Good afternoon

More details from DWP’s guidance to landlords can be found here.

Private landlords are landlords who usually own the property they are renting out.

Private landlords can be:

  • a company that owns a lot of properties
  • a person or family that owns one or more properties

Private landlords can ask for their tenant’s Universal Credit housing costs to be paid directly to them without the need for explicit consent.

You (the tenant) will be informed that the private landlord has requested that the Universal Credit housing costs be paid directly to them.

If you are happy for your Universal Credit housing costs to be paid directly to the landlord, you do not need to reply to give your consent.

The Universal Credit housing costs will then automatically be paid to the landlord each month. If you do not want the rent to be paid directly to the landlord, you can dispute this.

You will need to provide evidence that you are not in rent arrears in order to dispute the alternative payment arrangement.

Once the direct payment to the private landlord (the alternative payment arrangement) has been set up, the following information can be disclosed to the landlord:

  • the start date of your housing payments being paid to the landlord
  • when the landlord can expect to receive the first payment
  • the amount of the next payment of your Universal Credit housing costs
  • if there have been any changes to the Universal Credit housing costs (the reason for the changes will not be provided or discussed)

A private landlord can act as a representative for a claimant but will always need your explicit consent to do so, unless it is for the specific purpose of requesting an alternative payment arrangement.

Any questions on this or related topics should be submitted to bill@ucadvice.co.uk or phone 07733 080 389

Bill Irvine

UC Advice & Advocacy ltd

July 2019