HC Deb 19 November 1986 vol 105 c217W
67. Mr. Meadowcroft

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what plans his Department has to prevent landlords charging excessively high rents to those claiming housing benefit.

Mr. Lyell

Statutory responsibility for administering the housing benefit scheme exists with local authorities, who have powers to restrict the amount of rent eligible for benefit if they consider that the rent is unreasonably high.

We are at present consulting with the local authority associations on a range of options designed, as part of the housing benefit reforms to be implemented in April 1988, to strengthen local authorities' powers to act in such cases.