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A London based landlord client asked me to assist two of his joint tenants challenge an adverse Housing Benefit decision, explained below:

Council’s view – “You are currently registered as non-dependant under your brother, Mr Sandilands’s active claim for Housing Benefit.  According to the rules you are not…

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The Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed DWP’s appeal against a previous High Court ruling which had found in favour of 4 single mothers, supported by CPAG. The case revolved around the way in which the ladies monthly salaries were treated under Universal Credit rules, sometimes leaving them with…

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Since UC was introduced, one of the biggest sources of frustration of social landlords’ staff is, DWP’s unwillingness to converse freely about tenants’ claims by phone, e-mail, or letter. In contrast, SRS staff, plus landlords in the private sector, enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship with Council HB teams,…

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Mick Roberts is a Nottingham based landlord, heavily invested in providing accommodation to benefit dependant tenants. Prior to the introduction of Universal Credit, he had become accustomed to dealing with 5 local councils. Within the council Housing Benefit sections he could email or phone named contacts and expect…

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Neil Couling, DWP’s most senior director, announced yesterday, the launch of the online Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA) scheme, the link to which can be found here

As I’ve mentioned before, the online system was being tested by a number of my PRS clients, in various parts of…

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, two of the most common questions I’m asked by PRS landlords and agents are:

How can I secure the “housing costs element” (HCE) of Universal Credit direct to me; and Does the tenant have to provide their consent before DWP will act on my request?

To…

Good evening

As you may already know, DWP has effectively suspended Third Party Deductions, including amounts for rent arrears, service charges, fuel debts etc. for 1 month, running from 10th April to 10th May, at which point, they should automatically resume, without any effort on the part of tenants or landlords.

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I recently represented a Housing Cooperative in a dispute over a £45,000 Housing Benefit Overpayment. The Co-op and its elderly tenants had appealed the Council decision to hold them responsible for the sum, to a First-tier Tribunal. A hearing was held but had to be adjourned because the Judge…

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DWP’s Director General, Neil Couling, was reported last week, as stating – “Many confused families will receive less than they had hoped for from Universal Credit, certainly in their first payment” – due to the fact, when calculating Universal Credit most forms of earned income (e.g. wages, statutory…

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The Department of Work & Pensions Minister The Rt Hon Thérèse Coffey MP issued a statement yesterday, after the department, local MPs, MSPs and the media had been inundated with a deluge of complaints from claimants, who had lodged online claims, but then had waited literally…