ESA to UC

Hi guys 1st day back after 3 month.. tenant in receipt of ESA and has been advised he must claim UC to receive housing benefit.. ..
is this correct ? change of circs in December..

brain not switched on yet

Insufficient information to comment on specific case, but in general if someone has a current HB claim then they may be able to stay on it. If they do not, then they cannot put in a new HB claim unless they gets SDP or are in temporary or supported accommodation. They would need to claim UC to get help with housing costs.

just finding out as we go along, on ESA (c) and separated from partner who was also on ESA.
applied in December for ESA(IR) and SDP as well as HB, HB now advised nil and to claim UC. My understanding being if we get SDP backdated UC is not appropriate..

called escalation line in local BDC who have escalated it to central team dealing with ESA(c0 to ESA(ir) claims..

simple walk in for first day back

Sounds like there’s been major delays all round.  Once SDP is sorted then it should be pretty straightforward to get HB. While receiving SDP he’s not legally allowed to claim UC and can claim HB. Difficulty might be in getting it backdated.