Summary: Miss X complains the Council gave the wrong advice about housing benefit on two homes and did not advise her to claim Universal Credit. She now has rent arrears. The Council has agreed our recommendation for an improved remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complains that the Council gave her the wrong advice regarding housing benefit on two homes, and regarding claiming Universal Credit. As result she has rent arrears of over £1179 and this is causing her stress and anxiety.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended).
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended.
5. Therefore, I cannot consider the issues regarding dual housing benefit being paid incorrectly as Ms X appealed about the Council’s decision of 23 March 2021 to cancel her housing benefit. This applies even if the appeal is withdrawn.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I have discussed the complaint with Miss X and considered her complaint and the copy correspondence she provided. I have made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents it provided. Miss X and the Council now had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Housing Benefit

7. Housing Benefit helps qualifying people on low incomes pay their rent. It is administered and paid by the council. The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 (the Regulations) set out the rules councils must follow for calculating and paying Housing Benefit. Usually, housing benefit is paid to the tenant, who is then responsible for paying their landlord.

Universal Credit

8. Universal credit (UC) was introduced in 2013 as a replacement for certain means-tested benefits and is administered by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). Universal credit includes an element for the claimant’s rent and replaces housing benefit.

Discretionary Housing Payments

9. A council may award discretionary housing payments (DHP) when someone needs help with housing costs and is claiming Housing Benefit or Universal Credit which includes housing costs towards rent. (Discretionary Housing Payments guidance manual February 2021, section 1.7, as amended).

