The Council initially said the rent would be £70, with a provisional assessment to Housing Benefit of £30 meaning they had to pay £40. The Council said that once the Housing Benefit had been properly calculated, the amount of rent "could" change.

Many months later, the Council said the rent was £50, benefit = £20, and net rent payable to the Council = £30.

Now, a year later, the Council have said that they are some £500 in arrears because the gross rent should have been £70, benefit of £20 and net rent of £50.

Because of this and other problems with the calculation of Housing Benefit ("lost forms in the post etc") they have been given a "notice to vacate".

My questions are:

- if a Landlord/Council has misinformed the tenant of the wrong (lower) rent, can the Landlord/Council claim back the higher rent? (The couple and baby are on low income so cannot easier lay their hands on £500 plus.)

- is the Landlord/Council guilty of maladministration for taking a year to inform them of the "correct" rent?

Would be much obliged if you can help out.



0

However, as I said, this is not really our area of expertise. We have tried on your behalf to find an accurate answer, with little joy - the Leasehold advisory service deals only with private rentals and leaseholdings, our usual solicitor does not deal with council housing issues, and other requests for information have been met with either a stoney silence or the advice that you should take it up with your council. Since they are the party with whom you have a dispute, I would suggest that would not be all that fruitful!

Some other avenues for you to explore are:
The DETR Housing information website (which includes the tenants charter and information on your rights as a tenant) http://www.housing.detr.gov.uk

The Department of Social Security website http://www.dss.gov.uk

The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureau website (or your local office - numbers available in the yellow pages): http://www.nacab.org.uk

Otherwise, you could try and find a solicitor who deals with social housing. These days, you are likely to find that many of them will offer initial advice for free.

Sorry we couldn't be more help,
Best of luck.

[ March 30, 2001: Message edited by: danjohnson ]


0