Sharing tenant's information with landlords
Sometimes, sharing information with a landlord helps us to deal with a tenant's claim quickly. It may also reduce the risk of the tenant falling behind with their rent because their claim is delayed. We can share information with the landlord only if the tenant has agreed.
Under the Data Protection Act we need the tenant's permission to share information.
The information we can share with the landlord, if we have permission, is:
- whether or not the tenant has claimed housing benefit and, if so, whether we have made a decision on their claim or not; and
- whether we need more information to make a decision on the tenant's claim, and if so what information this is.
When making a decision about a tenant's claim for Housing Benefit we may need to check information we've been given. This might be contacting you to ask the start date of the tenancy. We may do this even if the tenant has not given us permission to discuss their claim with the landlord.
We can't give landlords information about:
- the tenant's personal or household circumstances
- the tenant's financial circumstances
If your tenant's Housing Benefit is suspended or stopped and we're paying you directly, we'll send you a letter.
Get permission to share tenants' information
If you're the landlord and you want us to share information with you, your tenant needs to give us written permission. They can do this by:
- ticking a box on the claim form
- giving us a permission letter
