Council holding back rent payment in 8 week backlog!
My husband and I are relatively new to the buy-to-let business and we would value any advice.
I let a property to a lady with three children. She is a single mother who receives housing benefit.
In March my tenant got a part time job. She contacted the council who promptly suspended her claim for housing benefit. My tenant was advised to take proof of her wages to the council office, which she did on 15th April.
A couple of weeks after this I phoned the council to see why I had not received any rent for my tenant. I was told that there was a 8 week back log to all new claims because of people needing housing, who are being sent to this area (Medway, Kent) from London.
We have now passed the 8 week processing time and I still haven’t had any more news about when the rent will be paid. Consequently my tenant is now, through no fault of her own, three months behind with her rent. I have phoned the council numerous times and all they say is, this claim is with the assessor and they don’t know how long it will take.
Do you think this is a tactic by the local council to save money. If this is happening to hundreds of private landlords, there is quite a bit of unallocated rent sitting in the councils bank account accumulating interest.
Does anyone have any advice please?
Carole
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16% Increase in my commercial rent - fair?
Member Since July 2013 - Comments: 31
7:48 PM, 26th June 2016, About 10 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Charles Fonteijn” at “26/06/2016 – 13:54“:
Thank you. Will do
Member Since August 2013 - Comments: 161
11:45 AM, 27th June 2016, About 10 years ago
I had a similar problem recently with Wigan council. My tenant just asked them to change the bank account details that they were paying his HB into. They suspended his HB until this was done.
8 weeks later, after 6 phone calls, 2 physical visits to their offices, an escalation to their “priority” team after I pointed out they had put the tenant 2 months in arrears and were jeopardising his tenancy, and they finally did it.
An utter waste of everyone’s time for what was a 2 minute job that should have been done instantly.