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When everyone has a home

Housing advice for Northern Ireland

Housing Benefit and Universal Credit for landlords

This page is for landlords operating in Northern Ireland.  You can find advice for tenants elsewhere on our website. Private landlords in Northern Ireland can call Landlord Advice on 028 9024 5640 and choosing option 5. Lines open Monday to Friday, from 9.30am to 2.30pm.

The current state of the economy means that more and more people may have to apply for housing benefit for help with their housing costs. Housing benefit can only be used to pay for rent and rates. It will not cover any service charges or heating costs.

If you are a private landlord, it's important that you understand how the system works and what your tenants are entitled to.

Housing benefit or local housing allowance

Private tenants who claim help with their rent will get either Universal Credit or Housing Benefit. There are two different systems used to calculate how much Housing Benefit someone will get. In most cases, the Local Housing Allowance rules will be used to calculate how much Housing Benefit or Universal Credit a private tenant gets to help with rent. But, if you have tenants living in protected tenancies or tenants who have continuously been receiving Housing Benefit since before April 2008 without a change in circumstances their benefits will be calculated using the old Housing Benefit rules that existed before 2008. 

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Universal Credit for landlords

Universal Credit will eventually replace Housing Benefit for the majority of working-age claimants in Northern Ireland. While some accommodation will continue to be assessed under Housing Benefit, all private tenancies will eventually come under the Universal Credit system. 

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