Back to top

What happened

10. Ms X was claiming housing benefit for her home at A Street. In 2020 she moved out of her home due to domestic violence. The Council provided temporary accommodation at B Road from March 2020 while it considered her homelessness application. The Council agreed to pay housing benefit on Ms X’s home at A Street as well as her temporary accommodation. The housing benefit regulations allow Councils to pay housing benefit on two homes in certain circumstances for up to 52 weeks.
11. In January 2021 Ms X’s support worker asked the Council if it could extend the period of dual housing benefit on A Street and B Road. Ms X intended to return to her original accommodation at A Street but due to the state of the property, and Ms X’s mental health conditions she had not yet been able to move.
12. The Council replied in a telephone call to Ms X and by email to her support worker that the Council could pay housing benefit on her permanent address A Street for up to 15 months, in exceptional circumstances. But the Council said it must end housing benefit at the temporary accommodation at 52 weeks.
13. The Council’s advice was incorrect about extending benefit at A Street as dual housing benefit cannot be paid for more than 52 weeks.
14. In late January 2021, Ms X’s support worker told the Council that her housing association was about to offer her a new property, C Avenue. She asked the Council to extend the dual housing benefit on A Street and B Road for a month.
15. The Council asked Ms X whether she had given up her tenancy for her permanent home at A Street. The support worker advised Ms X had not yet given up her permanent tenancy due to the new tenancy for C Avenue not being ready.
16. The Council then confirmed it could pay housing benefit on her temporary address at B Road, but only if Ms X gave up the tenancy of A Street. This advice was correct.
17. On 8 February 2021 the Council sent Ms X a letter confirming it had cancelled her housing benefit claim at B Road from 8 February. The Council said the reason for this was due to “absence from home”. The Council said it had overpaid Ms X £200 for the period up to 14 February, but it did not seek to recover this money. The Council also advised Ms X that she could claim housing benefit.
18. The Council noted it discussed the cancellation of Ms X’s housing benefit at B Road with her support worker. It also noted Ms X had not given up her tenancy at A Street because she had not signed her tenancy of the new property at C Avenue. It noted “we can pay this address perm[anent] address up to 15 months so this would end 8/5/21 – future susp[end] date input” referring to A Street.
19. On 24 February 2021 Ms X advised the Council that she had signed a tenancy agreement for C Avenue to start at the beginning of March, but she would not be moving until mid March. She gave her permanent address as A Street and said she would be giving up the tenancy for that address. She asked for benefit on the two properties (overlapping benefit) because she had to give notice on A Street.
20. The Council advised Ms X that she should move into C Avenue for at least one night and it could pay housing benefit on both properties for the period she gave notice at A Street, if the overlap was unavoidable.
21. Ms X advised the Council that she moved into C Avenue on 1 March. However, she said she moved back to B Road the next day due to not having a bed.
22. Ms X’s landlord then advised she had decided she wanted to return to A Street, her original home, and retracted her notice to leave. The housing association agreed it would revise the tenancy to a licence agreement on C Avenue. It was treating C Avenue as “interim accommodation” while it repaired A Street.
23. Ms X applied for a discretionary housing payment for C Avenue due to her complex circumstances. The Council refused this on 12 March 2021. It said she was not entitled to housing benefit due to having been absent from her main home for more than 52 weeks.
24. However, the Council agreed to pay a DHP to cover the rent on B Road from 9 February 2021 to 1 March 2021.
25. On 15 March 2021 Ms X told the Council she had now given up her temporary accommodation at B Road, and had moved into C Avenue. She said she intended to return to A Street when it was repaired.
26. On 18 March 2021 the Council asked Ms X to clarify where she was living. It said it had suspended her housing benefit on A Street meanwhile. Ms X replied that due to her health conditions and Covid 19 restrictions she had been unable to stay at B Road, or return to her main home at A Street.
27. The Council cancelled housing benefit for A Street on 23 March. It notified Ms X that it had cancelled her claim due to “an incorrect assessment.” The Council’s letter advised she could make a claim for housing benefit and may qualify for this. Ms X says she did not receive this letter.
28. On 24 March 2021 the Council sent Ms X a notification letter advising that it had overpaid housing benefit for A Street from 9 February 2021. It said Ms X was not entitled from that date because she had been absent from the address for more than 52 weeks. It said it would not recover the overpayment of £479 because it had paid by mistake or failed to act on information provided.
29. The Council also advised Ms X if its decision on 26 March 2021 that she was not entitled to housing benefit due to being absent from her normal home for more than 52 weeks. It had cancelled her claim from 8 February 2021. It explained the housing benefit regulations stated it could not treat her as occupying her temporary address as her normal home, due to being absent for more than 52 weeks. The Council said she could appeal and finally stated she could re-apply for housing benefit once she moved back into her normal home or if she ended her tenancy at her normal home, she could apply for Housing Benefit at her new address as long as that property became her normal home.
30. Ms X says said she did not receive the Council’s letter of 24 March, but found out her housing benefit had stopped when she logged in to her online account.
31. Ms X advised the Council on 28 March 2021 that she had moved out of A Street, her permanent address that day. She asked the Council to reinstate her housing benefit at A Street so she could transfer her housing benefit entitlement to C Avenue, her new permanent address from 1 March. She referred to the Council advising her that housing benefit would be extended by three months on A Street.
32. Ms X says the Council’s officer confirmed the extension was a mistake and apologised for this.
33. Ms X appealed the Council’s decision of 24 March 2021 regarding A Street. She said that the Council extended housing benefit for three months, and admitted this was a mistake. She asked why the Council, which was aware from her emails starting 24 February that she had a new tenancy, did not transfer her benefit from A Street to C Avenue. The Council had also said it could pay overlapping housing benefit up to 4 weeks. She asked the Council to pay this.
34. The Council received a new claim for housing benefit for C Avenue from Ms X on 15 April. It replied on 19 April and advised Ms X that she could not make a new claim for housing benefit. This was in accordance with The Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 24 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Order 2015. The Council advised Ms X to contact the Universal Credit Service Centre to make a claim. The Council also noted Ms X’s claim for overlapping benefit between 1 and 28 March 2021. However, it said it could not award this because Ms X was not entitled to housing benefit as at 1 March 2021.
35. Ms X says she did not receive the Council’s letter of 19 April 2021 advising her to claim UC until 28 April 2021. She made a claim the next day 29 April and the DWP awarded UC for housing costs for C Avenue from 29 April.
36. Ms X complained to the Council about its cancellation of her housing benefit. She said she now had arrears at C Avenue. She said
• An officer incorrectly advised on extending benefit for 15 months at A Street.
• She had worked with her landlord and the support worker to arrange her move back to A Street within the time stated.
• The Council had not given her notice it would cancel her housing benefit.
• She had been forced to move onto UC and this would cause hardship.
37. The Council replied at stage one of its procedure in June. It accepted it had given the wrong advice about paying 15 months of housing benefit on A Street. But it gave the correct advice regarding benefit on her temporary accommodation at B Road. It considered what may have happened if it had given the correct advice. It said that because A Street was uninhabitable, she would not have been able to return to it if it had correctly advised benefit would end on 8 February. The Council apologised for the wrong advice, but did not consider its error disadvantaged Ms X.
38. Ms X pursued her complaint. She said the consequence of the Council’s wrong advice was not properly considered. Her landlord had asked the Council to transfer her housing benefit from A Street to C Avenue. The officer who called about her complaint did not listen to her. She said she intended to return to A Street within the extended period. But the Council cancelled her benefit without informing her. The Council had also told her several times that she could reapply for housing benefit, which she did. But this advice was also incorrect. She now had rent arrears for her permanent home.
39. The Council replied that it believed Ms X’s wish was for it to pay housing benefit at A Street and “any other property she was living in”. But the housing benefit legislation put limits on how long benefit could be pad when a person is absent from home. It said Ms X could appeal to a tribunal about whether the Council’s interpretation was correct. It pointed out the most relevant fact was that Ms X had not occupied A Street for over 52 weeks. It did not consider Ms X was worse off because she could not have returned to the address before the 52 week limit.
40. In June and July 2021 Ms X complained further that the misinformation by the Council had negative consequences. She was now in 8 weeks arrears at C Avenue and lost out on benefit. She had requested with her landlord’s support that benefits were transferred from A Street to C Avenue within the period the Council had wrongly advised benefit would be extended.
41. In its delayed final response to Ms X in February 2022, the Council said the issues were complex. It noted her complaint that it should have transferred her housing benefit from A Street to C Avenue. It was Ms X’s intention to return to A Street, but she could not do so due to its condition. While it empathised with Ms X, the Council said it was not liable for this situation. The Council said the rules regarding benefit on two homes was quite rigid, and Ms X could only have received benefit after 8 February if she had moved back to her A Street or given up the tenancy and taken on C Avenue as her main home.
42. The Council noted Ms X had arrears of £1172 at C Avenue, due to delay in claiming UC. It partially upheld her complaint about claiming UC. It said that she would have received its letter of 23 March by 25 March and should have claimed UC following this. It noted she had made a UC claim which started 29 April but The UC service refused her backdate request. It considered there was sufficient information about claiming UC available to the public for Ms X to have verified the information it had wrongly given her about claiming housing benefit.
43. However, the Council said it would re-examine the case and decide whether it could make a discretionary compensation award regarding its miscommunication.
44. The Council upheld Ms X’s complaint about poor communication during the complaint procedure. It agreed it had failed to answer all the key points, including her request for benefit for her new address at C Avenue. It had delayed responding to her final stage complaint. The Council offered Ms X £250 in view of these faults.
45. In May 2022, the Council advised Ms X it considered it should not make a discretionary award because of its miscommunication. The Council repeated that the onus was on Ms X to verify publicly available information. The Council said it was clear Ms X was not entitled to a DHP and “it is unfortunate that you missed out on support with housing costs due to not claiming Universal Credit (UC) when you first had entitlement to make a claim as generally UC is not backdated”. The Council did not give any information regarding its reasoning.

