If you rent from a private landlord, your Housing Benefit is assessed under the Local Housing Allowance scheme.
How payments are made
Your Housing Benefit is usually paid directly into your bank or building society account.
If you don’t have a bank account, you’ll need to set one up.
Once you have an account, you can set up a standing order to pay your rent directly to your landlord.
Requesting direct payments to your landlord
We may pay your Housing Benefit directly to your landlord if:
- you are considered vulnerable and unable to manage your payments
- you request it
- your landlord provides evidence that you are more than 8 weeks in rent arrears
To request direct payments:
- you must complete a form and explain why you cannot manage the payments yourself
- your landlord must provide evidence of rent arrears if they are making the request
If your arrears are cleared, you can ask for payments to be made to you again.
We will contact your landlord first to confirm there is no outstanding rent.
To make a change on how you would like your Housing Benefit to be paid please email: benefits@hartlepool.gov.uk
If you’re a landlord and your tenant is getting Universal Credit. you can apply to make this change online through Gov.UK