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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.

Today (13th May 2020) The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a new online system to allow rent payments, from tenants in receipt of Universal Credit, to be paid directly to Private Rented Sector (PRS) landlords. The new system for arranging these Alternative Payment Arrangements replaces the two existing UC47 forms cutting the processing time down from in excess of three weeks to just two hours in some cases.

We understand that amidst these uncertain times, there is an enormous amount of new information being released every day. One of the things we are hearing is that, because every individual’s circumstances are different, landlords are finding it difficult to cut through all of the information in order to access what is relevant to them.

As The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) grapples with nearly one million new claimants applying for Universal Credit following the outbreak of COVID-19, Caridon Landlord Solutions, part of Caridon Group, says landlords should educate themselves on the Universal Credit system now so that they can support their tenants and both mitigate the risk of rental arrears.

This week, the final episode of the BBC2’s "Universal Credit: Inside the Welfare State" aired. Amid mounting criticism, DWP opened the door to BBC cameras. Among the various topics on the final episode, the problems associated with advance payments took centre stage. The final episode took place in Bolton, which has unusually high levels of unemployment for people aged between 17 and 24. Around 500 people move onto Universal Credit every month.

Payments to those in receipt of Universal Credit vary from person to person to take into account individual circumstances which affect them. However, what many do not realise is that the slightest error cannot only impact a claimant financially, but cause difficulties later down the line. Therefore, it is important that if a claimant’s circumstances change at any point they inform Department for Work and Pensions as soon as possible.