?Landlords are waiting to discover if the new ministers in the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) will use their financial acumen to sort out Universal Credit payment headaches.
This week the new prime minister, Liz Truss was announced along with her new cabinet. Now, landlords are waiting to discover if the new ministers in the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) will use their financial acumen to sort out Universal Credit payment headaches.
Work and pensions secretary Chloe Smith, who once worked for accountancy firm Deloitte, has been tasked with addressing what is seen by many as a broken benefits system.
About 25% of private renters receive UC payments and landlords are already concerned that only 46% of them have their rent paid in full by the benefit.
Many landlords have clashed with DWP staff when struggling to access Alternative Payment Arrangements, while UC experts have also cast doubt on plans to clamp down on landlords renting out poor quality homes to benefit claimants without sufficient resources.
The issues over APA’s are something we have been helping landlords with for a number of years and prior to the pandemic improvements had been made. Unfortunately, the number of people claiming Universal Credit has nearly doubled and DWP resources are stretched.
The new government definitely needs to address the whole Universal Credit system if they want to ensure private landlords remain in the sector and support the chronic shortage of social housing.