Local authority refusal of a housing payment (formerly DHP) because claimant has a managed payment to landlord from their UC

Use this template if all the following apply

• Your client lives in England.
• Your client receives universal credit (UC).
• Your client has a managed payment to landlord (MPL) which means their rent is paid in full from their UC.
• Your client is subject to the benefit cap is left with insufficient UC after the MPL to meet their basic living costs. Your client has explained their financial hardship to their local authority.
• Your client has applied for a housing payment from their local authority and this has been refused as their rent is being paid in full, and
• Your client has used the local authority’s dispute process, and the original decision has been upheld (less than 3 months ago), or no response has been received within a reasonable time.

This letter assumes that (so can be changed)

• Your client has children.

When not to use

Do not use this letter if:

• Your client has not already used the local authority’s dispute service.

The main legal arguments in this template are:

• Under regulation 58 of the Universal Credit etc. (Claims and Payments) Regulations, an Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA) can be arranged at the discretion of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (DWP) where the DWP (or in some cases the claimant’s landlord) identifies that a claimant is unlikely to be able to manage their own rent payments, to protect the interests of the claimant, their partner, a child, or a severely disabled person. An MPL is a type of APA.
• Under section 69 of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 the Secretary of State may by regulations confer a power on relevant authorities to make payments by way of financial assistance. These payments are known as DHPs.
• The 'Crisis and Resilience Fund: Guidance for local authorities in England' provide the framework for the Fund including Housing Payments, and provides that financial assistance must be needed ‘in order to meet housing costs’. This has been broadly defined by the courts and includes where current housing costs are being paid in full by housing benefit or UC. This guidance confirms DHP caselaw is relevant to housing payment decision making. 
• In R (Gargett) v LB Lambeth [2008] EWCA Civ 1450, the Court of Appeal held that an award of a DHP was not precluded for rent arrears, even though housing benefit was then in payment at a level which covered the claimant’s ongoing rent in full.
• The issue was specifically addressed in a bulletin to all housing benefit staff in February 2017: “DWP does not see any legal reason why DHPs cannot be paid to Universal Credit claimants who have an MPTL in place.”
• Refusal of a Housing Payment because the claimant’s rent is being paid fails to follow the guidance, is evidence that the local authority has fettered their discretion, and is irrational.

Information about your client

• name
• address
• national insurance number (NINo)
• date of birth

Background facts

Such as:

• details of your client's rent, rent arrears and any threat to their tenancy such as rent arrears,
• details of their family. Who is dependent on them?
• any health difficulties or disabilities your client or their family have,
• what financial hardship your client is experiencing as a result of the refusal:
  • any risk to their being able to afford to pay for their housing, heating or food
  • any need to use food banks, and
  • any detriment to their health and welfare or to any of their family member’s health and welfare.

Information relating to the decision

• the evidence your client provided to support their request and how this was provided,
• the date the council refused and the reason they gave, and
• the date your client challenged the refusal, how they did so, and any response they have had (not if a response has been received this must have been within the last 3 months and you must act ‘promptly’).

We've created this guide to help you successfully use our judicial review pre-action letter templates: Guide to using CPAG's judicial review pre-action letter templates

Once you've finished your letter, please email it to us at: [email protected] before you send it to the lawyers acting for DWP/HMRC/your local authority. We'll try to reply as quickly as possible and will do so within 7 days.

If a Housing Payment is refused because it has been requested on a long-term rather (than short-term basis) please get in touch, and see Halvai (R on the application of) v London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham [2017] EWHC 802 (Admin) (9 March 2017).

If a Housing Payment is refused because PIP/DLA has been taken into account as income, please get in touch at [email protected] (and include a copy of your local authority's Housing Payment policy).