Universal Credit: 120,000 people on the DWP benefit have fallen behind on rent payments, with some being evicted from council houses ‘Universal Credit is causing hardship and debt for many of our tenants’

By the JPI Media Investigations Team – John Blow, Philip Bradfield, Tom Cotterill, Michael Holmes, Dean Kirby, Joel Lamy, Gavin Ledwith, Paul Lynch, Chris McCall, Oli Poole and Claire Wilde

Universal Credit is still pushing tens of thousands into financial crisis just weeks ahead of the second half of its introduction.

The controversial benefit is leaving an ever-growing number of people in rent arrears, with the number of claimants evicted from council houses reaching an all-time high.

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And with millions more people poised to be moved onto the system, charities have called for an urgent halt to the programme to avoid an impending catastrophe.

‘Clearly failing’

Stephanie Kleynhans, policy officer at Shelter, said the five-week wait people face before getting their first Universal Credit payment, as well as administrative errors, “can mean people going without an income for weeks on end”.

Margaret Greenwood, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “Universal Credit is clearly failing. The Government must stop the roll out.”

Figures obtained from 145 local authorities with housing stock and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive suggest 120,000 Universal Credit claimants are in rent arrears, owing a combined £84.5m.

The figures show they owe an average of £681 – more than twice the amount of people on the old Housing Benefit system.

Evictions of Universal Credit claimants from council houses, while relatively low, reached an all-time high in 2018/19 of 514.

Figures from Northern Ireland’s Housing Executive show 92 percent of its tenants on Universal Credit are now in rent arrears, compared with 40 percent of people on Housing Benefit.

Rent arrears

Kevin Higgins, head of policy for independent advice network Advice NI, said: “If we are experiencing these unprecedented pressures now, then it is difficult to imagine what awaits us whenever we get into managed migration of legacy claimants onto Universal Credit,” he said.

Housing associations say they are still seeing tenants on Universal Credit getting into greater rent arrears than those on legacy benefits, the National Housing Federation said.

Hugh Owen, director of strategy and public affairs for Riverside, one of the Britain’s biggest providers of social housing, says Universal Credit is increasing rent arrears.

He said: “While we have always welcomed the simplicity that moving to an integrated benefit such as Universal Credit is intended to bring, the way it is being implemented in practice means that Universal Credit is causing hardship and debt for many of our tenants.

“Arrears for our tenants claiming Universal Credit are more than three and a half times higher than those who are not claiming Universal Credit with average arrears of £666 for Universal Credit claimants compared to £185 for those households not in receipt of Universal Credit.

“While we have the capability to work closely with and support tenants claiming Universal Credit to help them manage their debts, many people living in the private rented sector do not have the same help or understanding from their landlord.

‘Risk of homelessness’

“High levels of rent arrears increases the risk of homelessness, especially in the private rented sector.

“We would like to see an end to the five-week waiting period for Universal Credit because we know this is pushing people into debt and arrears.”

“We completely disagree with this analysis which compares fundamentally different claimant groups,” a spokeswoman for the DWP said.

“Many people claim Universal Credit after a significant life event and will join with pre-existing arrears, while those on legacy benefits are likely to have been claiming for a longer period, with arrears having reduced over time.”

The department said it had made various changes to Universal Credit to prevent people going into arrears including paying two weeks of extra Housing Benefit for those moving onto Universal Credit and paying rent directly to landlords where requested.