I AM writing in answer to ‘name and address supplied’ regarding housing benefit payments.

I am not sure what council the writer is dealing with, but the situation of non-payment of rent should not have arisen.

If a tenant is on benefits and in receipt of housing benefit from any council in the UK then he/ she is supposed to pay the housing benefit to the landlord for rent.

If the amount does not cover the rent asked, the landlord can ask the tenant to make up the shortfall.

Thanks to new government policy housing benefit is now paid directly to tenants to encourage them to be more responsible and handle their money like everyone else.

Admirable, but some tenants are not able to follow this, due to various issues; drugs, alcohol or mental health issues.

So after two months of nonpayment of rent the council will pay the landlord direct on request.

Two months or maybe more of rent may be lost but that is better than no rent at all.

Some tenants request the council to pay the landlord directly from the beginning as they know they will not be able to handle their money responsibly.

Having several hundred pounds in one’s bank account is a great temptation not to pay the rent when on only £75 or £85 a week basic social wages.

I have been a landlady with social tenants for more than 20 years and this system has worked providing me with most of the rent asked on a reasonably regular basis.

There are also ways of evicting tenants who fail to pay rent even if it may cost some money and effort.

Yes the tenant is protected by data protection but non-payment of housing benefit does not operate as described in the letter.

U A LANE Shirley