Luton Borough Council
Local Housing Allowance
SAFEGUARD POLICY
Introduction
The Government has introduced a new scheme of Housing Benefit for people who live in private rented accommodation. The scheme is known as Local Housing Allowance (LHA) and is effective from 7th April 2008. Most new claims for Housing Benefit from private sector tenants will be affected by Local Housing Allowance. Existing customers will continue to receive Housing Benefit under current rules unless they:
· Change address, or
· Have a break in their claim of one week.
The aims of the scheme are to promote fairness, choice and transparency whilst empowering people to budget for and to pay their rent themselves. The simpler system will help to speed up the administration of Housing Benefit payments, giving tenants more confidence when starting a job that any in-work benefit will be paid quickly.
LHA will normally be paid to the tenant. However, some people may be unable to cope with the responsibility of paying their own rent. We will have the discretion to make payments direct to the landlord if we consider it is in the best interest of the tenant to do so.
Policy Aims
The aim of this policy is to:
· Provide a safeguard to support tenants who cannot cope with the responsibility ofpaying their rent
· Help to sustain tenancies by preventing rent arrears accruing
· Help tenants to take responsibility for receiving direct payments of LHA
· Reassure landlords that their rent will be paid direct when it is appropriate to do so
· Provide our staff with a framework for making reasonable, fair and consistent decisions
· Promote a transparent and simple process that may be promoted and
understood widely.
This policy is not intended to:
· Replace support that is being received to allow tenants the opportunity to be responsible tenants and be in control of their own income and expenditure
· Replace the services already available in the area for tenants who require money or debt advice
· Be used by landlords to circumvent the aims of LHA
· Be a “blanket policy” for agencies providing support to private tenants.
Our approach
Where a tenant, the landlord or a third party brings to our attention that there may be difficulties that could put a tenancy at risk because of non payment of rent, we will look to see how we can support and enable the tenant to make satisfactory arrangements to pay their rent. Where it is not possible to provide that support, or have the assurance that payments will be made, we will consider whether it is in the interests of the tenant for payments to be made to the landlord.
Making an application
The tenant, landlord, tenants representative or welfare organisation can make a request for payment of the LHA to the landlord. The request will need to be supported with written evidence, but initially can be made by:
· Letter/email
· Telephone
· Application form
· In person
Where a request for direct payments is received from a representative of the tenant, the third party must supply written authority to act on behalf of the tenant. We will be unable to discuss or deal direct with any third party without written authority.
What we will do
We will:
· Comply with legislation when considering whether it is appropriate to makepayments direct to a landlord
· Have regard to guidance issued by the Department for Work and Pensions
· Help to put tenants in touch with other agencies where necessary and give people the opportunity and support to manage their own financial affairs
· Work with landlords where the tenant consistently fails to pay the rent
· Make reasonable, fair and consistent decisions
· Treat each case individually and not make assumptions about people’s situations
· If necessary, ask the tenant to provide more information to help us arrive at a fair decision.
What will be our considerations
Housing Benefit legislation requires that we pay LHA direct to the landlord where:
· There are rent arrears of eight full weeks or more
· The tenant is having deductions from their state benefit to pay off previous rent arrears.
Payment will not be made to the landlord if we consider the landlord not to be a ‘fit and proper’ person to receive such a payment, or it is our opinion that it is in the overriding interest of the tenant not to make payment to the landlord.
In all other circumstances Housing Benefit legislation allows us discretion on whether or not to make payments direct to the landlord. The Department for Work and Pensions has provided us with guidance on when direct payments to the landlord may be appropriate.
Our first consideration will be how we can help and support the tenant to make regular payments of rent. We can refer you to an independent agency who and can help you to obtain and manage a basic bank account. They will be able to give advice/support on daily budgeting and prioritising financial commitments to help them manage their affairs.
We will always consider each case on its own merit and in doing so take account of whether the tenant is:
· unlikely to pay their rent because he or she:
-Has rent arrears of less than 8 weeks and consistently fails to pay
-Has previously vacated a property leaving rent arrears
-Has previously been evicted for rent or mortgage arrears
· unable to pay their rent because they have financial difficulties which mean they are unable to open a bank/building society account, have severe debt problems or are bankrupt.
· Likely to have difficulty managing their own financial affairs.
If arrears of rent have built up due to a delay in the assessment of Housing Benefit, we may consider making the first payment direct to the landlord.
