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Landlords warned to prepare for huge growth in Universal Credit claimants
Landlords could see the number of their tenants claiming Universal Credit multiply by up to nine times when their area moves to full digital roll-out, according to a Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) expert.
Sam Lister, policy and practice officer at the CIH, pointed to government figures showing the numbers of claimants on Universal Credit in areas that have already moved to the full digital service.
This shows large increases of claimants in areas such as Bath, Bridgwater and Newcastle.
He said: “If Universal Credit hasn’t hit you or you don’t see it as a big thing, you will this time next year if the programme goes ahead at the rate it is intended to.”
Under Universal Credit a number of working-age benefits, including housing benefit, are wound into one payment.
Until now the scheme has been ‘live’ everywhere but has only been open to certain groups of people and the system has been largely a pen and paper exercise, with landlords able to phone the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for information about tenants’ claims.
When areas move to the full digital service, all new claimants will switch to Universal Credit and will do so using an online system that social landlords will not be able to access.
This means more people will move on to Universal Credit and landlords will have to work harder to understand which of their tenants are claiming.
David Rafferty, performance leader at Home Group, which operates in one of the digital service areas, said emails to the DWP to clarify information is “resource intensive”.
A total of 16 job centres have been operating the digital service since 2016, and a further 18 were due to start by the end of June. However, the pace will pick up, with all 700 job centres expected to have made the switch by September 2018. The service will then be rolled out to existing claimants.
The DWP is developing a ‘landlord portal’ to help communication with landlords, while landlords with ‘trusted partner’ status will automatically be able to make alternative payment arrangements for tenants where necessary.
