Terms & Conditions

[peterdelamothe]

As the tenant remained liable to pay rent at the first property and was not liable to pay rent elsewhere I am not sure what your power here is to end HB and create an overpayment. The Council knew about the issues even if it was Social Services and not HB that knew. Technically the claimant was living elsewhere whilst the damage / disrepair was being sorted. There is express provision to pay HB on one but not both properties in that circumstance. The fact that this work was not done is not that relevant imo.

The claim has now ended and you will be paying HB at the new address.

So I dont think you need to do much more. The tenant can sue the landlord under the Homes for Habitation Act and demand a refund of rent etc for a year from the landlord…..and there would have been a clear reason to review the claim under reg 9 had you been notified by Social Services in the past but that is not possible now.

Morally it seems wrong to pay HB for an uninhabitable property; the tenant has lived there for nearly 50 years. Housing law allows action but I dont think this is a matter for HB now that it all was in the past. A case to quietly file away.