I've recently had to make a claim for JSA after finishing my masters degree and losing my part time job in a short space of time, meaning I had no income other than family help coming in. I expected to be able to find full time paid employment rather quicker than I have, but that's a whole other thread!
My JSA advisor strongly recommended that I apply for housing benefit at our last meeting, and on the strength of this I've started an application. However, I've just got to the stage of the application where I have to provide the address of both the landlord and the letting agent. My housing situation is that I've lived in a shared house in London for the past four years with friends, on a joint tenancy. Our landlord is a company rather than a person, so we've never met them and all dealings have been with the letting agent.
I'm rather worried that if the letting agent is made aware of the fact that I'm paying part of the rent (I will be entitled to around 60% of my share) with housing benefit, this will be used as an excuse to end the tenancy. Although I believe this is illegal, we're on a rolling contract and they only have to give us two months notice, with no reason required for serving notice. The house has several problems (damp, leaking roof etc) and they've obliquely threatened in the past to terminate the tenancy if we don't stop raising these issues with them. We're looking to move out anyway in the next few months into somewhere with fewer health hazards, but I obviously need to find a job first!
There is nothing in my tenancy agreement about benefit claims at all (and in fact when I took out the tenancy I was an undergraduate student with no income of my own, so have my DF as a guarantor) so I was not intending to inform the letting agency of my claim, especially as I have my co-tenants to consider. How likely is it that the council will contact them? I'm 99% sure that if they find out they'll be happy to wash their hands of me. Thank you!