Who pays HB when in temp. accom

Dear All,

I always get confused by this - if someone could clarify it would be appreciated.

Cient approached LA1 who accepted homeless duty, placed in temp accommodation in LA2 - client gets UC but told to claim HB as in temp accomm - she applied to LA1 who said not it is LA2, who said no it is LA1

Who should pay?

Thanks in advance

The rules are in s134 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.

If the temp acc charges are payable to the placing authority, HB is in the form of a rent rebate which is administered by that placing authority irrespective of where the dwelling is situated.

If the temp acc charges are payable to a housing association, s134 says that by default HB is in the form of a rent allowance administered by the authority where the dwelling is situated.  But local authorities have a power under s134 to agree to carry out functions on one another’s behalf and it has always been conventional in out of borough homeless placements with a housing association that the placing authority should agree to take on the HB administration role.  DWP has a very strong preference for that to happen because otherwise the rules limiting HB subsidy on temp acc payments would be circumvented: if the receiving authority were to pay HB it would be, from their perspective, a vanilla HA case with more or less unlimited HB and the government picking up the tab.

Thank you Mr Anorak,

In my case LA1 are refusing to pay HB, and LA2 say it is up to LA1 - client housed by Lewisham in Wandsworth - in Notting Hill Genius accommodation.

Seems Lewhisham (not seen the decision but this is what client states) have refused HB and WBC refused to assess the claim as it is not theirs.

My client is very confused.

The law says it’s Wandsworth unless the two authorities agree otherwise.  They normally will agree otherwise, I suggest trying to escalate this through HB managers at either authority, it shouldn’t be too long before you find someone who grasps the issues.

Yes, I will ping a message to our contact manager at WBC - and suggest that sort it between themselves and Lewisham and not leave the client in limbo, and being chased by Notting Hill for rent arrears!

Thanks again