Housing benefit
Landlord information
Landlords / agents are important stakeholders in the service we provide. We work with landlords / agents to ensure that they receive payment promptly, and that overpayments are minimised. In return we ask landlords / agents to respect our obligations towards claimant confidentiality, and the Data Protection Act, when they make enquiries about their tenants.
Confidentiality and the Data Protection Act
The Data Protection Act requires Calderdale Council to protect claimant confidentiality. By law we are not allowed to give landlords/agents any details concerning the personal circumstances of a claimant.
If the claimant has not authorised payment to the landlord / agent we cannot tell the landlord / agent anything. We are not even allowed to confirm that a claim has been made, unless the claimant has given written consent. With consent or authorised payment to the landlord / agent, we can give limited information. That is the amount of entitlement (but not how it is calculated), the date from which it is to be paid, and the method / frequency of payment.
For more information on access to official information and the protection of personal information, see the website of the Information Commissioner's Office|
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General notes about payment of benefits
The person who is entitled to Housing Benefit is the tenant, not the landlord or agent. It is the tenant's responsibility to pay his or her rent to the landlord or agent. It is the landlord / agent’s responsibility to collect rent from the tenant. In general, we will pay benefits directly to private tenants making a new claim (under Local Housing Allowance rules). If non-private tenants ask us to, we will pay benefit directly to the landlord. We can also pay the tenant's benefit to the landlord / agent if we know he or she is more than 8 weeks in arrears. Any payment made direct to the landlord / agent does not form a contract between the Benefits Assessment Unit and the landlord. Therefore it does not affect the landlord - tenant relationship.
Need more information?
- Call us on 0845-245-8000
- E-mail us at benefits.unit@calderdale.gov.uk.