Analysis

46. Housing benefit cannot be paid on two properties for more than 52 weeks. The Council should have stopped Ms X’s housing benefit on A Street as well as B Road on 8 February 2021, but it continued to pay for A Street. This was fault. However, I note the Council did not seek to recover 4 weeks of overpaid benefit.
47. There was fault by the Council because it incorrectly advised Ms X it could continue to pay housing benefit on her permanent home A Street for 15 months. This gave Ms X the impression she had longer to arrange returning to A Street.
48. The Council did not advise Ms X that she should claim UC until 19 April 2021. I consider this is an unacceptable delay because the Council should have been alert to the relevant change in circumstances from late February 2021 when she said she was moving. Ms X moved on March 2021, but then went back to B Road. The Council told Ms X on 23 and 26 March 2021 she could claim housing benefit. However, as she must make a new claim for UC, the Council should have advised her as soon as possible to claim UC.
49. I do not agree with the Council’s view that there was sufficient public information about claiming UC, or that the onus was on her to verify this. As the Council is the body responsible for providing the correct information, I consider it is not reasonable for the Council to expect a claimant to go against its advice.
50. Ms X’s landlord asked for benefit on B Road in March, and she claimed housing benefit on 28 March 2021. But the Council did not respond correctly until 19 April 2021, sending a letter by post. Ms X says she received the letter on 28 April and acted immediately. I consider the Council should provide a financial remedy from 28 March 2021. This is also the date that Ms X gave up her tenancy at A Street. Although I consider that the Council could have advised Ms X to claim UC earlier than 28 March, I do not consider it should pay a remedy for a period when no housing benefit (or UC) could be paid due to Ms X having two tenancies for over 52 weeks. I have also taken into account that the Council is not recovering an overpayment of £479 from Ms X.
51. The Council’s letter in May 2022 about the discretionary award was faulty. It was significantly delayed and did not give any information about its reasoning.
52. I note the Council’s offer of £250 for faults in respect of its complaint responses. I consider this is a suitable remedy.

Back to top

Agreed action

53. I recommended that within one month of my decision the Council should
• apologise for its delay in advising Ms X that she should claim UC.
• Pay Ms X £600 to take account of the consequences of its delay in advising Ms X she should claim UC. This is in addition to the £250 it offered.
54. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with these actions.

Back to top

Final decision

55. The Council has agreed the recommendation I made to remedy its fault. I have completed my investigation and closed the complaint.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman