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Arrears for Welsh housing association tenants on Universal Credit up 150%
Housing associations in Wales have seen rent arrears among tenants claiming Universal Credit rise 150% since December.
Universal Credit arrears for Welsh housing association tenants up 150% #ukhousingFigures released today by Community Housing Cymru (CHC), which represents Welsh housing associations, said tenants on the new welfare system now owe a combined £2.28m in unpaid rent.
Nearly a quarter (23%) of those in arrears were managing to keep up with rent before transitioning from housing benefit to Universal Credit.
The average rent arrears of a housing association tenant claiming Universal Credit is now £434, up from £420 11 months ago.
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Will Atkinson, policy and programmes manager at CHC, said: “The impact of Universal Credit is clear despite being only 11% rolled out in Wales.
“Tenants are struggling to clear rent arrears caused by the initial financial shock of claiming Universal Credit, despite housing associations doing their best to support tenants with budgeting support and advice.
“We urge the Department for Work and Pensions to reconsider plans to extend Universal Credit to 350,000 existing benefit claimants in Wales, to ensure that no one is financially disadvantaged by this change.”
Just more than 40,000 households were receiving Universal Credit as of June according to government figures, with that figure projected to rise tenfold by the end of 2023.
CHC said the national roll-out could push many more tenants into debt without changes to the system.
The research was conducted by Opinion Research Services through a study of nearly 7,000 Universal Credit claimants.
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