Hi,

One of my most recent bulletins related to the potential for Housing Benefit to be reviewed because of a piece of transitional legislation affecting tenancies operating from 1st Jnaury 1996. DWP has now accepted the legislation can assist tenants who meet the qualifying criteria by exempting them from the…

Good afternoon,

Currently, Housing Benefit (HB) accounts for some £16 Billion in revenue for association tenants, producing between 40-65% of rental income, with 95% of payments going direct to associations; undeniably the preferred method of tenants. The possibility of HB continuing beyond 2017 is increasingly likely and should be viewed…

Good morning,

I’m increasingly being asked to deliver Universal Credit seminars to frontline managers and staff, directly interested in income management, rent arrears collection/recovery, financial inclusion and money advice. The sessions have proven popular and lively as we’re beginning, for the first time, to really delve into the everyday challenges…

Good morning,

DWP’s Director of Planning has, just this week, issued a bulletin to all Social Landlords, announcing:

a)      A new claims process, which will mean: “claimants will from 18th August be asked to bring a recent rent statement as well as a copy of their tenancy agreement to their…

Hi,

In an earlier bulletin http://www.ucadvice.co.uk/housing-associations/2014/06/universal-credit—dwp-explains-housing-costs-anomaly I highlighted concerns over the way Universal Credit operates when there’s a change in the claimant’s household make-up and/or financial circumstances. For example, couples separating or two individual households coming together as one; son/daughter leaves school or starts work; a rise in family income…

Lord Freud was the keynote speaker at last week’s Local Government Association (LGA) conference and took the opportunity to announce, to council delegates, further developments in the rollout of Universal Credit. 

He kicked off by stating – “The first is about universal credit, itself a significant change for local government…

Good Afternoon, If you’re looking for a bit of Universal Credit advice, now or sometime in the future, or would like to update your Board Members, Managers and/or staff on UC’s latest developments, look no further than UC Advice; our members all testify to that! Below you’ll find 5 of the latest…

DWP has quickly followed up on its “next step” plans, which included rolling out UC to 12 new council districts, in the north west of England, starting in June, 2014, by announcing its intentions of loosening the reins on the “eligibility” criteria, allowing more single tenants and couples to claim.…

Good Afternoon, I wrote to you some weeks ago explaining how the DWP had issued an HB circular to all councils instructing them to work with social landlords in an attempt to identify possible beneficiaries of the loophole. See http://www.ucadvice.co.uk/housing-associations/2014/01/urgent-bedroom-tax—dwp-accept-the-merit-of-loophole-arguement RSLs have since confirmed that their local authorities have,…

On 29th September, Ian Duncan Smith announced the national roll-out of Universal Credit to all Jobcentres and local authority areas in the UK. Initially, claims will be restrcted to single claimants, in all areas, but in a phased implementation, claims will later be taken from couples and families. Only a…