How will I be paid?

We will send you regular payments of your tenant's Housing Benefit, by Direct Credit to your bank or building society account.

When will payments be made to me?

We will make a direct payment in most cases when the tenant is more than 8 weeks in arrears with his or her rent.

We also make direct payment if the tenant asks for it, agrees to it, or we think it is their best interest to do so.

How much will I be paid?

We will pay you what would have been paid to the tenant. In many cases, this will not be the full rent and you will have to collect the difference from the tenant.

We will write to you to confirm the amount of benefit that your tenant is entitled to. But we cannot tell you how this has been worked out. That information is confidential to the tenant.

How often will I be sent payments?

We will pay you every four weeks in arrears. If you have more than one tenant, we will only send you one payment. We will also give you a list of the amounts paid for each tenant.

When the tenant makes a new claim, the first payment may be an "interim" award of benefit. We will tell you if this happens.

We aim to process new claims within 14 days of receiving all the information we need. This means that we must have received:

• A completed application form signed by the tenant
• A tenancy agreement
• Proof of the tenant's income
• Two forms of identity (one must be the tenant's National Insurance number)

Rent restrictions

We have to decide if the rent you are charging, and the size of the property, are fair for the tenant's needs.

We have to give details of the property to the Rent Officer Service. They are an independent organisation, they are not part of the Council. They will decide if the rent and the size of the accommodation is fair. If they think that they are not fair, they will say how much is reasonable.

The Rent Officer Service will also give us the highest figure we can use to work out Housing Benefit for single tenants under 25 years of age. This rent figure will be based on "market rents" for single rooms with shared facilities.

We will normally pay Housing Benefit based on the Rent Officers decision.

The tenant will be told if their Housing Benefit is restricted . if they disagree with this decision they can ask us to reconsider it.

This request must be made;

• In writing within one calendar month of the notification
• By the tenant

Recovery of Overpayments

As a landlord receiving direct payments, you will have to pay back any benefit you receive which is for any period after the tenant has moved out of your property.

You may also be asked to pay back benefit if the tenant's circumstances change, and the amount of benefit changes.

If you are a landlord or Agent getting Housing Benefit for other tenants, we can deduct the amount you owe from the payment we send you.