Summary
Mr C, who is a landlord, asked the council to pay his tenant's housing benefit directly to himself. The council failed to do this and the tenant did not pass on the payment to Mr C.
The council explained that when Mr C requested the housing benefit be paid to him, the tenant had not yet been granted housing benefit. They made a note on the file. The council acknowledged they had failed to ensure the payment, when authorised, was paid to Mr C. For this reason we upheld the complaint.
We noted that the council had apologised for the error and spoken to the relevant staff about the matter. Therefore we did not make any recommendations about this.
As the investigation progressed, it became clear that the tenant had not been entitled to housing benefit. Therefore, even if payment had been made to the landlord correctly, the council would have been within their powers to pursue the landlord for the overpayment. It is for the landlord and not the council to pursue their tenant for any outstanding rent they are due.
Related reading
View Decision Report 201503957 as a PDF (11.05 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018