News

For many years now, rising rents have put enormous pressure on those in the rental market. This has increased their vulnerability, not only because landlords are more likely to cherry-pick tenants who can afford the highest rents, but also because of a shortage of social housing.

Caridon Landlord Solutions, which provides specialist advice on Universal Credit and Housing Benefit to private landlords, letting agencies and housing associations, says that landlords with tenants in receipt of Universal Credit are struggling to set up Alternative Payment Arrangements because the online Universal Credit landlord portal is closed to new claimants. It is thought this is because the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) is overwhelmed by the number of new claims, but landlords say it is forcing them to consider serving notice on their tenants.

Universal Credit is a payment which is replacing six legacy benefits, and these are: Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and Working Tax Credit.

It has been another tough start to the year for everyone, including landlords, many of whom have tenants that are unable to pay their rent in full (or at all) due to COVID-19. With many already struggling to cope under the tighter restrictions in the UK, we have been looking into what advice and support is on offer to landlords who may not have explored their options yet.

A new report from the work and pensions select committee highlights that people in receipt of Universal Credit are at greater risk of falling into rent arrears, which is pushing those who are already facing difficulties into further debt and leaving them reliant on food banks.

?Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Universal Credit has become a lifeline for many households. In the first two weeks of lockdown alone there were over 500,000 claims per week, more than nine times the usual weekly level of applications.