Payment of housing benefit
Payments are usually made directly to the tenant. There are some circumstances where the payments can go directly to the landlord. If you are a social sector landlord and -
- your tenant is in rent arrears of 8 weeks or more
- you believe the tenant is unable to manage their financial affairs
Email - HS-HousingbenefitsHsgAssoc@hullcc.gov.uk with any appropriate evidence.
If you are a private landlord, there are some circumstances where you can receive the payments directly. These are -
- if your tenant is in rent arrears of 8 weeks or more
- the council believes it is in the best interest of the tenant
- where your tenant is vulnerable and would struggle to manage their financial affairs
- you are considering enforcement action and you believe that the arrears are partly due to non-payment of Housing Benefit. The action could be eviction or notice of seeking possession
If evidence is provided, you or your tenant can request payments to be made directly to you. The final decision will be made by a benefits officer. They might suspend a tenant's Housing Benefit payments whilst the decision is being made.
If you are currently receiving payments from us, you only need to complete a new Direct Payment form under the following circumstances -
- your company changes from a Trading Company to a Limited Company
- you transfer from joint to single ownership
For a private landlord to request direct payments, complete and return the form below.
Landlord direct payment application form
Landlord notifications
If direct payments are agreed, from 11 January 2023 you will only be able to view your e-schedules, which is a list of tenants payments, and Housing Benefit notifications in your OPENPortal account.
OPENPortal
To register for a Landlord OPENPortal account or to access your current account, click the below link.