Taylor Vinters - Solicitors

A number of private landlords could be facing difficulties due to the current system of housing benefit payments, according to the National Landlords Association (NLA).

The organisation believes that the system of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) may also be wasting millions of pounds of taxpayers'' money.

LHA, which was introduced for new tenancies in 2008, sees rent paid to tenants instead of directly to private landlords.

However, the NLA suggests that under this system, a number of people are not passing on their housing benefit money to their landlords.

It claims that in some extreme instances, landlords could be facing the prospect of repossession because rent money is often not given to them.

The NLA''s director of operations Richard Price believes landlords must now work with each other to show the government that its new housing benefit system is not working effectively.

He added: "If something isn''t done then landlords who currently operate in this market will be leaving in their droves and it will be the most vulnerable tenants who will be left out in the cold."

The NLA recently launched a new database to register professional landlords and offer tenants more protection.