Housing Costs where landlord refuses to offer tenancy

I wonder has anyone come across a similar situation.  Client, 53 year old woman, was living with her mother in a privately rented house and was left in occupation after her mother’s death in April.  She has been paying rent, but the landlord after some uncertainty does not want to offer her the tenancy and is now moving to evict. She hasn’t been able to claim Housing Costs in her UC because of no tenancy agreement.  The landlord will definitely not voluntarily provide proof for a UC claim.  I have advised her to upload on her journal any evidence of paying rent which she has - receipts, bank statement, or anything else, and to explain.  (Obviously there will be a backdating issue as well).  But has anyone any experience of this?
Thanks Ruth

First of all I’d say in my experience it’s not unusual in this sort of situation for a private landlord to refuse to give anything in writing to confirm they are accepting payments for housing costs - I can’t speak for them but I think it’s probably because they are worried about inadvertently granting unintended rights (even though ground 7 specifically stops this being an issue).

I think your tenant probably needs some housing advice. My first instinct was that this is a classic mesne profits case - she has no legal right to occupy so she is a trespasser - which would mean she can’t get her housing costs paid by UC anyway. However, reading between the lines, there does appear to have been some uncertainty, and perhaps some implied permission for her to stay for a while as long as she pays - which would be a personal licence and so would come within UC “use and occupation” charges.

If it’s the former then she can’t get UC to cover the housing payments. If it’s the latter then she can, and I’d definitely encourage her to put all the payment evidence and explanation on her journal as you have advised. Of course it may need MR and appeal - realistically UC may struggle to understand, so it may end up having to be put in front of somebody sensible.

There is a further point about getting housing advice - if she has any liability to the landlord then it’s important to know when it started in case of any further money claim, etc. The point here being that an assured tenancy continues after death and passes to the deceased’s estate so it’s the estate that’s liable for rent payments. Any payments made by the occupier cannot create a new tenancy - although they may help to persuade the landlord not to seek possession (s21 or ground 7, or even rent arrears grounds). So there’s certainly some grey area in terms of her personal liability.

Thanks Timothy.  Yes, she does need some housing advice - I don’t know about other parts of the country, but incredibly difficult to get these days in Liverpool because of the huge demand. It’s a shock to me that she could at the same time have no security, and yet her mother’s estate be liable for rent.  I think she would actually like to move somewhere else, but is facing the usual difficulty of being on benefits and only entitled to the LHA and scarcity of social housing.  On the benefits side, we can only do as you suggest and see how UC responds.  Thanks Ruth