Summary: Mr B complains the Council did not consider his individual circumstances when it withdrew his housing benefit and did not tell him about his right of appeal. Mr B says this caused him financial hardship. The Ombudsman has not found fault with the Council. Mr B could have appealed to the Social Entitlement Chamber.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains the Council did not consider his individual circumstances when it withdrew his housing benefit and did not tell him about his right of appeal. Mr B says this has caused him financial hardship.

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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 a council’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. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. (The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered:
• Mr B’s complaint and the information he provided;
• documents supplied by the Council;
• relevant legislation and guidelines; and
• the Council’s policies and procedures.
6. Mr B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on a draft decision.

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What I found

Legislation and policy

7. Housing benefit helps people on low incomes to pay their rent. It is a means tested benefit linked to both savings and income.
8. Housing benefit is payable to those who:
• pay rent
• are on a low income, and
• have capital below £16,000 (Social Security Contributions and Benefit Act 1992 s.130)
9. Any premises which the claimant is taking reasonable steps to sell are disregarded for 26 weeks or, if it is reasonable in the circumstances of the case, for a longer period decided by the Council (Housing Benefit Regulations 2006, SI 2006/213, reg 44)
10. The Council pays housing benefit by reducing the rent due for local authority tenants. For other tenants, the Council pays housing benefit directly to the claimant who remains liable for payment of the full rent to their landlord.
11. If the Council overpays housing benefit, the overpaid amount is recoverable unless it was due to a Council error to which the claimant did not contribute and could not have reasonably known about (Housing Benefit Regulations 2006, SI 2006/213, reg 100).
12. The overpayment is recoverable from the claimant. The Council may be recover the overpayment by making deductions from ongoing payments of housing benefit (Housing Benefit Regulations 2006, SI 2006/213, regs 99–107).
13. The claimant can ask the council to reconsider the decision or appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. The time limit in either case is one month from the date of the decision (Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001, SI 2001/1002).

What happened

14. Mr B received council tax support and housing benefit for a flat he rented
15. In November 2016 he inherited a property. Mr B told the Council in April 2017. It was Mr B’s intention to rent the property to derive an income.
16. Because Mr B’s capital had increased in November 2016, the Council stopped his housing benefit retrospectively from November 2016. As a result, Mr B was in debt to the Council for the housing benefit overpayment between November 2016 and May 2017.
17. In May 2017, Mr B told the Council he was going to sell the property. The Council told him if put property E on the market it could disregard it as an asset for 26 weeks from the date the property was listed for sale.
18. Mr B gave the Council evidence he was selling the property. The Council disregarded the house as an asset, reinstated Mr B’s housing benefit for his flat minus an overpayment recovery amount. The Council sent Mr B an updated benefit decision notice.
19. The Council sent Mr B four decision notices about the overpayment of housing benefit in May and July 2017. These notices identified the periods of overpayment and included information about how to appeal the Council’s decision. There is no evidence to suggest Mr B did not receive these notices.
20. Mr B moved out of his flat and into property E in November 2018.
21. In January 2019 the Council told Mr B he could repay the housing benefit overpayment over 12 months. In March 2019 Mr B told the Council he had made the first payment and set up a standing order for the others.

Analysis

22. The Council followed the Housing Benefit Regulations when it calculated Mr B’s housing benefit.
23. From November 2016 to May 2017, Mr B intended to rent out property E. The Council treated it as capital when calculating his housing benefit. The Council found Mr B was not eligible for housing benefit in this period because his capital was over £16,000.
24. When Mr B put property E on the market in May 2017, the Council disregarded it as capital and recalculated his housing benefit. Mr B received housing benefit minus his overpayment repayment.
25. The Council gave Mr B information about his right of appeal to the Social Entitlement Chamber. It is reasonable to have expected Mr B to use his right of appeal to challenge the Council’s decision. Unfortunately, Mr B is now out of time to make an appeal.

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Final decision

26. I have completed my investigation and do not uphold Mr B’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman