Under Pressure: Social Housing In The Wake Of Universal Credit

The rollout of universal credit has spurred record levels of debt among social tenants. Social landlords in the north-west, where universal credit first launched, say the programme has increased financial pressures on their organisations and pushed some providers to compromise their core values. Bolton at Home calculates that supporting tenants on universal credit costs five times more than tenants on legacy benefits. It has taken legal action against 25% of its tenants on universal credit, compared with an average of 6% across its 17,400 other homes. With housing benefit, rental officers could plan around set payment dates for each tenant. Now, as housing payments go direct to universal credit tenants, the officers spend their time coaching tenants on what to expect, pursuing late payments and micromanaging the DWP. Read more on the Guardian website.