Paying the Landlord - please help

Client has come into the office with a further information request from Housing Benefit which asks about his Landlord. The landlord lives in Canada and has not provided an address. The letter says that if the landlord lives outside of the UK tax area they need to have an agent to manage the property and receive payments. Is this true and why? If this is in the HB regs can someone please tell us where so i don’t have to trawl through the whole of them?

Never seen this before.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Lisa,

According to colleagues at a certain Social Housing provider:), the LA must be able to contact the landlord (or agent) at an address within the UK tax area. If they cannot, HB cannot be paid.

It’s s48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987: it says that the landlord has to provide an address in England or Wales for service of documents, and no rent is due until that requirement is complied with.

There is a Commissioner’s decision CH/257/2005 which says this doesn’t mean the landlord forfeits the rent for the period before an address was provided - it just isn’t due to be paid until then.

In a case like this the HB claimant is liable for rent and it is not a reason on its own for refusing HB; however, the Council might decide the landlord is not a fit and proper person to receive direct payments of HB if s/he won;t provide an address in England and Wales for servcie of documents.  In that case they ought to pay the claimant instead unless there are reasons why that would not be a good idea, in which case suspension of payments might be the only option.