Information for landlords

Please note, if your tenant is claiming Universal Credit, you won't be able to find out about those payments on the Landlord Portal or by calling us. Please speak to your tenant directly.

Help

If you need help, please read our Landlord Portal user guide, which gives instructions on how to use the portal.

If you can't find what you're looking for in the guide, please email rbsupport@middlesbrough.gov.uk.

New Landlord Portal

We've updated our Landlord Portal. If you're a landlord registered with us and we hold a valid email address for you, we sent you information about the new Landlord Portal via two emails. The first email provided a link to the new website and also confirmed your new username. The second email included a temporary password to allow you to access the system.

If you're a landlord who is registered with us and we don’t hold a valid email address for you, please contact us at rbsupport@middlesbrough.gov.uk and we will arrange access to your account for you.

Accessing the Landlord Portal

If you receive direct payments in respect of tenants' Housing Benefit and would like access to the Middlesbrough Landlord Portal, please contact us via email to rbsupport@middlesbrough.gov.uk

Resetting your password

If you're unable to access your Landlord Portal account and need to reset your password, please use the landlord online contact form.

Do you need to tell us something relating to your tenant?

Have we asked you to provide some supporting evidence?

Would you like to ask us a question?

Use our landlord online contact form.

The landlord contact form has been introduced so you can report a change in your tenant's circumstances, or make enquiries for information which you can't get from the Landlord Portal. Using the form saves you time as you'll no longer need to phone us to report any changes you're aware of in your tenant's circumstances.

You'll also be able to submit any information or evidence that has been requested from you, or make a general enquiry.

Please note, the rbsupport@middlesbrough.gov.uk email address should only be used for technical matters, such as issues accessing the Landlord Portal.

Online services

Tenants can access the council's online services to make claims and report changes. You can help your tenants to:

• make a new claim for Housing Benefit
• upload a copy of their tenancy agreement
• report a change of address

Universal Credit

Understanding Universal Credit can help you to support tenants who are moving from their current benefits to Universal Credit.

Read the government's top tips for landlords to find out more.

If we believe a tenant is vulnerable or unlikely to pay their rent, we may decide to pay their Housing Benefit payments directly to their landlord. This is known as the Safeguard Policy. Please note, we'll only do this for a short amount of time until the tenant is able to manage their own finances.

If you think your tenant is vulnerable or unlikely to pay their rent, please use the landlord online contact form to give us further information about your tenant.

There are a range of safeguards in place to protect the interests of landlords and their agents under the Housing Benefit scheme. We must make Housing Benefit payments directly to a landlord or their agent if a tenant (claimant) is eight weeks or more in arrears with their rent, and it's in the interest of the tenant for us to do so.

Use the landlord online contact form to upload proof of your tenant’s rent arrears.

If a tenant has received too much Housing Benefit and payments were made directly to a landlord/agent, where we believe that the landlord or their agent should have been, or was, aware that an overpayment would happen (for example, the tenant had moved out of the address), we may decide to recover the overpaid benefit from the landlord/agent.

If you disagree with the overpayment being recovered from you, you can ask us to look at our decision again. Further information will be provided on the overpayment notification letter that we send you. It's important that you request a review within one calendar month of the date on your notification letter.

Landlord Housing Benefit questionnaire

You must complete this questionnaire when you let your property to a member of your family or a friend, or if your tenant lives with you. Please answer all questions on the form which are relevant to you. If we receive an incomplete form or don't have enough information, there may be a delay in working out your tenant's benefit entitlement.

Complete the landlord Housing Benefit questionnaire.

New landlord declaration form

If you've never received direct payments from a tenant in the Middlesbrough area before, we'll need to set you up on our system as a new landlord. We need to do this before you can directly receive Housing Benefit payments for any tenant who makes a new claim or falls into arrears.

To set you up on the system, we'll need some information from you, and you'll also need to sign a declaration. Download the landlord declaration form, complete it, and return it to us. Please remember to sign the form.

We'll also need to see proof of ownership for the property you're renting out, before Housing Benefit can be paid. Acceptable proof of ownership is a Land Registry document, or a completion statement or solicitor's letter from the time of purchase. Please remember to attach a copy of the document when you return your declaration.

Once your form is signed and completed, you can send it, along with any evidence, to us using the landlord online contact form.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, we only share information with private landlords regarding a Housing Benefit claim if we have permission from the claimant (tenant). Our claim forms include a declaration which must be completed by the claimant before we can share information with a landlord or third party.

Sharing information can help us deal with a claim more quickly and reduce the chance of rent arrears. We may contact you and ask for information regarding a tenancy to help us make a decision on a claim for benefit.

Please note, we don't share information about personal or financial circumstances with landlords.