Landlords - benefits guidance and online portal

Access the landlord portal

As a landlord who receives direct Housing Benefit payments, you can use the portal to:

• view your payments and letters
• view your tenants’ entitlement information
• export your payments to a spreadsheet
• update your details

You will need to sign and return a data sharing agreement to access the service. We will send you a username and password.

Receiving direct Housing Benefit payments

If your tenant is having difficulty paying their rent, you may be able to have their Housing Benefit paid straight into your account. You can ask for direct payments if your tenant has been in arrears for eight weeks or more. You'll need to:

• supply evidence of the rent arrears
• complete a landlord BACS form, or supply your bank account details

You can do this by phone, email or in writing. Contact the benefits team.

Overpayments

We may seek to recover any overpaid Housing Benefit if you do not tell us about a change in your tenant’s circumstances - for example, if they move out of your property.

If we decide to recover an overpayment from you, you have the right to:

• ask for an explanation of our decision (statement of reasons)
• ask for a reconsideration
• appeal against the decision

Sharing information about your tenants

By law, we must tell you about certain decisions we make. For example, we will tell you if we decide to pay your tenant’s Housing Benefit directly to you. This is set out in the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006.

With their consent, we can tell you:

• details that affect your tenant’s claim, for example, the tenancy start date
• if your tenant has claimed Housing Benefit
• when we have made a claim decision

We won’t share your tenant’s:

• personal or household circumstances
• financial circumstances

Your tenants have the right to give or withdraw consent for us to share information about them.

Reporting the death of a tenant

It is not your responsibility to tell us if your tenant has died, but if you receive direct Housing Benefit payments then you should let us know. Contact the benefits team.

Tenants moving or purchasing their homes

Your tenant is responsible for telling us if they move out or buy their home. If you receive direct payments then you should let us know. Contact the benefits team.

Apply for supported accommodation status

Supported ‘exempt’ accommodation is where you, or someone acting on your behalf, provides a tenant with care, support or supervision. It can include:

• group homes
• hostels
• refuges
• sheltered housing
• supported living complexes
• extra care housing
• adapted housing for disabled people

To be eligible, you must be in one of the following ‘not-for-profit’ categories:

• an English county council
• a housing association
• a not-for-profit voluntary organisation
• a registered charity

If you want to apply for supported accommodation status, email the team.