See link to RLA press release confirming DWP will be applying the 8 weeks’ rule during the Pathfinder exercises. http://news.rla.org.uk/landlords-welcome-direct-payment-announcement/ This represents a significant climb-down by the Government, and explains why they chose to bury the announcement in an obscure UC circular. It also suggests the same rule will be…

It will have come as no surprise to anyone following the development of Universal Credit that the cross party Work and Pensions Committee has announces an inquiry into progress towards implementation of the Universal Credit which is scheduled to go live next autumn. The warning signs have been there for…

Since the Coalition Government first announced in the Emergency Budget in July 2010 that an under-occupation reduction would be introduced for Housing Benefit claimants living in social sector housing there has been a lot of discussion in housing journals and elsewhere about whether or not taking in a lodger might…

Regular readers of this column may recall the article I wrote last December “Welfare Reforms – Wake-up Call” after my controversial workshops at the NLA’s conference inManchester, last November. I recounted one of the delegates commenting: “Your presentation this morning had the same effect as a doze of Prozac taken…

In my recent article, Universal Credit and Non-Dependant Deductions, I highlighted the rising levels of contributions toward the rent that were expected from working grown-ups living with the claimant, normally sons and daughters, resulting in significant reductions in the Housing Benefit of their parent(s). I also drew attention to a…

Despite continued doubts being expressed by the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge and other MPs (see links 1 and 2 below), the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Ian Duncan Smith and his ministers remain adamant that progress on the development of the new Universal Credit…

Ask any landlord, whether they are a Local Authority housing department, a Housing Association (HA) or a private residential landlord, as to which of the housing related changes in the Welfare Reform package they fear most and the answer will invariable be the redirection of the money, designed to meet…

When the Coalition Government came to power in 2010 it immediately declared that its number one priority was to reduce the national debt and this was reflected in the first budget of the new Chancellor, George Osborne, a few months later. Welfare Benefits in general and Housing Benefit in particular…

On 15th June 2012 DWP issued various sets of draft regulations to underpin their Welfare Reform Act. The sets include one on Universal Credit and it is of particular interest to note some of the radical changes that are being made to the support that will be included in UC…

One of the key changes announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s Emergency Budget on taking office in 2010 has only recently been implemented yet its impact has already started to be felt in the private rented sector. From April 2012 Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, that form of Housing Benefit paid…