Payments for private tenants
We will normally pay any Housing Benefit entitlement to you. We can only pay direct to your landlord if there are special reasons for this.
If Housing Benefit is paid to you
You can ask for payments to be made either every four weeks or every two weeks. Payments will be made in arrears - this means that you will receive the payment at the end of the period it covers.
You can ask to be paid either by cheque or direct to your bank or building society account. You might have to pay a fee to cash your cheque at a money shop or other establishment. This will reduce the amount available to you to pay your rent.
If Housing Benefit is paid to your landlord
We will make payments in line with payments for other tenants for the same landlord. Payments are usually made every four weeks, at the end of the period they cover.
We will send your landlord a breakdown of the total payment, showing the amount for each tenant. Your landlord should then update their records to show the Housing Benefit they have received.
