Update on Universal Credit

The roll out of Universal Credit (UC) to all job centres throughout the UK will be completed by the end of 2018. This roll out only affects new claimants and those with a change in circumstances e.g. a change of address. Migration of existing claimants onto UC will be delayed as announced in the recent UK budget to allow changes to be made including providing extra financial support to claimants when they first move onto UC. Migration is now expected to take place between the end of 2019 and 2023.

Despite negative publicity of UC we hear of few cases of landlords experiencing problems. If you do experience difficulties let us know the details of the case. Our contacts at the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) have asked us to continue to make them aware of any problems landlords are experiencing so that, where possible, they can improve the system.

We recently did this when a member contacted us to report that his tenant was deliberately cancelling and reinstating his claim each month which prevented any rent being paid directly to the landlord. We notified our contacts at DWP of this situation, which was not one they’d come across before. As a result they are looking into whether changes to legislation can be made to prevent other tenants manipulating the system in this way.

For more information on UC see our Guide to Universal Credit, (members please log in to access resources, if you need any help to log in, please get in touch).

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