If you are a council tenant, your benefit is normally paid directly to your rent account. However we are currently participating in a project run by the Department of Work & Pensions which involves some people being paid their Housing Benefit directly. We will have written to you if you are part of this project.
If you are not a council tenant, we will pay your housing benefit fortnightly or four-weekly in arrears. We can pay your Housing Benefit by cheque or directly into your bank account (BACS). If you do choose to have your benefit paid into your bank account, this means that there is less chance of your cheque getting lost in the post and the money is cleared funds on the date that the payment is received. If you would like to talk to us about switching to BACS payments, please contact us.
In most cases, payment of your Housing Benefit will be made to you but if you have issues with managing your money, perhaps due to health problems, you can make a request for us to make payment to your landlord. It is important to remember that we are not able to pay your landlord your benefit in every case. If you ask us to pay directly to your landlord, payment will be made to them four-weekly in arrears.
If you ask for payments to be made to you and you fall behind with paying your rent by eight weeks or more, your landlord can ask us to pay your housing benefit directly to them and we may switch payments without your permission in some cases.
Any Council Tax reduction will be applied to your Council Tax bill in a lump sum, reducing the amount you will need to pay over the remainder of the year.
Page last updated 11 April 2013
