Council agrees to pay £19k in housing benefit after unlawful termination

An unnamed single mother with three children and living in temporary accommodation provided under the Housing Act 1996 saw her benefit ended in 2021 for her failure to provide information leading to more than £20,000 rent arrears.

Pupil barrister Jeremy Ogilvie-Harris, who acted for her, said he suspected she was affected by the Housing Benefit Accuracy Award Initiative, which relies on a Department for Work and Pension algorithm that detects error and fraud.

He said this algorithm has been criticised as more than 60% defective but this was the likely cause of Wandsworth deciding to investigate her benefits award. 

Proof of income and over a years’ worth of universal credit calculations were requested and when the claimant did not provide this information it terminated her award, leading to more than £20,000 rent arrears. 

This meant the claimant's only remedy was to request an official error review of the decision under reg. 4(2) of the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001 and bring a judicial review claim if the authority refused to change their decision.

In a case funded by legal aid, it was argued that Wandsworth acted unlawfully by requesting information that was not reasonably required under reg. 86(1) of the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006.

This was because universal credit claimants are passported to full housing benefit, and the claimant had provided evidence of her entitlement to universal credit.

Wandsworth was not permitted to review the DWP’s decision making without strong and clear evidence of fraud. The barrister said there was no such evidence. 

The council conceded that the decision was unlawful and awarded the claimant more than £19,000 in backdated housing benefit after being served the draft grounds.

Angela Ireland, Wandsworth’s cabinet member for finance, said: “There was an administrative error in this case which we corrected after following the statutory review process. We are now confident that the claimant is receiving all of the benefits that they are entitled to.

“Wandsworth Council is committed to providing safe, secure, and affordable housing for all those that need it and endeavour to use lessons learned to improve our process and practice.” 

Mark Smulian