Most Tenants Want Housing Benefit Paid Direct To Landlord

Nine out of ten social housing tenants want their housing benefit to continue to be paid directly to their landlord a new study has shown. Research, from consultancy Policis, as part of a national survey of 1,000 social housing tenants suggests that government plans to pay housing benefit straight to tenants as part of the introduction of Universal Credit are opposed by most tenants as well as landlords and lenders. The survey, which was commissioned by Big Issue Invest, a financier of social enterprises, found that 80 per cent thought the government’s proposal to pay housing benefit direct to tenants is a ‘bad idea’. It showed that 35 per cent of tenants are not confident they would be able to keep up their rental payments – confirming fears of lenders that the stability of landlords’ rental income would be impacted by the changes. Read more on the Big Issue Invest website.