What Is The Rent Officer & What Do They Do?

What does the rent officer do?

The rent officer may look at the property before making the determinations, but it is not necessary for them to visit all properties. If a rent officer wants to visit you, they will make an appointment by phone or letter. If the appointment is not convenient, you can usually change it.

Housing Benefit does not cover the cost of certain things, which may be included in your rent, such as fuel, water charges, laundry or cleaning of your room, these items are called ineligible charges. If these are included in your rent, the rent officer will take the value of these off your rent, as Housing Benefit cannot pay for them.

The rent officer then makes the following valuations.

Claim-related rent

(This has three parts).

Reasonable rent

The rent Officer will decide if the rent you pay is reasonable compared with other properties in the vicinity. If it is too high, they will set a reasonable figure.

Vicinity means the immediate area around the property. If the property is in a town or city, this could mean just the street the property is in or a few adjoining streets. If the property is in the country, the vicinity could be a small village.

Number of rooms

The rent officer will consider whether your home has more rooms than the Housing Benefit rules say you need. If it has too many rooms, the rent officer will decide what the rent would be for a similar property with the right number of rooms. The rules are strict and the rent officer is not able to alter them.

The number of rooms allowed is as follows.

One bedroom for each of the following, counting each person once only, in the first group they come into.

A married couple or an unmarried couple who live together as husband and wife.
Someone who is 16 or over.
Two children of the same sex under 16.
Two children who are under 10.
A child. (A child is someone under 16)

You are also allowed one living room if there are up to three people living in your home. You are allowed a second living room if four, five or six people live there. You are allowed a third living room if there are more than six people living in your home.

The rent officer only counts children as living in the home where they normally live. They are not counted in a home they visit, however often.

The Housing Benefit department decides who counts as living in the property and the rent officer can only include these people in the decision.

Exceptionally high rent

After making these decisions, the rent officer decides if the lowest figure is still much higher than most rents for the right number of rooms in the neighbourhood. This might be because of the high quality of the property or because of the services or amenities provided. If it is much higher, the rent officer must fix a figure that is in keeping with the general level of rents.

Services are things that the landlord does or supplies beyond providing the basic accommodation, such as doing the laundry or cleaning the property.

Amenities are the physical things at the property, such as a swimming pool or tennis court.

Once the rent officer has made these three decisions, the lowest of them is the claim-related rent.

Local reference rent

The rent officer will also decide how much is generally paid for a property with the right number of rooms in the same locality. This is called the local reference rent and will apply if it is lower than the claim related rent.

The local reference rent is the midpoint of the range rents for all types of property with the right number of rooms in the same locality of your home. The locality is a broad area with a number of neighbourhoods. Within this broad area there will be a mix of property types and alternative places to live within a reasonable travelling distance of similar public amenities. The range of rents used will not include any rent that is unusually high or low.

Single room rent

If you are single and under 25, with no partner or children living with you, the rent officer will also decide how much is generally paid in the locality for a single room with a shared living room, kitchen, bathroom and toilet, but without any food or fuel bills included. This is called the single room rent and will apply if it is lower than the claim related rent or the local reference rent.

Rent officer decisions usually stay in force for 12 months, but the single room rent lasts for 12 months or until either your 25^th Birthday, you live with a partner or have children, whichever is sooner.

How does the rent officer know what figures to set?

Rent officers continually monitor the local rental market. They collect details about properties available to rent and the rents that have been agreed for properties let recently. This information comes from different sources, including letting agents, landlords and tenants and a range of advertisements.

What if I am unhappy about the rent officer’s decision?

If you are unhappy about the rent officer’s decision, you can ask the local authority for your case to be looked at again. You should give your reasons. The local authority will then ask for another rent officer (called a redetermination officer) to make a new decision. This re-determination officer has no connection with the rent officer who made the original decision. The Local Authority then has to use the decision of the redetermination officer, even if it is lower.