Universal Credit Will Double Homelessness In The UK? Yep!

Last week a significant piece of research comparing Universal Credit and Housing Benefit went largely unnoticed. Its findings were alarming and council landlords:

·         Issued 5 x as many possession notices on UC tenants than on HB tenants 

·         Took court action on 4 x the number of UC tenants than HB tenants

·         Evicted 3 x as many UC tenants as HB tenants

·         Saw UC tenant abandonments rise by SIXTEEN TIMES that of HB tenants

Read more on the SpeyeJoe blog.

https://speyejoe2.wordpress.com/2019/07/30/universal-credit-will-double-homelessness-in-the-uk-yep/

Abandonment A Problem For Third Of Landlords

36 per cent of landlords in the UK have had property abandoned by tenants before, according to new figures. Abandonment occurs when a tenant moves out of a property before the tenancy has ended, without informing their landlord. The issue can be costly as it often occurs when outstanding rent is owed. However, the tenant still has a legal right to return and take up residence at any time and it is a criminal offence for landlords to do anything to prevent the continuation of the tenancy. The only option for a landlord is to go through the legal process for regaining possession of an abandoned property which can take months. The Housing and Planning Act will create a new process to deal with the issue, giving landlords far greater security and peace of mind when recovering  properties they believe to have been abandoned. Read more on the NLA website.  

Council Housing Fraud Crackdown Hailed 'Major Success'

A council's crackdown on social housing fraud has been hailed a "major success". Sandwell Council's drive to combat crooks has led to 44 homes being recovered and re-let. The six-month pilot scheme launched last November has resulted in 36 abandoned properties being detected and eight other properties being recovered due to illegal succession and/or subletting. In addition, three fraudulent right-to-buy applications were blocked and another 29 cases of suspected tenancy fraud are currently being investigated. Read more on 24dash.