Forum Home → Discussion → Universal credit administration → Thread
Roll out of pilot where UC claimants asked if want social landlord to be informed of claim
Inside Housing reports that DWP will be rolling out pilot, under which jobcentres can seek permission from tenants to inform their social landlord if they make a new claim for universal credit, across England -
National Housing Federation now confirms that new process to be introduced from today in all live universal credit sites
http://www.housing.org.uk/policy/policy-news/change-to-universal-credit-housing-costs-process/
“Following a successful trial in Warrington undertaken with Golden Gates Housing” the NHF says. I’ll repeat my post at http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/6782/#29244
re Peter Fitzhenry of Golden Gates Housing Trust in the Indy on 18 May at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/benefit-reforms-one-year-on-universal-credit-is-not-working-9391283.html which includes this:
Payments have been so haphazard that 92 per cent of those on Golden Gate’s books using the new benefit are in rent arrears, and two have been evicted since moving on to it. A further 13 are on suspended possession orders or notices seeking possession. Typically, around half of housing association tenants on housing benefit are in rent arrears, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). “The problem seems to be that the scheme is running but they’re making it up as they go along”, said Mr Fitzhenry.
For more than half of its universal credit tenants, the housing trust has asked for the rent payments to now go directly to the trust. But this has not curbed the spiralling arrears. “Of the direct payments we do get from DWP, about half of the amounts are wrong,” Mr Fitzhenry explained. “It’s always too little.” Payments also go missing altogether. “Our first payments [from DWP] that were supposed to go to us were sent to the DVLA. We still don’t know why, that’s just what they told us. The computer system collapses if your payment day is a Saturday or a bank holiday, and then everything has to be rebuilt on a Monday and the money ends up going direct to the client. It’s a computer error.”
“Claimant Commitments, Sanctions and working with the Job Centre Plus” was Peter Fitzhenry’s talk to the Welfare reform impact club (WRIC) on Monday 14 July 2014 in Warrington, Manchester.
Interesting that they will need their tenancy agreement as well as their rent account evidence. One might ponder about listing the number of bedrooms for some reason.
I’m struggling to understand how the National Housing Federation report of this can be the polar opposite of the Independent’s article and the comments of Golden Gate’s director.
Is the NHF doing the DWP’s bidding, or do the NHF not listen to their members? Or something else…?
It’s only the verification that was a success, as I recall the Golden Gate director said that everything else was a shambles but didn’t mention verification of costs at the outset of the claim. Calculating how much is due and actually paying it are two entirely different processes [/newspeak]
did you see this one too?
Housing associations urge benefit claimants to pay extra rent in advance
Fears are growing that tenants will default on their payments once they are transferred to universal credit
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/16/housing-benefit-claimants-rent-universal-credit
Bryan’s started a new thread re ‘Housing associations urge benefit claimants to pay extra rent in advance’ over @ http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/6919
The next areas to follow will be: Southport, Crosby, Bootle, Bolton (Great Moor Street), Bolton (Blackhorse Street), Farnworth, Birkenhead, Bromborough, Hoylake, Upton, Wallasey, Preston, Leyland, Prestwich, Bury, Eccles, Worsley, Huyton, Kirkby, St Helens, Newton-le-Willows, Chester, Congleton, Crewe and Wilmslow.
By the end of the year, universal credit will be operational in every Jobcentre in the north west and 90 in total across Britain.