Housing Benefit

Your tenants can claim Housing Benefit to pay their rent if they’re on a low income. We can then make the payments to them or to you directly.

Housing benefit will usually be paid directly to your tenant, unless your tenant has rent arrears of more than 8 weeks or is vulnerable.

Tenants with rent arrears

If your tenant is eight weeks or more in arrears we'll usually pay their Housing Benefit direct to you. 

Complete a direct payment to landlord form (PDF, 49KB)  and provide proof of your tenant’s arrears, for example a rent statement.

Vulnerable tenants

We can pay Housing Benefit directly to you if we decide that your tenant is likely to have difficulty in managing their finances or is unlikely to pay their rent, for example if they:

• have severe debt problems
• have a recent County Court judgement against them
• are going through bankruptcy
• are unable to open a bank or building society account
• have some of their Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance paid directly to the gas, electricity or water company by the Department for Work and Pensions
• are getting Supporting People help
• are getting help from a homeless charity
• have learning difficulties
• have recently suffered a bereavement
• have an illness that makes it difficult to manage their affairs
• cannot read English
• cannot speak English
• are addicted to drugs, alcohol or gambling
• are fleeing domestic violence
• are a care leaver
• are leaving prison
• are homeless now, or were homeless, or at risk of homelessness recently

Either you or your tenant can ask for Housing Benefit to be paid directly to you. However, we’ll need a completed direct payment to landlord form (PDF, 49KB).

And we need evidence showing they have difficulty managing their money, or that they are unlikely to pay their rent (such as a letter from a support worker).

Your responsibilities as a landlord 

If we pay Housing Benefit to you, you have a legal duty to tell us about changes that you are aware of that may affect the tenant's entitlement or how we pay you. For example, if:

• your tenant vacates the property or dies
• anybody else moves into or out of the household
• there are changes to the amount of rent charged
• there are changes to any service charges included within the rent
• there are changes in circumstance or income of people living at the property
• there are changes to your details (for example you change your address or bank details)

You can report a change in your or your tenant's circumstances.

Housing Benefit landlord appeals

As a landlord you can appeal if we decide:

• to make direct payments to you
• not to make direct payments to you
• to take back money we overpaid you

Read more about appeals and explanations.