News

?This week, TV and broadband provider Sky has announced that anyone in receipt of Universal Credit or State Pension in the UK can access their new Broadband Basics contract helping people save up to £90 a year.

?Today (2 February 2022), the Government unveiled its much-anticipated Levelling Up White Paper which has confirmed some big changes on the horizon for the private rented sector, and in particular landlords. However, despite running to 332 pages, the document is light on detail and points to a further White Paper which will be published in the spring focusing primarily on the Private Rented Sector.

This week, the changes to Universal Credit announced last month by the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, in the Autumn Budget came into effect. These changes see the dreaded Universal Credit taper (how much an individual’s Universal Credit gets reduced by for every pound they earn) reduced from 63 pence to 55 pence, allowing millions of working Brits in receipt of the benefit to keep more of their earnings.

In Wednesday’s Budget, one of the major announcements from the chancellor was that the Universal Credit taper will be reduced from 63% to 55% in a bid to help those full-time workers keep more of their earnings.

Over the weekend, the government announced a new £65m support package to help vulnerable renters who have fallen into rent arrears during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s to be provided during the winter months and distributed directly to landlords through local councils, who will decide the best way to use the funding to support households behind on their rent.

From 6 October, 6.2 million people in receipt of Universal Credit will have their benefit cut by £20 per week, an uplift which was introduced by the Government at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. This will not only see many people plunged into further poverty and struggle to pay basic bills such as rent and electricity, but also cut the amount of any Third-Party Deductions being made to repay debt such as rent arrears. This could potentially leave more people at risk of eviction, says Caridon Landlord Solutions.