any time revision for rent increase

LA only awarding increase in rent charge from date they received notification. Previous correspondence not received. Would an any time revision be appropriate on this case?

rent increase not awarded for couple of years

Any time revision is generally possible only where:

- the original decision was an official error, or
- new facts have come to light showing the original decision was more advantageous than it should have been (i.e. the claimant was awarded too much)

There are a couple of other specific obscurities that also allow for any time revision, but they are unlikely to be relevant here.  So the only hope would be to find an official error in one of the decisions that has not adopted the rent increase.

Also, any decisions made within the last 13 months could be revised if the claimant has special reasons for a late application for revision

Thanks HB Anorak
I knew you would have the answer…

would it be possible to submit a request for a backdate as the tenant was informed that they need not inform HB as the association was doing so.end ?

I seem to get hopeful reading reg 79 but then disheartened at reg 8 of decisions and appeals Regulations.

The problem you might have there is that HB Reg 88 places a duty to notify on either the claimant or the person to whom HB payments are being made, so if the claimant’s HB is paid direct to the housing association and neither the claimant nor the landlord notified the rent increase I think it is still caught by Reg 8(3) of the Decisions and Appeals Regs as a change that is required by regulations to be notified.  Reg 79 is an extension of Reg 8, but when a change is notified late Reg 79 has to be applied as if the change occurred on the day when it was finally reported.

An alternative suggestion would be that the Council committed an error by telling the claimant not to bother and to rely on the HA - belt and braces is always safer and as a matter of law the claimant really ought to notify any change even if someone else could.  Therefore any HB awarding decision made after that faulty advice was given could be revised on the official error ground.  Worth a shot - the Council might be grateful for a way round the problem.

latest from HB is that we deleted the claim from their spread sheet, they are now saying no backdate as neither tenant nor Association noted changes when notified by LA

any chance with using official error by RSL?

In the Decisions and Appeals Regs official error is defined as an error by the Council, DWP or HMRC - any other third party on whom the claimant was relying cannot commit an official error for any time revision purposes.  Only options I can see here are:

- out of time appeal in respect of any decision made within the last 13 months in which the rent remained at the old level
- official error by the Council in telling the claimant not to bother reporting rent changes as the landlord had it covered - very tenuous, that one.