Housing Benefit
Many larger councils suffered from delays in processing Housing Benefit claims. Delays of up to a year were reported. Delays and rent restrictions were so endemic in the system that it became common to see classified advertisements for lettings stating No DSS (the then-Department of Social Security, now called the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)). It usually meant that the landlord was not willing to consider letting to a tenant who would be dependent on housing benefit to pay the rent.