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It is the responsibility of your tenant to make a
housing benefit claim.
They have no obligation to tell you they have claimed benefit and
we can only discuss their claim with you if they have given
permission.
Should a tenant make a claim they will need the following
information from you:
- Your name and address
- A tenancy agreement or a letter from you showing the date their
tenancy began, the amount of rent charged and any services included
in the rent such as heating or meals
- The type of tenancy they have taken up
- We will check any documents or information made in support of a
claim to ensure they meet our verification standards and to prevent
benefit fraud.
All claims with a
deregulated tenancy are referred to a Government rent officer for a
decision to be made on a reasonable market rent for your
property.
If a rent is considered to be unreasonably high then the amount of
housing benefit paid could be restricted. For example, this could
occur because a tenant is living in a property which is larger than
needed.
The following criteria are used when deciding whether a property is
too large with one bedroom allowed for each of the following:
- A married or unmarried couple
- A single person aged 16 years or over
- Two children under 16 years of the same sex
- Two children under 10 years
- A child under 16 years
Housing benefit cannot be
paid for part of the rent which cover what we call ineligible
services, such as water rates, fuel costs or meals.
These costs are deducted from the rent payable before housing
benefit is calculated. For example:
Actual rent charged =
£70
Water rates = £1
Fuel = £5.68
Part-board = £12.60
Rent eligible for housing benefit = £50.72
This final figure is referred to as the eligible rent
where a tenant who receives income support entitled to their full
eligible rent.
However, a tenant not on income support but on a low income will
receive only part of the eligible rent and is required to pay any
shortfall.
If your tenant wishes to make a claim they should call 01934 888
099 to make an appointment or visit the Town Hall in
Weston-super-Mare. |