Hi Euan,
I’m not familiar with administrative and other expenses being treated as housing benefit. Does this mean that any fees incurred in managing a property where a resident claims housing benefit can be claimed back through the local council? This would be very helpful if that it is the case, id be interested to know if this also applies to maintenance costs and upgrades such as new radiators.
In terms of the forms and applications, I would point you in the direction of the local authority who deal with the applications for universal credit as the eligibility and threshold criteria may be different to housing benefit. I hope this helps a little bit. There may even be a government portal where you can apply for universal credit. Our residents do this themselves with the local council so I can’t assist much further.
Many thanks,