siempre Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 Seems a petty question but starting to just niggle me I live in one of the areas where the councils pay HB direct to tennant they get HB 2 weeks in arrears but council do not send HB out to their banks or in a form of a cheque untill the Monday after the 2 weeks are passed so consequently I dont get payment until Thursday/Friday of the 3rd week just wondering if this is the same across the country.If so I will have to take another stress pill, Thanking you in advance for any info Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Hi Alan, Most local authorities pay Housing Benefit 4 weeks in arrears and many pay by cheque (meaning you've got to wait another 5 days before the money clears into your bank account once the cheque arrives). You could ask your local authority whether they can pay you by BACS - more and more authorities are starting to use this mechanism now - but otherwise, I would comment, every 2 weeks seems pretty good to me. There is much negative sentiment about HB tenants but landlords should remember that there is a "constant supply" of tenants looking for "social housing". Our biggest cost, as landlords, are void period when our properties are empty, tenantless and earning no income. I have found that when I receive notice to quit from a Housing Benefit tenant there is a queue of people waiting to move into the property on the same day. No Voids, maximum profit ! Good luck, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molly jones Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 [ If HB is paid direct to landlord, what happens when there is a HB over payment - is it recovered from the landlord - what hope of recovering the backdated rent from the tenant - especially where large sums of money are involved. Isn't it safer to have HB paid to tenant and give notice in usual way if in default on rent payments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Molly, It is irrelevant who receives the HB. If the council make an overpayment then they will either recover it from the landlord or the tenant. The problem is that once a HB overpayment has been made the tenant will owe the landlord the money (that has been recovered) and, given the tenant hasn't got any money (which is the reason why they are entitled to benefits in the first place) rent arrears will almost certainly occur. There is no way to avoid this (other than not to take HB tenants in the first place). If this happens then take control and quickly agree a repayment schedule with your tenant so that arrears can be cleared as quickly as possible. Good luck, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPEL Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 If accepting a HB tenant request a working guarantor or someone else with a permanent and verifiable form of income. If there are any arrears that cannot be recovered go after the guarantor. Arguably perhaps but I'd suggest the benefit should be paid to the tenant first. The council cannot then recover it from you. This way you will find out a whole lot quicker if they are struggling to pay you. Receive it from the council and the tenant may run up quite a debt that (you'd have to refund) before you become aware of a problem, making it practically impossible to recover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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