Who Local Housing Allowance is paid to

Direct payment of Local Housing Allowance to tenants

Local Housing Allowance is usually paid directly to you, the tenant. Most often, this payment is made into your bank account. You should arrange to pay your rent to the landlord, and setting up a direct debit or standing order is the easiest method.

If you don't have a bank account, find out how to open one on the Money Advice Service website.

When payments are made directly to your landlord

While you can’t choose to have payments made directly to your landlord, Oxford City Council may decide it's in your best interest to do so. If you're eight weeks or more behind on rent, we usually must pay the landlord directly. However, if you're withholding rent due to a dispute, we may suspend payments or pay a third party until the dispute is resolved.

We might decide to pay your landlord directly if you:

• are likely to have difficulty managing your affairs
• are unlikely to pay your rent

This also applies if paying the landlord directly helps you secure or retain a tenancy.

Identifying difficulty in paying rent

There are various reasons why you might struggle to pay rent. These include:

• severe debt problems
• recent County Court judgements
• being an undischarged bankrupt
• inability to open a bank account
• deductions from Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance for utility bills
• receiving support from Supporting People or a homeless charity
• having a learning difficulty or an illness impacting daily management
• difficulty with reading or speaking English
• addiction to drugs, alcohol, or gambling
• fleeing domestic violence
• being a care leaver
• being recently released from prison
• being in homeless accommodation

Requesting direct payments to landlords

If you, your landlord, your family, or someone acting on your behalf think you might struggle to pay your rent, let us know. Landlords can also contact us if you're getting behind on rent. We may identify your need for assistance from our records.

How we decide to pay the landlord directly

Oxford City Council determines if direct payment to your landlord is appropriate. Our Housing Benefit team may already be aware of your situation and act accordingly. If a request for direct payment is made, we need written evidence that it's in your interest to pay the landlord directly. This evidence can come from various sources, including:

• you, the tenant
• your friends and family
• your landlord
• welfare groups and social services
• Probation Officers, Jobcentre Plus, or The Pension Service
• homeless charities, Supporting People teams, or rent deposit scheme administrators

We will involve you in our decision-making process. Once we have collected the evidence, we will decide as quickly as possible if a direct payment to landlord is appropriate. While we decide, benefits will continue to be paid to you.