Good morning

DWP has just issued its latest statistics on Universal Credit, covering, amongst other things, the numbers of claims and awards made so far, broken down, and including an analysis at regional and district level. The figures cover the period up to 11th July 2019 and can be found 

Good morning

You’ll find below, an exchange I’ve had with Neil Couling, DWP’s Director General, relating to the way DWP is currently mishandling the Third-Party Deductions (TPDs) scheme, especially as it relates to rent arrears recovery and levels of deductions being applied to some tenant awards.

I wrote to DWP…

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…

Good morning

In today’s bulletin, we highlight the critical part played by specialist benefits staff, in helping tenants overcome the ever-increasing obstacles placed in their path, by DWP’s mishandling of claims, its seeming reluctance or inability to remedy errors, and, on occasions, downright intransigenence.

West of Scotland Housing Association (WOSHA)…

Good afternoon

My recent bulletin “Notifying DWP of a change in your tenants’ rental charge” has produced a response from DWP management.

One of my Housing Association clients, wrote to their Partnership Manager, attaching a spreadsheet, with details of tenants who had failed to respond to DWP’s April 2019 “journal”…

Good morning

In recent weeks, I’ve had a number of website clients, and private landlord posters on, for example, Property Tribes, raising examples of councils not making, the 2 week run-on of Housing Benefit (LHA) even though this should be paid automatically, when a tenant transitions from Housing Benefit…

Good morning

An increasing number of my clients have been expressing concern about the ongoing fiasco, relating to the April rental charge, uprating exercise, which has contributed to some tenants failing to report the change in rent level to the DWP, in some cases creating under or over-payments. As DWP…

Good morning 

Appealing Housing Benefit (HB) decisions is something I do on a weekly basis, mainly for landlord clients but, on occasions, when instructed by a landlord, I will represent their tenant(s). In this connection, I recently helped an elderly tenant and her landlord daughter successfully appeal a decision by…

Good morning

I’m sure, like me, you’ll not have been surprised by DWP’s latest update (24th April) on the promised, SRS Landlord Portal solution to the annual rent uprating exercise. Yet another delay and broken commitment!

Why?

DWP’s explanation – “the delivery of a process that meets your needs continues…

Morning

I’ve just responded to a First-tier Tribunal Judge’s, Directions Notice, on behalf of my Housing Association client and one of its disabled tenants. The tenant is of “working age” who was receiving ESA (IR), PIP and Housing Benefit, until February 2018, when he agreed to an exchange with another…