The council (or DWP under universal credit) can decide whether or not to recover an overpayment or fraudulent payment. Normally an overpayment is recovered directly from the tenant. However, an overpayment can be recovered from the landlord or agent if the housing benefit was paid directly to them and:
- The landlord/agent caused the overpayment by providing wrong information
- there was an official error by the council which the landlord or the agent should have noticed
There is more information about overpayments on the Shelter website and on GOV.UK
- Shelter
- GOV.UK