Universal Credit: Housing Benefit Claimants Told To Pay Rent A Month In Advance

Originally posted on UNEMPLOYED IN TYNE & WEAR:
Housing Associations have told tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit to pay their rent a month in advance, due to growing fears over Universal Credit.

Housing providers fear that tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit may default, or fall behind on their rent payments when they are transferred (moved) to Universal Credit, which is replacing six existing benefits and rolling them into one single monthly payment.

Housing Benefit is currently paid directly to social landlords in the majority of cases. Under the new Universal Credit system, housing support will be paid directly to the claimant.

Those claimants will then be expected to manage their own housing costs – a month in advance. In the minority of cases where a claimant may not be able or capable of managing their own housing costs, rent payments may still be paid directly to housing providers.

Six Town Housing based in Bury, Lancashire…
View original 215 more wordsFiled under: Mental Health, The News & Policies.

Source: Dawn Willis sharing the News and Views of the Mentally Wealthy - August 18, 2014 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Quinonostante Tags: Mental Health, The News & Policies. Source Type: blogs