HB overpayment - recovery from landlord query

Hello, I’d be grateful for advice please!

The Local Authority overpaid my client HB, as it mistakenly paid benefit based on a 52 week year, whilst rent is charged for only 48 weeks. Local Authority accepted that the overpayment was an official error, but argued that client’s landlord (housing association) should repay the overpayment, as it was reasonable to assume that the landlord should have been aware of the overpayment.

It appears that the case went to tribunal and the tribunal decided that the overpayment was recoverable from my client’s landlord.  Unfortunately the landlord has since deducted a lump sum of approximately £700 from my client’s rent account and refunded the Local Authority, and client now has rent arrears, for which she has been served a Notice Seeking Possession.  The Local Authority has told my client that this is not what the tribunal intended and that her landlord should have repaid the overpayment out of its own resources, not her rent account.

I can’t see anything in the CPAG handbook about this situation, has anyone dealt with a similar problem?

If the LA paid too much money into the account, surely the credit was in the rent account that the landlord should have used to refund any overpaid benefit?

If the overpayment recovery has left the tenant in arrears, I’d be checking the account to see what was paid and when, and why there are now arrears.

Sorry, I should have said, there is also a shortfall on my client’s account due to another HB problem, so she has rent arrears outstanding in addition to the £700 deducted to repay the overpayment in question.