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Good afternoon

Social landlords across GB, preparing for the April 2022 annual “rent increase” event, naturally assumed, the onus for reporting the change to DWP would rest primarily with their tenants, using their journal, after being prompted by an online “To-do” in April. That’s certainly been DWP’s position since 2013,…

Good afternoon

I was contacted in February 2022 by the family of a 99-year-old grandmother and her 75-year-old autistic daughter, who, as joint tenants, had both been refused Housing Benefit (HB) by their local council, primarily on the basis their landlord was a close relative (granddaughter) and their close family…

Good morning

I was contacted a few weeks ago by a landlord, who was totally frustrated by his lack of success, trying to secure help from DWP for his tenant’s “housing costs”. Universal Credit had refused to include a “housing costs element” (HCE) in her award, for 6 months, causing…

Good morning

I was contacted in December 2021 by a landlord client who was in the process of evicting a tenant for £5800 rent arrears. As a last gasp option, he decided to pass the baton to me, knowing I operate, in cases of this type, on a No win,…

Good morning & best wishes for the New Year

I’m pleased to say, 2022 has already produced a couple of successes for clients. The first concerned a private landlord who had provided accommodation to an ex homeless hostel dweller, in July 2021, anticipating his UC award would include an amount…

Good morning

A recent case I dealt with, provides yet another example of DWP making a pig’s ear of a perfectly legitimate claim, creating wholly unnecessary worry and anxiety for both tenant & landlord. The intervention of a District Judge helped ensure my client’s “housing costs” were reinstated and an…

Good morning

A First-tier tribunal recently supported my elderly client’s appeal for Housing Benefit, backdating the claim to February 2021. The HB arrears, accruing from the backdating of the award, will completely clear rent arrears, which had built up during the months we waited for the tribunal hearing. More importantly,…

Good afternoon

Chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced, in his autumn budget, several changes, which should benefit tenants, particularly those who work in low paid jobs, and are claiming benefits. However, he resisted demands to restore the £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit, introduced in March 2020, as part of the…

Good morning

By far the majority of UC tenants’ hand over their “housing costs element” (HCE) to their landlord to avoid the risk of rent arrears and legal action. Concern exists however, in those cases, where the tenant doesn’t hand over the funds, intended to reduce or extinguish their rent…

Good morning

In May this year, one of my Housing Association clients contacted me, seeking assistance with three separate overpayment invoice demands, from DWP, collectively amounting to, circa £5000. Before contacting me, its Finance Manager decided to tackle the problem, by contacting DWP’s Debt Management team, who had sent the…