As a landlord, you are an important stakeholder in the service that we provide. We aim to work with you to ensure that you receive payment promptly and also to ensure that any overpayment of benefit is minimised. In return we would ask you to respect our obligations towards claimant confidentiality and the Data Protection Act when you make enquiries about your tenants.

We can pay your tenants' Housing Benefit entitlement directly to yourself provided your tenant agrees or if they are more than eight weeks in arrears with their rent payments. This may change for new tenancies after 7th April 2008 following the introduction of the Local Housing Allowance.

Further information about Housing Benefit and Local Housing Allowance can be found on the Benefits Advice page of our website (click here for link).

Please note that if you accept direct payment from us we may require you to pay back money if your tenant receives Housing Benefit to which they are not entitled.

When we pay Housing Benefit directly to you as a landlord and your tenant's entitlement changes we may ask you to repay the money that has been overpaid. Each case is decided on its own merits. If we decide that it is appropriate to recover the money from you, we will send you an invoice. The invoice will show the period of the overpayment the name of the tenant and the amount of the overpayment.

Derbyshire Dales District Council, in conjunction with High Peak Borough Council and Chesterfield Borough Council, holds a regular landlord forum to which all landlords who have properties within the areas covered by those authorities are welcome to attend and at which topical benefit issues are discussed. In addition, a landlord newsletter is produced to provide information to landlords including any changes in the law pertaining to Housing Benefit that may affect them. The newsletters published to date are available below:

Landlord Newsletter 1 (April 2004)

Landlord Newsletter 2 (April 2005)

Landlord Newsletter 3 (April 2006)

Landlord Newsletter 4 (April 2007)

Landlord Newsletter 5 (February 2008)