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Low number of tenants moved to Universal Credit in Harrogate pilot

Only a small number of people have had their benefits switched to Universal Credit through a pilot in Harrogate, Inside Housing has learned.

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A job centre in Harrogate (picture: Nathaniel Barker)
A job centre in Harrogate (picture: Nathaniel Barker)
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Only a very small number of people have been moved on to Universal Credit in the Harrogate pilot #ukhousing

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) told Inside Housing that at Christmas there were only 69 cases in the Universal Credit managed migration pilot – with that figure supposedly due to reach up to 10,000 by the time it finishes at the end of this year.

Social landlords working on the project said that while it has run smoothly since it launched in July, only a handful of tenants have made the switch so far. Some landlords have said they have yet to move any residents over to Universal Credit, while others are only now starting to move some of their first tenants.

It comes as the government last week delayed the roll-out of Universal Credit a further nine months to September 2024, saying the number of people moving to the new system was “lower than forecast”.

The DWP said it has deliberately kept pilot numbers low “so we can thoroughly evaluate claimants’ experiences” and that the work will scale up later in the project.


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Universal Credit replaces six benefits from the old welfare system with an all-in-one, monthly payment.

A managed migration pilot was announced in October 2018 amid cross-party concern about Universal Credit’s impact on vulnerable people, and Harrogate was unveiled as the pilot area last March.

Legislation allows for up to 10,000 people to be switched to Universal Credit through the pilot, which is set to run up to the end of 2020.

Sanctuary Housing said it is not yet aware of any of its tenants moving to Universal Credit in the pilot, while Together Housing said it is currently working on helping its first tenants migrate to Universal Credit.

Broadacres said five of its tenants have made the switch.

Yorkshire Housing and Accent Housing also confirmed that the pilot has run smoothly with a small number of tenants involved.

Combined, the landlords own 41.4% of housing association homes in the Harrogate area.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council, which is the area’s largest social landlord with 3,800 homes, said: “From our side, things have gone very smoothly. We’ve not come across any problems at all with the tenants we know have moved over, and we are having regular meetings to address any individual cases where things may be more complex.”

A spokesperson for the DWP said: “The move to Universal Credit pilot is designed to find the best way to move claimants from legacy benefits and tax credits onto Universal Credit.

“We have kept numbers low so we can thoroughly evaluate claimants’ experiences and plan to add volume later in the pilot.”

The department added it will update parliament on the pilot in the spring.