Making a decision
We will aim to make a decision within 14 days of a direct payment application being received and any further information needed to make a decision is available. Payments will continue to be made to the tenant whilst an application is under consideration.
In all cases where we decide to make payments directly to the landlord we will set a date to review that decision and the circumstances of the tenant. Payments will continue to be made to the landlord whilst an application is under review.
We will notify the tenant and landlord of our decision in accordance with legislation.
Appeals
Any person (tenant or landlord) affected by a decision will have a statutory right to ask for more information and ask for a reconsideration of our decision. We will include these details in our decision letters.
Safeguard Policy
Good Practice Guide
This policy is aimed to safeguard vulnerable people, those who are ‘likely to have difficulty managing their affairs’. A wide range of factors may affect a persons ability to manage their affairs; some of these are described below with examples of acceptable evidence.
· Medical conditions – These include learning disabilities, mental illness and also those suffering from terminal illness. Evidence will be considered from care workers, GP (letters of referrals to hospitals etc), hospital, Social Services etc.
· Addiction to drugs, alcohol or gambling - we will consider evidence from GP, hospital, care workers, Social Services, support organisations for people with these addictions.
· Illiteracy or an inability to speak English - Evidence from welfare/advice groups/ GP’s will be considered.
· Women fleeing domestic violence/single homeless (care leavers)/people leaving prison/people who have previously been homeless - evidence from Social Services, probation officers, or support/advice agencies.
There are also numerous effects that would demonstrate vulnerability, for example:
· Severe debt problems/recent County Court Judgements/undischarged bankruptcy - look for evidence from help groups, creditors, courts, solicitors etc.
· An inability to obtain a bank account - request letters from banks/money advisors
· DWP making payments of IS/JSA(ib) direct to utility companies and arrears are still outstanding - This would appear on CIS.
· The person is in receipt of Supporting People (SP) help or help from a homeless charity - consider evidence from Social Services and support providers.
Any requests or recommendations to be considered for vulnerability or a continuation of direct payments to the landlord must be made in writing and must be supported by documentary evidence.
Cases where payment is made direct to landlord will be reviewed regularly. Direct payments will only be made indefinitely in exceptional circumstances.
Arrears
As now payment will be made direct to landlord if a tenant
· Has built up eight weeks or more of rent arrears or
· Is having deductions from their IS/JSA to pay off rent arrears
In these instances we will have discretion to continue paying direct to landlord when the level of arrears drops to below eight weeks. This eight weeks period is linked to the period of eight weeks in which the tenant can fail to pay the rent without facing eviction action.
We may also pay the landlord if it is improbable that the claimant will pay their rent. For example, if we are aware that the tenant has consistently failed to pay the rent on past occasions without good reason or has left the previous address without paying.
If a tenant is failing to make rent payments to their landlord, resulting in arrears, we may make payments to the landlord. Failing to make payments may demonstrate vulnerability when there are problems obtaining other evidence.
Arrears may have accumulated over a long period of time for example, the tenant may have failed to meet the top-up payments, resulting in arrears that total more than eight weeks; this may be evidence of a poor payment history and budgeting/financial problems.
If the tenant is in arrears and their benefit entitlement is higher than the rent, it is our decision whether to pay any excess to the landlord towards the arrears.
In all cases we require proof of the arrears in the form of a rent book or rent account showing the date the last payment was made and the amount of arrears.
Support for Vulnerable Groups
A referral scheme has been set up with a wide range of support and advice organisations to make it easier to identify vulnerable tenants. If an organisation is already providing ongoing support to an individual, they may write a referral on their behalf, if they consider that the person would benefit from direct to landlord payments. The following organisations are currently taking part in the referral scheme:
We have yet to arrange with the support groups who will be part of the referral scheme but listed below are some of the agencies and groups that may be involved.
Age Concern
Alcohol and Drug Services
Luton Housing Advice Service
Community Drug Team
Community Mental Health Team
Homeless Team
Probation Service
Shelter
Stonham Housing Association
16+ Team
Lamp
TTP
The Pension Service
Welfare Rights
Citizen’s Advice Bureau
If a tenant is experiencing difficulties obtaining evidence to support their request or having difficulties opening a bank account, they can contact the CAB for advice and assistance.
The CAB adviser can write a recommendation on behalf of the tenant to continue direct to landlord payments or they may be able to help the tenant gather the necessary evidence to open an account.
They can also give budgeting and debt advice to people in rent arrears.
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