Payment of housing benefit

Housing benefit for a local authority tenant is paid directly into their rent account. The payment to a local authority tenant is known as a rent rebate.

Housing benefit for claimants who are not local authority tenants can be paid to the claimant or their landlord, as described below. The payment to a non-local authority tenant is known as a rent allowance.

The most common payment frequency is once every four weeks, although it can be paid fortnightly, monthly, or if agreed with the claimant at intervals greater than a month.[1]

Payments are usually made by bank transfer, but the local authority must take into account reasonable needs and convenience of the tenant.[2]

Housing benefit can be paid directly to a landlord at the tenant's request, or if the local authority considers it to be in the tenant's best interests.[3]

The local authority must make payments direct to the tenant's landlord if one of the following applies:[4]

• the claimant is eight weeks or more in rent arrears and payment to the landlord is not against the claimant's interest

• a deduction from income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance or pension credit is being made to pay arrears

Arrears on rent in advance can be taken into account when calculating the eight weeks' threshold.[5]

However, the local authority can refuse to make housing benefit payments directly to the landlord if it considers that the landlord is not a fit and proper person to receive such payments.[6]

For the rules that apply to the payment of housing benefit under the local housing allowance scheme, see How LHA is paid.

If the local authority pays too little housing benefit as a result of official error (and the claimant does not contribute to this), the arrears must be awarded no matter how far they go back.[7]