198A.—(1) Notwithstanding section 198(4A), where a supplement towards the amount of rent payable by a person in respect of his or her residence is paid immediately before 1 January 2011 and continues to be paid immediately after 1 January 2011 in respect of that residence under the same tenancy and the information specified in subsection (2) has not been provided by a landlord, F1165[a designated person] may, in accordance with this Act, continue to pay the supplement for that residence under the same tenancy—

(a) for a period commencing on 1 January 2011 and ending on the cessation date specified in a request under subsection (2), and

(b) where F1165[a designated person], having regard to all the circumstances of the person, is satisfied that the payment is appropriate for the purpose of avoiding undue hardship, for a period commencing on the cessation date and ending not later than 31 March 2012.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), F1165[a designated person] shall send a notification in writing to the landlord of a residence referred to in that subsection in respect of which a supplement was paid—

(a) requesting the landlord to provide F1165[a designated person], in the prescribed form, on or before a date (in this section referred to as the ‘information date’) specified in the notification, with—

(i) his or her tax reference number, or

(ii) where the landlord does not have a tax reference number, a statement in writing to that effect and the reasons for which he or she does not have a tax reference number, and

(b) stating that—

(i) the payment of a supplement under this section shall cease on a specified date (in this section referred to as the ‘cessation date’) unless the information is provided on or before the information date, and

(ii) where rent supplement has been paid in respect of the residence, failure to provide the information is an offence.

(3) Where—

(a) rent supplement has been paid in respect of a residence referred to in subsection (1),

(b) F1165[a designated person] has, in accordance with subsection (2), sent a notification in writing to a landlord referred to in that subsection, and

(c) the landlord has, following that notification, failed to provide the tax reference number referred to in subsection (2)(a)(i) or the statement referred to in subsection (2)(a)(ii), by the information date referred to in that notification,

he or she shall be guilty of an offence.]