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Reducing UC wait to 31 days 'would not be enough'
Social landlords have warned that a cut in the Universal Credit (UC) waiting time from six weeks to 31 days would not go far enough to help tenants reduce their arrears.
Ahead of the Autumn Budget today there have been widespread reports that the government will cut the waiting period for a first UC payment from six weeks to 31 days.
However, a number of landlords in areas where the full UC service has been rolled out said a 31-day wait is still too long.
Jen Barfoot, chief executive of Homes in Sedgemoor, said: “Most of the 700 families living in Homes in Sedgemoor homes currently claiming Universal Credit are really struggling to cope. We welcome any reduction in the waiting time, but would like to see it reduced much further.”
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Fiona Colley, cabinet member for finance, modernisation and performance at Southwark Council, which recently commissioned independent research which concluded the six-week wait is pushing its residents into debt, said while she welcomes a reduction to 31 days “this is still a very significant period for our poorest residents to be without financial support.”
Abdul Jabbar, deputy leader of Oldham Council, said a cut in waiting time would be “welcome news” but added: “I would rather see it reduced to two weeks.”
A spokesperson for East Lothian Council questioned if a 31-day wait is achievable. She said: “While we welcome any attempt to reduce the impact of Universal Credit on claimants, we would point out that many people in East Lothian are still waiting between 8 and 12 weeks for their first payment. We are not clear, therefore, how 31 days would be achieved if the Department for Work and Pensions is already failing to deliver on the six-week target, locally. Even if a new 31-day waiting period is adhered to, we do not think it would have a major impact on rent arrears as people would still face a significant delay before receiving their first UC payment and would still struggle to keep rent payments up to date.”
A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said the change would be of “marginal benefit” because residents will continue to build up arrears “albeit for five rather than six weeks”.
However, other landlords said a 31-day waiting period would be helpful. Fiona Hughes, chief executive of Solihull Community Housing, said a reduction to 31 days “will help ease the financial burden on a number of our tenants, in particular in the build-up to Christmas”.
Helen Clarke, senior housing officer at Melton Council, said a move from six weeks to 31 days could reduce arrears by a third.
She added that under the six-week wait some UC claimants are taking out pay-day loans and the cut to the waiting time would “hopefully be seen as a more manageable period of time for people to wait for their money and so deter them away from such high-risk borrowing”.
