Universal Credit: Private Rented Housing

(asked on 27th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure recipients of universal credit can rent accommodation from private landlords.


Answered by
Justin Tomlinson Portrait
Justin Tomlinson
This question was answered on 1st April 2019

We know that there are people who have experienced difficulties when trying to rent a property whilst claiming benefit. We strongly encourage landlords and agents to consider all potential and existing tenants in receipt of Universal Credit on an individual basis. We are keen to understand more about the issue and work with stakeholders to consider what further action Government might take.

With Universal Credit, payments can be paid directly to the landlords and we continue to listen to feedback and work with landlords to improve the system. We have recently announced further changes to make it simpler for landlords to request direct payments through Universal Credit.

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