Information for landlords

Your duties, responsibilities and rights

You must notify the council, in writing, of any change in your tenant's circumstances. You may be liable to prosecution if you fail to do this.

Changes in circumstances include: 

  • If there are any changes in the tenant's income or if the tenant gets a job
  • The tenant vacating the property or moving into other accommodation in the same property
  • Someone moving into the property with the tenant or if someone living there moves out
  • Rent increases
  • If the tenant or partner is absent from the property for over a month
  • If they are a joint tenant you must tell us if you become aware if anyone leaves or joins the joint tenant’s household.

Tell us now

If you do not tell us about a known change in a tenant’s circumstances we will recover the overpayment from you in cases where housing benefit is paid direct to you.

When there is a change in entitlement we will tell you:

  • The effective date of the change
  • How this will affect the amount of benefit being paid
  • The additional amount to be paid or the overpayment that has occurred
  • Briefly what the change is.

Appeal

You have limited rights of appeal under the housing benefit regulations. You can appeal against the calculation of an overpayment but you do not have the right to appeal against a decision to recover overpayments from you.

Tenants have more rights of appeal and can appeal against the:

  • Start date of the claim
  • Amount of benefit paid
  • Income and capital used to work out the benefit
  • Calculation of an overpayment.

Appeals are heard by an independent body.

You will only receive information about the amount of benefit and date of payment. We can only discuss claims with you in more detail if we have a signed declaration from your tenant.

When entitlement ends we will tell you:

  • The date benefit ended
  • About any overpayment of benefit
  • Briefly why benefit has ended.