From June 2011 Landlord Forum

General

How can I contact you if I have a problem?  Is there a direct line phone number for landlords? 

Landlords are asked to e-mail enquiries to: housingquery@enfield.gov.uk

How will tenants know how the new changes will affect them before they renew their tenancy agreements?

We will be sending out a letter to all benefit claimants affected by the changes to Local Housing Allowance.  We will also advertise the changes in the Council's resident's magazine "Our Enfield" and on posters at our customer helpdesks, as well as on our web pages. Please remember that any LHA changes may affect a claimant's Housing Benefit at a different time to their tenancy agreement period.

What if a landlord has a 2 or 3 year contract with tenants but LHA payments now fall below these rates? 

The tenant will need to try to renegotiate the contract with the landlord or else risk falling into arrears.

Will more people be homeless as a result of the changes?  If yes, what is Enfield doing to prevent this situation? 

It is hoped that the majority of landlords will accept the new slightly lower rents paid through Housing Benefit, especially where they have good longer term tenants, and that therefore any increase to homelessness will be small. The council will try to pay landlords direct where they are demonstrating they have accepted lower rents and are protecting the tenancy.

Will the Benefit office tell landlords how a claim is progressing?

Yes, provided the claimant has completed the part on the claim form giving us consent to discuss their claim with their landlord.  We are able to tell the landlord how the claim is progressing, but there are restrictions on the level of detail regarding the claimant's personal circumstances we are allowed to disclose.

For what reasons does benefit stop being paid? 

Benefit can be stopped or suspended for a number of reasons.  For example:

• if we have requested some information from the claimant and, despite reminder letters being sent, this information is not supplied then we would end benefit; or
• we have received information that would suggest there has been a change in circumstances that the claimant has not yet reported to us

then we may suspend benefit until the claimant's situation is established.

Do tenants have a contract with the Council to pay the benefit they receive as rent to their landlord? 

There is no actual contract, but it is made clear that payment of Housing Benefit to a claimant is exclusively to be used to pay their rent.  If a tenant fails to pay their rent they risk becoming homeless through eviction.  Once they become 8 weeks in arrears then the payment can be switched to the landlord to try to prevent the claimant becoming homeless.

What is a Discretionary Housing Payment?

Discretionary Housing Payment is a very small amount of money the council has to top up vulnerable claimants' Housing benefit when the benefit does not cover the whole rent and would prevent homelessness.  This is paid to very few claimants to protect their tenancy for a short period of time.  For example where a claimant is terminally ill and undergoing extensive treatment or some other vulnerability while that person looks for cheaper accommodation they can afford.  Decisions on how this is spent are taken by senior officers of the benefit and homelessness services.

Single under 35s - how should landlords make their tenants aware of the changes?  

We will be advertising the change near to the time it is introduced (Jan 2012) and there will be more information on our web site.  Landlords should refer their tenants to the website.

Will people under the age of 35 who are leaving care or have a disability be protected?

As far as we know, the existing provision for leaving care will remain, but that is only up until they reach age 22.

Similarly, claimants aged 24 or less who are entitled to the Severe Disability Premium, will still be entitled to the one bedroom LHA rate. From April 2011 onwards, if that person requires and receives overnight care and has an additional room in their property used for the overnight carer, they will be entitled to an additional bedroom LHA rate allowance.

What about tenants sharing a house - will the new changes affect them?

The shared accommodation rate is given to all single claimants under 25 (except those mentioned above), regardless of the size of the property they live in.

If tenants are sharing a house, they are already only given the shared accommodation rate, even if they are aged 25 or over.

Where can I find more about universal credit? 

There are some details of what is proposed in the Governments white paper: 'Welfare reform' which can be found on the DWP website. See our News and hot topics section for more information and links to papers regarding Universal Credits.

If someone lives in sheltered accommodation and gets Housing Benefit but pays the balance of the rent themselves, will their benefit reduce?

Housing Benefit will reduce to the LHA rate if the sheltered accommodation is paid under LHA. If the accommodation is exempt from LHA and is paid under the Rent Officer scheme, then the level of their benefit will depend on the annual referral to the Rent Service, part of the Valuation Office Agency.