If Local Housing Allowance applies to you, your benefit will be paid directly into your bank or building society account.
If you do not already have a bank or building society account, you will need to set one up. That way you can arrange to pay the rent to your landlord automatically, using a standing order.
You can get advice about opening and running a bank account from any bank or building society. You can also get advice from a welfare organisation such as Citizens Advice.
It is up to you to pay the rent to your landlord. If you don't pay your rent, you may be taken to court and evicted from the property.
Can I have my benefit paid direct to my landlord?
Tenants cannot choose to have their benefit paid directly to their landlord. But if tenants are likely to have difficulty in paying their rent we may decide to pay benefit to the landlord.
What will happen if I don’t use my benefit to pay my rent?
As a tenant you are responsible for paying your rent to your landlord. This is the same as for tenants who do not get benefit. If you do not pay your rent your landlord may apply to us to have your benefit paid to them. Or they may take other action to recover their money, including evicting you from your home.
Eviction means that:
- you will lose your home
- your benefit may not be paid to you in the future
- you may have difficulty finding new accommodation, as your landlord is unlikely to give you a reference
- you will still have to pay the landlord the money you owe and possibly extra money to cover any court costs
- an application for re-housing could be affected as you may be considered to have made yourself intentionally homeless.
How can I pay my rent?
The easiest way to pay your rent is to have your benefit paid into a bank or building society account and arrange to pay the rent to your landlord automatically. This is called a standing order. As long as you have enough money in your account, you won’t have to worry about remembering to pay your rent and your landlord will know the rent will be paid automatically.
If you do not already have a bank or building society account, you will need to set one up.
Opening a bank/building society account
If you don’t have a bank or building society account, now may be a good time to think about opening one. You should be able to open an account either at a bank, building society
You can get advice about opening and running a bank account from any bank or building society. http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/
pdfs/bank_accounts.pdf
There are many organisations that can give you advice about money, including if you have already tried to open an account and have not been able to. Please see Help with managing your money and debt for details of some useful contacts.
