Good morning

One of my landlord clients recently asked the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to correct an error in a tenant’s Universal Credit (UC) housing costs. DWP had wrongly reduced the tenant’s housing costs by applying a housing costs contribution — the UC equivalent of an HB  non-dependant…

Good afternoon

Our earlier bulletin reported successful Supported Housing Benefit appeals brought on behalf of Choice Housing tenants, after Sheffield City Council suspended and cancelled existing awards and refused new claims. That bulletin attracted more than 1,000 LinkedIn impressions. We have now received Judge Mettam’s full Statement of Reasons,…

Dear colleague,

I wanted to share some recent updates on the UC migration cases highlighted in my earlier bulletin. The case began as a housing costs dispute, but it has now produced an important outcome on both the claimant’s legacy ESA award and their Universal Credit transitional protection.

What…

Good morning

This note highlights an important but often overlooked consequence of the Renters’ Rights Act for council tax liability.  The RRA legislation primarily applies to England.

Background

Currently, Council tax liability is determined by statute under the Local Government Finance Act 1992, not by the terms of a tenancy…

Good morning Background

Website members regularly advise me that DWP refuses their requests for retrospective corrections to UC housing costs where they’ve reported changes in their claimant’s circumstances, on the basis:

Only the claimant can report changes; and Revisions are limited to a maximum of 12 months.

Both propositions are…

Good morning,

Following the Chancellor’s announcement about the abolition of the 2-child element benefit cap, I have been asked when this is likely to be introduced and what impact it’s expected to have on families with more than two dependent children, currently affected by the cap.

The change is scheduled to…

Good morning

The April 2025 Benefits Uprating order will impact your tenants’ personal benefit entitlement and housing costs. While limited in scope, the rises will be welcomed, as many families have struggled to cope with rising prices.

Those of pensionable age will experience a rise of 4.1% to their state…

Hi

My clients at Key Housing provide quality “Supported Housing” to vulnerable tenants throughout Scotland. Most tenants require assistance completing and submitting their Housing Benefits claims to council departments. Overall, the process, honed over many years, works well, because Key’s staff have developed effective working partnerships with the various benefit…

Good morning

The Autumn Budget, delivered by Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was disappointing for many benefit claimants, particularly those under pensionable age (66), with the news of April 2025 increases being pegged at just 1.7% for benefits like Universal Credit, PIP, ESA, and Child Benefit.

Pensioners fared better with both State…

Good morning

Last week’s bulletin created a bit of a stir and prompted landlord clients to ask:

Why can’t a tenant report a change, like the annual rent charge, either in advance of the change or, at least, within the Benefits Assessment Period (BAP), in which the change occurs;…