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Agents, landlords urged to make Universal Credit checks
The Residential Landlords Association is urging landlords to ensure they are aware of any tenants who may need to claim benefits as the national roll out of the complex Universal Credit finally begins.
More than 150 job centres will start to handle UC claims over the next two months, although at this stage it will only be single claimants and couples with no children that are eligible for the scheme.
Landlords cannot be paid directly, as now, because the scheme combines various benefit payments into one lump sum.
The roll-out sees people in Yorkshire, Tees Valley, London, The Highlands, Thames Valley, and Gloucestershire, able to claim the benefit during the pilot project. For them, UC will replace all of these – income-based Jobseekers Allowance; income related Employment and Support Allowance; income support; child tax credit; working tax credits; and housing benefits.
The government claims that UC helps people get back into work sooner, earning more, and making them less likely to fall back into poverty by reducing the amount they claim gradually, as opposed to completely cutting claimants off, depending on how much they make in work.
