(2) what discretion local authorities have to decide whether housing benefit is paid directly to landlords providing accommodation for vulnerable tenants;
There will always be a small proportion of tenants who will struggle with the responsibility of paying their own rents, so there are safeguards in place.
We have not issued guidance on the payment of housing benefit directly to the landlord. If local authorities consider that the tenant is likely to have difficulty in relation to the management of their own affairs they may make payment to the landlord. For example, if the tenant is known to have a learning disorder or a drug/alcohol problem that would mean they are likely to have difficulty handling a budget, payment could be made to the landlord.
If local authorities consider it improbable that the customer will pay their rent, for example, if the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) authority is aware that the tenant has consistently failed to pay the rent on past occasions without good reason, payment might be made to the landlord.
This is made at the discretion of the local authority, which is best placed to decide.
Payment of housing benefit to the landlord is a statutory requirement if a tenant has built up rent arrears of eight weeks or more, or is having deductions from their Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance to pay off rent arrears. If this occurs, the local authority has the discretion to continue paying direct to the landlord when the level of arrears drops to below eight weeks. The use of an eight-week period ties in with the period of eight weeks in which a tenant can fail to pay the rent without being evicted.
In practical terms, this means that we advise local authorities to continue to encourage landlords to report any missing payments at the first opportunity. Where missed payments are reported, local authorities also continue to check whether there are any benefit issues outstanding, and seek evidence of any arrears outstanding through discussions with both landlords and tenants.
No assessment has been made of the merits of paying housing benefit directly to private landlords where their tenants agree. Choice is only one aspect of the LHA, but a key principle is responsibility. We want to turn housing benefit into an enabling benefit rather than passive support. This cannot be achieved without tenants taking personal responsibility for their rent.
The Department is undertaking a review of local housing allowance over the two years from the commencement of its national roll-out in April 2008. As part of this review, we will be monitoring the proportion of housing benefit claimants in the private rented sector who have their benefit paid directly to their landlord due to their vulnerability.