AN OXFORD landlord has accused city council bosses of wasting taxpayers’ money by not doing more to claw back unpaid rent from people on housing benefits.

It comes as the Oxford Mail can reveal Oxford City Council also pays thousands of pounds in housing benefit to prisoners.

If a tenant is in receipt of housing benefit but living in private rented accommodation, the money is paid directly into their bank account for them to pass on to the landlord.

But the council, which administers the payments, allows tenants to be in arrears for eight weeks before any action is taken to pay the landlord directly.

This is despite a government circular that was sent to all councils two years ago, after a landmark legal case, saying councils could move to pay a landlord directly as soon as rent was one day late.

The council said it was the landlord’s responsibility to take action with respect to arrears.

But Karim Easterbrook, who owns several properties in Oxford, said the city council was wasting taxpayers’ money by allowing people to essentially “pocket” the housing benefit.

He said: “They keep saying ‘sorry but the contract is between the landlord and the tenant'.

“And every time I reply ‘No, the contract is between the council and the taxpayer.

“Even if you give 20 pence to a benefit claimant knowing the tenant has defaulted on making a rental payment to the landlord, you are defrauding the taxpayers out of their money at the very least and behaving irresponsibly.”

The council said there were certain situations where it could take action to pay the landlord directly before the eight-week period ended.

A spokesman said: “However we do not immediately change to paying the landlord as soon as they say there is arrears. Instead we write to the tenant to find out why they are in arrears, and check that there is not a dispute with the landlord.”

Mr Easterbrook said he was also shocked to learn the council continued to pay housing benefit to prisoners, when one of his tenants was jailed.

According to government guidelines, unconvicted prisoners can claim housing benefit for up to 52 weeks. Convicted prisoners can get housing benefit for up to 13 weeks, as long as they are not expected to be in prison longer than that. The council said it did not record how many Oxfordshire prisoners were currently claiming housing benefit. It also did not provide figures for how much had been paid out to tenants who had then not passed it on.

Mr Easterbrook, from Yarnton, said: “When you think about the extent of the cuts sweeping the country, the fact they are paying housing benefit for someone who is effectively already getting bed and board is just ridiculous.”