Housing Benefit

[Habib123]

Hi,

How does housing benefit work in the uk ? Do councils automatically pay the monies direct to the landlord irrespective of whether the tenant is working or not ? Or does it get paid directly to the tenant and is it up to them how they pay their bills ? I'm guessing council policies differ according to what part of the country the property is in ?

Is housing benefit paid according to multiples of the mortgage payment on the property - ?

thanks,

 

[Longterminvestor]

This is an interesting page:-

https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/housing/private-housing/leasing-and-letting/housing-benefit-landlords

 

[nmb]

I have always thought it strange that housing benefit is paid to the tenant to pay the landlord - I think it has been changed in the past but is that the case today?

 

[diyhelp]

This is a tricky subject because whether it is paid to the tenant or the landlord there is always potential for fraud, etc. What happenes if a tenant is paid their rent to pass to the landlord but fail to do so?

 

[realdeals]

I believe that housing benefit (in the UK at least) is paid to the tenant to pass on to the landlord. Someone told me this is to prevent landlord fraud but this surely creates as many problems as it solves?