into hospital with the intention of returning home within 52 weeks we would be able to pay Housing Benefit.

If, after 2 weeks, it became clear that the tenant would not be returning home, the benefit would stop straightaway.

NB: The rules change for those in prison once they are sentenced. At that point they become subject to the 13 week rules.

What about Council Tax?

If you are liable for the Council Tax on the property you rent out then you pass this charge on to your tenants as part of their rent. The Rent Officer will take this into consideration when setting the Market Rent.

If your tenant is liable to pay the Council Tax on the property then they can claim Council Tax Benefit on the same form as for Housing Benefit.

Whether, as a landlord, you are liable for Council tax on a property will often depend on whether it is classed as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). This decision is based on whether the property is built or adapted for tenants who do not form part of a single household or have separate tenancies or who pay rent for only part of the property.

Do I need to advise you if anything changes?

You must advise if your tenant vacates the property.  See Landlord Tenancy Termination form in the downloads section.

You should also advise of any changes in your own circumstances:

• change of address for landlord.  See Landlord Change of Address form in the downloads section.
• change of bank details for landlord.  See Landlord Change of Bank Details form in the downloads section.

How can I complain if I am not happy with the service?

You can make a complaint using the Customer Complaints leaflet. They are available at all Council outlets.

Enquiries can be made in person at the following locations. (See Council Offices in the related links section).

Other Enquiry points:

You can contact us by telephone on 0151 606 2002

Hours of opening:

Monday - Thursday	8.00 am - 6.30 pm
Friday	8.00 am - 5.00 pm
Saturday	9.00 am - 12.30 pm

Or: write to us at:-

Director of Finance
PO Box No 2
Treasury Building
Cleveland Street
Birkenhead
Wirral
Merseyside
CH41 6BU

Or: email us on:-

hblandlordliaison@wirral.gov.uk

Or: fax us on:-

0151 666 3139 using the Landlord Enquiry Sheet in the downloads section.

More Information

Leaflets are available free of charge at any of the One Stop Shops, Finance Department, Citizens Advice Bureau and Central Libraries or by clicking on the relevant sections above.

These leaflets can be produced in large print. Induction loops and minicom systems are available at the One Stop Shops. If you need help with translation of these leaflets you can contact the Multicultural Centre at 111 Conway Street, Birkenhead.