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Question Title: Agreement to repay all HB overpayments
| Question: 352 |
| My Local Authority is insisting that I must, as a landlord with tenants on Housing Benefit, sign an agreement to repay all overpayments of Housing Benefit. Can they do this and would it be enforceable against me in court?
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| Answer: |
| There is a good argument to say that, since the local authority are required to consider each case on its merits, a supposed 'contract' to repay money cannot be enforceable since the contract is signed before the exercise of the discretion. The recent case involving Shepway District Council clearly indicates that the Local Government Ombudsman considers 'blanket undertakings to repay' to be wrong. The Housing Benefit Guidance manual warns against local authorities creating blanket recovery policies and undertakings to repay benefit overpayments. The Ombudsman, who scrutinises such cases on a regular basis, would not have a problem with landlords acknowledging that they understand that there may be circumstances in which they have to repay money, but this is wholly different to a blanket undertaking which is commonly seen where the landlord or agent is asked to confirm they will repay any overpayment. The blanket undertaking cannot be legal since not all overpayments are legally recoverable (see the rules for official error overpayments and the new Reg 101 sub section 1). In specific circumstances, it may be lawful for the local authority to recover an overpayment from you, but it should be done on the basis of the law, not any agreement you signed.
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References:
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Pages:
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Hyperlinks:
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Letting Update Journal |
Oct 2001 page 13 |
letting-update-journal.html
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Letting Handbook |
Chapter 15 |
letting-handbook-and-factsheets.html
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For more information, discuss on the Forum
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Housing Benefit