UC and DHP

Hi,

Just looking for a bit of clarity if anybody is able to help.

We have a tenant who is a lone parent of 6 children and is on UC. She is also benefit capped. We are getting an APA for her eligible rent which is covering all of the rent but she has a heating charge that forms part of her rent but she needs to pay this herself as it is ineligible for UC purposes. The APA appears to be coming out of her personal allowance.

She has sought advice elsewhere and she has been advised that she could apply for a DHP to help with her rent.

We are unsure if a DHP can be paid. In her journal, when you look at the payments, Housing Costs are included in the first part of the calculation when her maximum entitlement is calculated, but then when her award is capped at £1666, it would appear that the money that is being paid is just for her and her children and no Housing Costs have been included in the payment that is made to her.

In these cases, would a DHP be possible? I remember reading guidance that said that a DHP would not be possible where there are no Housing Costs included in the payment.

any views?

thanks

If housing costs are listed on the payment history as part of the maximum UC, then they are claiming housing costs for the purposes of claiming a DHP. That rule is the equivalent of needing to be in receipt of HB to claim a DHP under the old system.

With UC the different elements are not separately discernible in the payment. As a recent trainer once explained, it’s like putting all the elements into a blender and mixing them together. Then you pour some out so there’s only the amount up to the benefit cap. As there’s an APA in place, you pour some out into a glass and hand it to the landlord. Then whatever is left is for the claimant (unless there’s any other deductions to pour out).

There was some confusion before the reduced cap was implemented because (from memory) a HB circular was produced indicating an APA would have to stop if a DHP was claimed. However, the revised version below was released stating the opposite.

http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/589416/g12-2016.pdf

However, depending on the DHP decision and the level of the heating charges, the claimant might be in the position where the combination of APA payments and DHP are higher than the actual rent charged. There’s no mechanism for the APA to be reduced to take into account the level of the DHP.

The test is whether they have housing element included in the calculation of their UC award. So yes, DHP is possible.