Housing Benefit Transition to Universal Credit.

[Carryon Regardless]

A heads up for those that may have involvement, and I realise that the regular posters don't have. Lucky sods that you are.

Anyway another Welsh tenant is in arrears, has been for a while and the lies are now embarrassing to him But he did state yesterday that he is 'now' in receipt of universal credit (UC).

This is a new area for me. I made my common phone call to Denbighshire Benefits office, in attempt to get payments for HB direct, or that proportion of UC that is applicable.

UC is now has nothing to do with the benefits office. I must ring a national free phone number and wait. It's easy to imagine how long that queue will be. Best chance really would be to try at 8am Saturday while the claimants are sleeping off the White Lightening.

As with HB a LL must wait until a tenant has run up 8 weeks arrears to claim the benefit is paid direct. As my existing tenants are transitioned to UC the rents will revert to the 'customer' meaning I must wait for the arrears to run up before I then make claim. For me that could feasibly be 4 tenants x 8 weeks arrears, so 32 weeks of lost rents.

This is in a location that will soon be 6 months notice period, that being before court applications and a court trying to excuse those tenants and provide 'another chance'.

Has it come in yet where a court can now assess our section 21 (or whatever these days) application to hoof the buggers?

Selling garden furniture looks so attractive by comparison, even in Ukraine.