Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 47
47
Paragraph: 198
Universal Credit works best when it mirrors people’s daily lives.
Recommendation
Universal Credit works best when it mirrors people’s daily lives. Payments which align with people’s rent schedules could make it easier for claimants to budget and plan. We recommend that the Department explain in response to our report whether it is feasible for landlords to tag the tenancy agreement to the claimant’s Universal Credit claim so that payments are made in line with their rent schedule. If this is not possible, the Department should set out what aspects of the design of Universal Credit it would need to adapt to build in this flexibility for claimants.
Paragraph Reference:
198
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
Changing assessment periods to align with a claimant’s tenancy or rent agreement is not an approach the Department considers appropriate. Claimants could be left in difficulty, if for example, they were to change address and their new landlord had differing rent dates when payment is due. The Department has however recently rolled out a payment alignment feature on the Landlord Portal to social rented sector landlords. This enables those landlords to receive a managed payment at the same time as a claimant is paid their UC, and replaces a rigid third-party payment structure which aligned to a 28-day cycle.