Guidance

Housing Benefit overpayment recovery good practice

Good practice for local authority staff on recovering Housing Benefit overpayments.

• From: Department for Work and Pensions
• Published: 16 February 2015
• Last updated: 2 March 2026 — See all updates

Documents

Pursuing Housing Benefit overpayment recovery effectively: Good practice guide

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Details

DWP has developed this good practice in partnership with local authorities. Its aim is to help local authority staff consider a range of options to recover Housing Benefit overpayments. It is designed to be read with the Housing Benefit overpayments guide.

Published 16 February 2015

Last updated 2 March 2026 + show all updates

1. 2 March 2026

   Removed 2 bullet points under 'Effective debt recovery' about referring to the use of social media sites to obtain employer and debtor information.

2. 30 October 2025

   Uploaded latest version of Housing Benefit Overpayment Recovery Good Practice Guide.

3. 16 February 2015

   First published.