1. home and garden

WHAT IS THE VALUATION
OFFICE?
The Valuation Office i s independent of the
Council and is responsible for valuing rents.
WILL THIS DELAY MY PAYMENT?
HOW DO I APPLY?
If we do not have a current decision from the
Valuation Office when you claim Housing
Benefit, details of your rent will be sent to
the Valuation Office.
You can ask for a PTD in any of the ways given
on the back of this leaflet under ‘Contacting Us’.
HOW IS HOUSING BENEFIT INVOLVED?
If you live in a privately rented property and are
claiming Housing Benefit, the Valuation Officer
will need to value the rent you are charged.
We have to send details of your rent to the
Valuation Office , who will then confirm that the
rent you pay is not above a fair market level or
tells us what a fair market level would be.
If the property is too large for your needs, the
Valuation Office will give us a value for a property
of the correct size. This is known as a sizerelated rent.
If you are single and under 25 the Valuation
Office will tell us that the most we can pay is a
‘Single Room Rent’. This value is based on rent
for one room with shared use of a kitchen and
bathroom.
WILL A VALUATION OFFICER
VISIT?
Sometimes the Valuation Officer may need to
view your address before being able to decide on
a fair rent.
Where the Valuation Officer needs to visit you,
a letter will be sent telling you the date and time
of the appointment.
You will get payments based on a temporary
assessment. When we get a decision from the
Valuation Office, we will change your claim from
the start date.
PRE-TENANCY DETERMINATIONS
A Pre-tenancy Determination (PTD) is the amount
of rent from which your Housing Benefit will be
worked out.
You may ask for a PTD before moving into a
property.
Remember that Housing Benefit is worked out on
your personal circumstances. A PTD alone will
not tell you how much Housing Benefit you will
get, only the rent that will be used in the way it is
worked out.
PTDs are free so you can get as many as you
need. If you are interested in more than one
property you should get a PTD for each one.
A PTD will help you to decide which property to
move into and if you are likely to have to make up
a difference between the rent you are charged
and the Housing Benefit you will get.
You and any future landlord must sign the PTD
and return it to the Benefits Service. The PTD will
then be faxed to the Rent Service.
A decision will be made within 5 working days
and you will be told in writing.
If you decide to take on the tenancy and move in
you still need to apply for Housing Benefit by
completing a claim form.
WHAT IF I DISAGREE WITH THE DECISION?
You can appeal against any part of your benefit
including the rent figure we use to work out your
benefit.
You should appeal within one calendar month of
getting your benefit letter.
The Benefits Officer will take a statement from
you giving your reasons why you think you should
be paid more (this could be because a new
bathroom has been added - for example).
The Benefits Advisor will send the statement to
the Valuation Officer with a letter asking them to
give a further decision. A Rent Officer from
another area will give this.
The new Rent Officer decision will replace the old
decision. This means the rent could go up or
down or stay the same.
If you are a joint tenant you must both agree to
the rent being re-referred.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
CONTACTING US
Details of how to contact the Valuation Office
are shown below:
To find out further information, you can phone the
following:
(01733) 452241
The Valuation
Office
VOA Rent Officers
Network Support Office
Wycliffe House
Green Lane
County Durham
DH1 3UW
Telephone
08450 264696
E-mail
NSOhelpdesk@voa.gsi.gov.uk
Website
www.voa.gov.uk
SUPPLYING PROOFS
Or send us an email to:
benefits@peterborough.gov.uk
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Or visit our website at:
www.peterborough.gov.uk
The website also includes answers to a number
of questions often asked about benefits.
“Look out for other leaflets in this series”
BF1
BF2
BF3
BF4
BF5
BF6
BF7
BF8
BF9
BF10
BF11
“Claiming help with your rent”
“Claiming help with your Council Tax”
“The Verification Framework”
“Non-Dependants”
“The role of the Valuation Office”
“How to appeal”
“Alternative Council Tax Reduction”
“Backdated Claims”
Not currently available
“Overpayments”
“Opening a basic bank Account”
H
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GB
BE
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EFFIITT
You can hand in proof of income or rent, or any
information relating to benefits at Customer
Services, Bayard Place Or you can scan your proof
and e-mail it to
benefitsestoreevidence@peterborough.gov.uk
make sure you quote your application reference
number.
Original documents will be photocopied, checked
and returned to you.
Leaflet – BF5