UC, Housing element and informing the landlord

I've read a case on Reddit, where a chap applied for UC and housing element to be paid to himself, but the DWP informed the landlord and now the latter wants to kick him out.

Is it normal for the DWP to inform the landlord that the tenant has applied for UC or was that just an unfortunate case?

It's hard to reply without reading the full details of the case, but many landlords can't rent to benefit claimants because their mortgage insurance company disallows it. Many mortgage companies have changed this practice thanks to the efforts of Shelter.

The landlord can't "kick him out" btw unless the tenant has breached the Tenancy Agreement and even then it can only be done via the court under a Section 8 notice. The landlord can bypass that and go straight for a Section 21 (no fault) repossession order, but even then the tenant is entitled to 8 weeks notice. At 56 days before the notice ends the tenant can get the council involved to prevent him/her from becoming homeless. The council should then negotiate with the landlord to prevent the eviction. Under a Section 8 notice the tenant can defend it when the court date for repossession comes up (if they have a good case and feel they would win if not in breach of the TA). Until the court makes a decision the landlord is behaving illegally if he threatens or in any way intimidates their tenant into leaving their home.

As for the DWP informing the landlord that the tenant has applied for the housing element of UC it sounds a bit odd to me. The tenant has to present either his tenancy agreement or a letter from the landlord proving that he's renting in order to get that money, so I suspect that the tenant not wanting the housing element to go straight to the landlord might have raised some sort of red flag, hence the DWP contacting the landlord. However, only the DWP really knows why the DWP pulls that sort of sh*t

Absolut wrote:

As for the DWP informing the landlord that the tenant has applied for the housing element of UC it sounds a bit odd to me. The tenant has to present either his tenancy agreement or a letter from the landlord proving that he's renting in order to get that money, so I suspect that the tenant not wanting the housing element to go straight to the landlord might have raised some sort of red flag, hence the DWP contacting the landlord. However, only the DWP really knows why the DWP pulls that sort of sh*t

When applying for legacy Housing Benefit, one has the option to let the landlord know about your application, regardless of whether the money is paid directly to the tenant (at least that was so last time I claimed).

I'm curious as to whether it is still the case with UC. I thought that with UC, only if the landlord is a housing association, the landlord gets involved at all.

Miguel1975 wrote:When applying for legacy Housing Benefit, one has the option to let the landlord know about your application, regardless of whether the money is paid directly to the tenant (at least that was so last time I claimed).

I'm curious as to whether it is still the case with UC. I thought that with UC, only if the landlord is a housing association, the landlord gets involved at all.

You could submit an FOI about it? Is it routine for the DWP to inform UC claimant landlords' about the housing element claim etc

Welfare-Champion wrote:

DWP does not have legislation to allow us to inform private landlords that their tenant has made a claim to Universal Credit.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-rented-housing--2/universal-credit-and-rented-housing-guide-for-landlords

Apparently, apart from social housing:

DWP does not have legislation to allow us to inform private landlords that their tenant has made a claim to Universal Credit.