Housing Benefit - Changes in Circumstances

Changes in Circumstances

Local authorities advise tenants that if their circumstances change, they must notify the housing benefit office "immediately".

In the event that a tenant's circumstances change such that the tenant might become entitled to more housing benefit (for example, a fall in income), the tenant must notify the local authority within one month, or the increase will take place from the Monday following the date the notification takes place (unless the claimant can show a good enough reason for the delay).

If a tenant's circumstances change so that the tenant becomes entitled to less housing benefit, the tenant will be overpaid. In some circumstances the tenant and/or landlord, will be charged with fraud if the local authority is not informed within a reasonable amount of time. Recovery of overpaid Housing Benefit is governed by the Housing Benefit Regulations. All overpayments are recoverable, except those caused by official error where claimants could not at the time of receiving payment have known that they were being overpaid.

In practice, this means that tenants who do contingent work, have fluctuating income, or whose circumstances change frequently for other reasons, must report to the housing benefit office on a regular basis. There are no standard forms for such reporting, and each week's income may be treated as a separate change in circumstance. As a result, it can be very complicated to check that housing benefit taper deductions are correct if a tenant's income fluctuates wildly. The Local Authority is allowed to take a reasonable average over a longer or shorter period of time in order to minimise the impact of this. Critics of the system contend that this is a powerful disincentive for unemployed people to find work, particularly if they suffer from mild disabilities or learning difficulties.

In order to minimise the impact of heavily fluctuating incomes further, changes that used to require a new claim, such as the award of extended payments, stopping of Incomes Based Job Seekers Allowance or Income Support are now treated as a change of circumstances. Reducing the amount of paperwork needed by the Claimant and Council.