Appendix H:
Liaison with local landlords
Background
Like other seaside resorts, Thanet has large numbers of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), whose owners provide bed and breakfast type accommodation on the private sector rental market. Many HMO tenants are claiming HB. Thanet generally pays HB direct to the tenant’s landlord.
Findings
Thanet has a high level of contact with its local landlords and has implemented a number of measures to improve liaison.
Amongst the commendable initiatives that Thanet has introduced are:
- regular reminders to landlords of their responsibility to report changes of circumstances. This includes reminders that it is an offence to fail to provide information requested or to provide information that they know to be false
- using the monthly schedules of payment to include mailshots to landlords
- the production of publicity material specifically directed at landlords, for example the landlord pack. This includes basic information about HB, the role of the RO and overpayments
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- the landlord co-ordinator
- the landlords’ forum
- the landlords' newsletter.
Landlord co-ordinator
The role of the landlord co-ordinator is to educate landlords on their responsibilities and rights and to deal with landlords who have questions about their tenants. The postholder is expected to take a proactive approach to landlord liaison and to act as the link between the benefits section and landlords (including HAs and managing agents). The postholder gives landlords general and specific advice about the provisions of the HB scheme as well as providing a specialist advisory and training service for those landlords who provide accommodation for vulnerable young people.
The information and data that the postholder obtains during day-to-day work is used to identify areas where Thanet’s policies and procedures may need to be reviewed. Currently, the postholder is in contact with the local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) to obtain information about the numbers and types of enquiries that they get about HB overpayments. The information gathered will be used to review and, if necessary, revise current policies and procedures on the recovery of overpayments.
The postholder has a good working relationship with the ROS and XXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXXXX XXXX XXX XXX XXXX XXXXXX XX XXXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXX XXXXXX XXXX XXXX XX XXXXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXX XXX XXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXX
To speed up the notification of tenants moving out or changing rooms, it has been arranged that landlords of properties with a high turnover of tenants can fax the details to the benefits section. We commend Thanet for this good practice and suggest that all landlords who are receiving benefit payments should be encouraged to do this.
The postholder is clear about his role and where his responsibilities start and end. For example, he does not discuss rent levels with landlords, but instead suggests they advise prospective tenants to apply for a PTD. He refers landlords who have accommodation to let, claimants seeking accommodation and those with questions on housing law to the housing advice officer in the Housing Department. Claimants who are homeless are referred to the Homeless Persons Unit in the Housing Department for help and advice on obtaining accommodation. We found the postholder to be very clear about his role in relation to the benefits section versus the landlord or claimant.
Landlords' forum
The landlords' forum meets regularly to discuss topics that are of interest to landlords. Elected members and senior officers from the benefits section attend the meetings. The introduction of items of general interest prevents the meeting from being exclusively about HB issues. Recent agenda items have included presentations by officers from the Fire Service and Thanet's environmental health officers. The Chief Rent Officer (CRO) has also been a guest speaker. Officers from the benefits section have covered topics such as landlord duties and responsibilities, overpayments, and the DPA. A welfare rights officer who works for a local firm of solicitors has also covered the provisions of SSA(F) 1997 and followed up the talk with an article in the landlords' newsletter.
As an offshoot of the main forum the landlord co-ordinator is considering setting up small workshops to cover topics on specific issues, for example landlords who provide accommodation for people with special needs (mainly HAs). He is also considering setting up workshops on those topics of most interest to landlords, as determined by the questions they most frequently ask.
Payment of HB direct to landlords
Thanet makes approximately 70% of all RA payments direct to landlords. Except when there are 8 weeks arrears of rent, direct payments to landlords are only permitted when the conditions set out in regulation 94 are met. Even then LAs are merely given the discretion to make such payments. Thanet's Procedure manual says:
you may not make payments direct to a landlord where the claimant is the sole tenant of a resident landlord or where the landlord has not paid outstanding invoices.
Conclusions
Thanet’s liaison arrangements with the local landlords demonstrate many good practices. We conclude that Thanet has achieved a good balance between informing landlords of their rights and responsibilities and minimising the potential for landlord fraud. The landlord co-ordinator provides a central enquiry point for landlords for both specific and general queries about their tenants, whilst the landlords’ forum provides an opportunity for them to raise issues with the appropriate people.
* Highlighted parts of this report are omitted from the published version as they may assist fraudsters or may contain confidential commercial information.