HA Rent Arrears Could Rise By £330m After Universal Credit Switchover

 Rent arrears among housing association tenants in England could rise by £330m after the switchover from legacy benefits to Universal Credit is complete, the National Housing Federation (NHF) has warned. A survey of housing associations found that the number of tenants claiming Universal Credit for help with their rent costs increased by 83% between June 2019 and September 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The increase means households claiming Universal Credit accounted for 28% of all occupied general needs homes owned by housing associations as of September last year. Of these, 60% had fallen behind on rent compared with 36% paying by other means including housing benefit. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/housing-association-rent-arrears-could-rise-by-330m-after-universal-credit-switchover-nhf-warns-70420?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

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.