Universal Credit: Shared House Deductions

TimaMansio

Hello there,
I live in a house-share with three other people and I started receiving Universal Credit last month. However, my two payments thus far have been docked for the following reason: "We cannot pay you the full amount as: you have 3 adults living with you who are expected to pay towards the rent."
This makes no sense to me -- why would strangers be expected to contribute to my rent? I explained this situation to UC after the first payment and they agreed that it would be rectified. However, this turns out not to be the case and my statement for this month has the same reasoning with the reduced amount.
My questions are: am I somehow in the wrong? And can this be re-imbursed?
Many thanks,
Tima

pmlindyloo

Do you have separate tenancy agreements or a joint tenancy agreement?  Have you shown your tenancy agreement to DWP?
Are any of the other tenants related to you?

TimaMansio

We have a joint tenancy agreement with an overall figure for the rent which is divided equally among us. The DWP did not ask for the tenancy agreement at any stage although I suspect this was due to the current situation. None of the tenants are related to me. Within the UC system, they correctly calculated what my share of the rent is but then applied the penalty after this -- this is what makes no sense to me in that I am being docked twice.

calcotti

TimaMansio said:

We have a joint tenancy agreement with an overall figure for the rent which is divided equally among us. The DWP did not ask for the tenancy agreement at any stage although I suspect this was due to the current situation. None of the tenants are related to me. Within the UC system, they correctly calculated what my share of the rent is but then applied the penalty after this -- this is what makes no sense to me in that I am being docked twice.

That makes no sense to me either. You should be entitled to your share of the rent (presumably 25% of the total) subject to a maximum amount established by the Local Housing Allowance.

TimaMansio

Yes, I assumed I would be entitled to my share of the rent which is, as you say, 25% of the total. As it's happened twice now, it has placed me in unnecessary hardship and my fear is that the UC will refuse to re-imburse me if and when they finally rectify the situation. Does anyone know what the best course of action is to rectify this?

pmlindyloo

Just a thought..
Are you saying that you are getting no housing costs at all or are you saying that you are not getting 25% of the rent?
Your housing costs will be a fixed amount at the shared accommodation rate or 25% of the rent (whichever is the lower amount) - you can look the amount up on your local council website

calcotti

TimaMansio said:

Yes, I assumed I would be entitled to my share of the rent which is, as you say, 25% of the total. 

As I said in my post the amount you can get is capped by the Local Housing Allowance. The shared room rate for you post code will apply https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk

TimaMansio

No, I am getting housing costs. My rent is comparatively low and below the fixed amount assigned by the council.
As mentioned, the UC person I spoke to this time last month agreed that it was an error and assured it would be fixed -- my journal notifications indicate that a representative had subsequently approved an alteration to my housing situation. But the deductions remain the same. It's baffling and exasperating.

tomtom256

Have you declared them as non-dependants/people who live with me?

pmlindyloo

Can you copy out the UC calculations so we can have a look?
You say you are receiving housing costs?  Or was this a mistake?
How many bedrooms in your house?  Are there a couple sharing?
Either the DWP have made a mistake and you need to write a note questioning it or you are not understanding how the local housing allowance works.  Just to emphasise, as a joint tenant you will only be eligible for the shared accommodation rate not the one bed rate.  What is the total rent?  What is the shared accommodation rate for your council?  How much housing costs have you been awarded?

TimaMansio

Sure, here are the payments as per UC. There are five people on the agreement; one is absent at the moment due to Covid-19. 
Standard allowance - You get a standard amount each month. You said you're single: £409.89
Housing: You said the total rent for your property is £1,950.00.
There are 5 people on the tenancy agreement. We have calculated your share of the rent is £390.00
You will have to pay your housing to your landlord.
We can pay you £168.33 towards your housing. We cannot pay you the full amount as:
you have 3 adults living with you who are expected to pay towards the rent.
-£221.67

£168.33

Total entitlement before deductions: £578.22