Housing Benefit information for landlords

We are currently working towards providing a new Landlord Portal that allows you to access details of your tenants that receive housing benefit payments from Islington Council.

As a user of the Landlord Portal, you will be able to:

• search for tenants using name, address, postcode or claim reference
• access details of the current weekly housing benefit entitlement
• access details of any previous payments made to you
• export all payment records into a spreadsheet; you can save the spreadsheet to your own PC or network

In the meantime if you have any queries relating to payments please email us or phone us on 020 7527 3664.

Who can claim

Housing Benefit helps people on a low income to pay their rent.

Anyone who pays rent for the home they live in can claim, but not everyone who pays rent will qualify for benefit. For example, most students do not qualify but there are special rules that apply to some.

We can only pay benefit on a home that is let as a business arrangement, the same as it would be in a commercial market.

Tenants may not qualify if they live with and pay rent to a close relative.

We cannot pay benefit if a tenant used to live with the landlord as a family member, relative or friend and now pays them rent, or when the tenant is responsible for their landlord's child whether or not the tenant has ever lived with the landlord. We also cannot pay a tenant who rents a former joint home from an ex-partner.

Information we need

We will need:

• proof of rent (tenancy agreement)
• proof of the tenant's ID (and their partner if they have one)
• proof of National Insurance numbers
• proof of household income and any capital held

Information we can give a landlord about a claim

If we pay your tenant, we cannot tell you anything. All details about your tenant’s claim are confidential. We cannot give them to anyone without the tenant’s written permission. We cannot even confirm that a claim has been made.

If we pay your agent, we cannot give you any information. You must ask your tenant for any information you need. We will give your agent the same information that we would give to you if we paid you direct.

If we pay you direct, we can tell you:

• the date benefit started and ended
• the weekly amount of benefit, how often it was paid and details of any payments made
• any amount we are taking directly from the benefit to recover an overpayment

Changes in circumstances

If a tenant's circumstances change or they move address, you or your tenant must tell us straightaway. If a tenant moves out the benefit will end even if you are still charging them rent. The tenant is responsible for any rent due after benefit ends. If you or your tenant are not sure what to report, tell us anyway we will let you or your tenant know if it affects benefit.

If a tenant changes rooms in a house in multiple occupation, or board and lodgings accommodation, you or your tenant must tell us straightaway.

Overpaid benefit

If we find we have paid too much benefit, we can ask you or the tenant to pay it back.

If we send you a bill that you disagree with, get in touch with us straight away. As a landlord, you have the right to appeal against our decision to make you a target for recovery of an overpayment. If you do not repay overpayments when we ask you to, we can take the money out of benefit we are due to pay you for other tenants.